4 Many electronic health records (EHRs) have pre-written patient education sheets for specific diagnoses such as “Upper Respiratory Infection” in a variety of languages and providers can easily use these to provide written materials in the patient’s preferred language. Whereas most hospitals in the USA have access to spoken language assistance via phone interpreters, a gap exists in the capacity for written translation. Written discharge instructions contain critical information about the patient’s diagnosis, treatment plan, and follow-up. 3 The discharge process is a particularly important point in terms of patient–provider communication. Patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) have low rates of understanding of appointment type and medications 1, higher rates of medication errors 2, and unplanned return visits to an emergency department.
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