• Linda Weiss, Maya Scherer, Tongtan Chantarat, Theo Oshiro, Patrick Padgen, Jose Pagan, Peri Rosenfeld, and H Shonna Yin.
• New York Academy of Medicine, New York, NY, USA. lweiss@nyam.org.
• J Urban Health. 2019 Aug 1; 96 (4): 644-651.

AbstractApproximately 25 million people in the United States are limited English proficient (LEP). Appropriate language services can improve care for LEP individuals, and health care facilities receiving federal funds are required to provide such services. Recognizing the risk of inadequate comprehension of prescription medication instructions, between 2008 and 2012, New York City and State passed a series of regulations that require chain pharmacies to provide translated prescription labels and other language services to LEP patients. We surveyed pharmacists before (2006) and after (2015) implementation of the regulations to assess their impact in chain pharmacies. Our findings demonstrate a significant improvement in capacity of chains to assist LEP patients. A higher proportion of chain pharmacies surveyed in 2015 reported printing translated labels, access and use of telephone interpreter services, multilingual signage, and documentation of language needs in patient records. These findings illustrate the potential impact of policy changes on institutional practices that impact large and vulnerable portions of the population.

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