Effect of Spanish interpretation method on patient satisfaction in an urban walk-in clinic

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of Spanish interpretation method on satisfaction with care. DESIGN. Self-administered post-visit questionnaire. SETTING: Urban, university-affiliated walk-in clinic. PARTICIPANTS: Adult, English- and Spanish-speaking patients presenting for acute care of non-emergent medical problems. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Satisfaction with overall clinic visit and with 7 provider characteristics was evaluated by multiple logistic regression, controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, education, insurance status, having a routine source of medical care, and baseline health. "Language-concordant" patients, defined as Spanish-speaking patients seen by Spanish-speaking providers and English-speaking patients, and patients using AT&T telephone interpreters reported Identical overall visit satisfaction (77%; P =.57), while those using family or ad hoc interpreters were significantly less satisfied (54% and 49%; P <.01 and P =.007, respectively). AT&T interpreter use and language concordance also yielded similar satisfaction rates for provider characteristics (P >.2 for all values). Compared to language-concordant patients, patients who had family members interpret were less satisfied with provider listening (62% vs 85%; P =.003), discussion of sensitive Issues (60% vs 76%; P =.02), and manner (62% vs 89%; P =.005). Patients who used ad hoc interpreters were less satisfied with provider skills (60% vs 83%; P =.02), manner (71% vs 89%; P =.02), listening (54% vs 85%; P =.002), explanations (57% vs 84%; P =.02), answers (57% vs 84%; P =.05), and support (63% vs 84%; P =.02). CONCLUSIONS: Spanish-speaking patients using AT&T telephone Interpretation are as satisfied with care as those seeing language-concordant providers, while patients using family or ad hoc interpreters are less satisfied. Clinics serving a large population of Spanish-speaking patients can enhance patient satisfaction by avoiding the use of untrained interpreters, such as family or ad hoc interpreters.