Randomized 4to 6-hour time blocks when hospitals did not provide in-person interpreters • Control time blocks: language services from the ED’s usual sources (telephonic and ad hoc interpreters ) • Treatment time blocks: language services from in-person professionally trained medical interpreters Study was powered for minimum detectable effects of about 0.3 of a standard deviation Interpreter Qualifications: • Certified bilingual in Spanish and English • At least 40 hours of training: medical terminology, ethics, patient privacy, and basic interpreting skills • Online course in the protection of human subjects Data Sources: • Satisfaction surveys use measures of patients, triage and discharge nurses, and attending physicians • Health care service use and costs obtained from hospitals’ billing records

This article examines whether availability of in-person professional interpreter services during emergency department visits affects satisfaction of limited English proficient patients and their health providers, using a randomized controlled trial.

Communication between patients and providers is critical in hospital emergency departments, but most interpretive services for non-English speakers—often provided via telephone or ad hoc by untrained bilingual staff or family member(s)—vary in quality. This issue brief identifies how professional interpreters improve communication and, consequently, patient and provider satisfaction in the emergency department.