Patient Education Research has clearly shown that patients who have a good understanding of their individual disease process have better outcomes - a better quality of life, better compliance with medication administration and decreased readmission rate to the hospital. A campus-wide focus on the improvement of patient education has resulted in satisfaction scores well above our benchmark. NHS utilizes a variety of resources including handouts, direct educational sessions and videotapes. At some point in the near future, we know the Internet will need to be included as a routine part of our educational effort. To meet the demands of a diverse patient base, NHS provides Spanish interpreters for patients and families 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Interpreters are skilled in verbal interpretation facilitation, as well as document translation.
Interpretive services are also available for additional languages. In addition to interpretive services in the hospital, the interpreters assist in care at the Maternal Care Program, the Women s, Infant s and Children s Clinic, Indian Chicano Health Center and the Family Planning Clinic. In addition, Spanish for medical personnel is taught weekly to any staff member. Interpretive services are also available for the deaf and hard of hearing through the Certified Sign Language Interpreter Service. As a service to our patients and health-care providers as well as to the community, NHS established a medical call center in 1998.