Language Access Ratio
Have you heard of it? Neither had I until now… Language Access Ratio is a measurement of language comprehension availability in a given region. It is used commonly in the medical system to determine how many people do not have proper access to healthcare based on the fact that they cannot understand the doctors, nurses nor read the medical forms.
It determines how many interpreters are available versus how many are needed and determines how this will affect the quality of healthcare for speakers of a foreign language. Yet how does it work? Let’s use an example of Language Access Ratio in a hospital in the United States.
First, three factors need to be identified:
1) Total number of hospital beds;
2) Percentage of individuals who speak a language other than English at home according to the primary ZIP code (or other factor determining region boundaries) where the hospital is located, based on the 2000 U.S. Census data; and
3) Amount spent on interpreting services in the most recent fiscal year.
The formulas are as follows (for those mathematicians out there who want to “play” with the numbers):
Source: Common Sense Advisory, Inc.
In this example, the Language Access Ratio is $107.00 per bed for LEP (Limited English Proficiency) assistance at this hospital.
Currently, Language Access Ratio is used to determine Hospital budgeting in a given area based on LEP requirements. This tool can be used for advanced planning so that people that lack proficiency in a language are not poorly serviced when and if they need to use hospital services. The same can be applied to Marketing, government programs, etc. and can be applied worldwide. This tool could give us an idea of language interpretation costs so that we can plan to make information and services available to everyone, regardless of language or ethnicity.
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