Quality and Cultural Competency

I recently read a pretty interesting article about quality, the CAHPS® (The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) questionnaire and other quality surveys. If you are interested in reading it, I will provide the citation information and if you are student, I am sure you can search your school library’s article database for a copy. However, I digress.

The article was about the quality surveys and questionnaires that facilities use and how they are not providing an accurate view of quality. Why is this important? Well, someone will write a general survey or questionnaire. However, different races/ethnicities will have different notions of what healthcare quality is and if they received it or not. For example, I, a black female, have different experiences than you. Even if you are a black female, you still have had a very different life experience from me. You are from a specific culture and have different influences on your expectations and opinions on what is quality care from a provider.

So how can health administrators get an accurate view of quality from surveys and questionnaires? The article state “with the exception of whites, participants across all of the [minority] groups noted the importance of cultural competency in facilitating communication” (Bagchi, af Ursin, & Leonard, 2012). And of course, everyone has their own ideas of what constitutes as cultural competency (Bagchi, af Ursin, & Leonard, 2012). So what is an administrator to do when a frustrated physician has a Haitian patient that describes their ailments with sounds? (My Haitian grandmother does it all the time). Should we just have a file of all different groups served for providers to reference?

This article is something for administrators to think about. For facilities that serve diverse populations, cultural competency and excellent communication is imperative. Patients need to be able to feel comfortable and respected to give providers with accurate medical information. Yes, I know, it is a two-way street but I believe that providers ear more responsibility. And while the facility may have a diverse staff, not everyone will be covered. So, what can we do?

Bagchi, A. D., af Ursin, R., & Leonard, A. (2012). Assessing cultural perspectives on healthcare quality. Journal of Immigrant Minority Health, 14, 175-182.