United States Department of Health and Human Services - Office of Minority Health

Health Care Language Services Implementation Guide

With growing concerns about racial, ethnic, and language disparities in health and health care and the need for healthcare systems to accommodate increasingly diverse patient populations, language access services (LAS) have become more and more a matter of national importance. As part of its mission, the Office of Minority Health (OMH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), seeks to:

Improve the health of racial and ethnic minority populations through the development of effective health policies and programs that help to eliminate disparities in health.

OMH has sponsored the development of this guide to help health care organizations implement effective LAS to meet the needs of their patients with limited English proficiency (LEP), thereby increasing their access to health care.

The guide can help you get started. As your community and your organization evolve over time, you can use the guide to assist you with the evolution of your LAS. As such, your health care organization can continue on your mission to provide quality health care to all of the patients who seek your assistance, regardless of their language ability.

The guide lays out the basic steps for implementing LAS, and the process for carrying out each step is explained in detail and supplemented with links to resources and tips on alternative ways to complete the step.