There is a significant disconnect between the languages spoken by physicians and patients, according to a report from Doximity.
The report is based on a survey of more than 60,000 physicians to determine the most common second languages among U.S. healthcare providers compared to the most common non-English languages spoken in the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. This information was pulled from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
For providers, Spanish, Hindi, French, Persian/Farsi and Chinese topped the list as the most common non-English languages spoken. The No. 1 most common non-English language among U.S. patients was also Spanish, and physicians and patients shared 6 of 10 most common languages. The four remaining most common non-English languages among patients were Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, and Swahili and Sub-Saharan African languages.
The following metro areas were determined to have the weakest matches in languages between physicians and patients.
- Washington, D.C.
- Louisville, Ky.
- Minneapolis
- Baltimore
- Seattle
- Detroit
- Boston
- Pittsburgh
- Nashville, Tenn.
- Jacksonville, Fla.
Read more here.
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