Measuring Patient Care
Equitable (Equal Access)
Dana-Farber is committed to ensuring all patients and their families have equal access to treatment options and services.
We are also active in many screening and education programs in the Boston area, including The Dana Farber/Partners Breast and Cervical Screening Collaborative, Boston Mayor's Task Force to Eliminate Health Disparities, and numerous community education and health fairs.
Dana-Farber/Brigham & Women's Cancer Center Patient Navigator Program
As part of a strategic initiative to reduce health care disparities among diverse populations, the Patient Navigator Program provides access and identifies resources for women from diverse backgrounds with low socio-economic status, limited English proficiency, disability status, or payment status (uninsured/underinsured), which may serve as a barrier to accessing health care.
The program, which began in May 2005, offers two Patient Navigators, bilingual in Spanish, who provide culturally competent navigation services for women at risk for, or diagnosed with, breast or cervical cancer, who enter the care system through either Dana-Farber or Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Since the program's inception, the Patient Navigators have worked with approximately 550 patients. Accomplishments in this fiscal year include:
- A reduction in the "no show" rate at the High-Risk Pap Smear clinic
- Translation of patient educational materials into Spanish and Portuguese
- Creation of a support group for Latinas with cancer
- The recruitment of additional Spanish-speaking volunteers.
Interpreter Services
The Department of Interpreter Services is staffed by permanent and per-diem interpreters, who work with two local agencies to provide interpretation in languages that are not in the per-diem pool, and to supplement staff interpreters, including in sign language.
In FY08, more than 8,500 interpreting encounters were made, with the most requested languages being Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Arabic, and Mandarin.
