A Compilation of Selected Abstracts Prepared by:

for language access services in health care settings in order to ensure that all patients receive accurate as well as culturally competent care. Medical errors in diagnoses can emerge from misunderstandings in communication, which is extremely dangerous for the patient and can place expensive liability on the part of the health provider (hospitals or primary care professional). However, interpretive services in most health care arenas appear to be of inferior quality or completely absent. Although federal measures are in place to guarantee that LEP persons receive linguistic appropriate care, state governments have failed to implement them. Enforcement of the laws is weak, and states do not receive sufficient resources to make language assistance services available to patients. These federal laws include Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits racial and ethnic discrimination in federally-funded programs; the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act of 1986, which delivers penal consequences to hospitals that fail to provide language assistance to LEP persons; and Medicaid regulations that require Medicaid providers and participating agencies to offer linguistically appropriate services. This document lists selected bibliography and abstracts (75 articles, 56 abstracts) that examined how good quality interpretive services can save money for patients, hospitals, medical professionals, and state and federal governments. This document was produced for the Medi-Cal Language Access Services Taskforce, California 2008. Literature shows that the presence of language access services not only creates a culturally competent environment, but also provides financial benefits to all parties involved. The studies featured in the bibliography were carried out in various states throughout the country, such a