Cynthia Solomon, President of FollowMe, Inc, Recently wrote:

The promise of the PHR is that it can put the patient at the center of their care as a participant not just a recipient.  No where is this more important than with those people whose primary language is not English. More than 52 million people in the U.S. speak a language other than English at home. The limited English speaking (LEP) population has increased by almost 4 million in just the last five years, bringing that total to 23 million. Communication is vital to safe and quality health care, and language barriers are another risk contributing to medical errors that few doctors and health care organizations are prepared to handle. The PHR through its capacity to display information in more than one language offers an opportunity to bridge language barriers between patients and their providers. The PHR has the potential to make health care more accessible for patients who speak or understand little or no English... [read more]

Resources

Bridging Care Communication and Health Management within Diverse and Underserved Populations  MiVIA-Study-Botts-Horan-AMCIS-2008.pdf

Few Adults Have Skills to Make Sound Health Decisions.

The Health Literacy of America’s Adults: Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy.