The Medical Leadership Council on Cultural Proficiency met in mid-November to map the future of its work to improve language access and cultural competence in healthcare. The San Bernardino County Medical Society is one of the 33 member organizations of this council. SBCMS Past President Edward Hess, MD, and I attend these meetings twice a year.

Led by The California Endowment and convened by the California Academy of Family Physicians, the council seeks strategies to improve the provision of interpreter and translation services to limited English-proficient patients, as well as to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities.

At the November meeting, the council agreed on the final wording of a guiding document, "Policy Principles for Improving Cultural Proficiency and Care to Minority and Medically Underserved Communities." The SBCMS board of directors approved the policies on Nov. 27.

Also, the California Academy of Family Physicians unveiled a new, searchable, statewide database, funded by The California Endowment--www.medicalleadership.org.

It lists interpreters, patient education information in languages other than English, local nonprofit organizations offering services in languages other than English, and other resources available now to physicians, medical office staff, patients and the public.

The council will continue to meet biannually to discuss strategies to improve the quality of care received by LEP patients, explore policy changes that can provide funding solutions for healthcare interpretation services, examine means to end racial and ethnic disparities in care, and consider ways to ensure the healthcare workforce represents California's diversity.

Linda Stratton is the executive director of the San Bernardino County Medical Society. She can be reached at 951/787-7700 or lstratton@sbcms.org.