Florida health care providers offer language services, medical homes

Orlando Sentinel: As "the region continues to attract residents from all over the country and the world, local health care providers and educators are searching for ways to better serve them." Some use "cultural toolkits," and have guides to help providers relate to patients' cultural and religious preferences. "'From a business perspective, it makes a lot of sense,' said Bernardo Ramirez, assistant professor of health services administration at the University of Central Florida. 'It not only allows health care providers to serve more patients, it also allows patients to use these services more effectively so they can have better health outcomes.' The university's colleges of medicine, nursing and health and public affairs have all instituted a number of programs and added courses designed to increase the number of health care workers who can provide linguistically and culturally sensitive services" (Quintero, 5/24).

Tampa Bay Business Journal: The JSA Medical Group has instituted a "patient-centered medical home" in Florida in a bid to help patients navigate the health care system and save money. The method "adds layers of 21st century technology to the traditional family physician practices of the past. Under the model, a designated provider, generally a primary care physician, serves as a patient's 'quarterback,' leading a team of specialists and other health care providers and coordinating the care between the various physicians a patient sees." The approach's central elements include more convenient access to care, such as same-day appointments, electronic prescriptions and health records and wellness and prevention activities (Manning, 5/24).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.