Rethinking Standard of Care: Why Language Access Isn’t Optional in Healthcare
Language access in healthcare isn’t an optional service—it’s a critical part of the standard of care. Treating interpretation and translation as ancillary costs puts patients with limited English proficiency at risk of medical errors and inequitable outcomes, especially those who speak lesser-diffused languages. By integrating rare language services into direct patient care, healthcare organizations can improve safety, compliance, and equity while meeting their ethical and legal obligations.