Enhancing patient trust through workforce education and language skills

Providence Health & Services + Oregon State University

Providence Health & Services is one of the largest health care organizations in the United States with 125,000 caregivers serving patients in 51 hospitals and 1,014 clinics across the United States.

Many of those facilities are nested in communities with a large number of people who primarily speak Spanish. Research suggests patients have more effective, efficient care when their appointments are conducted in their dominant language — an experience typically defined as language-concordant care.

Through a collaboration with Oregon State University, Providence employees can earn a microcredential in medical Spanish online, strengthening their Spanish skills through health care-specific coursework and enabling them to provide language-concordant care.

“When we think about patient care and having to use different languages, no matter how much we try to communicate clearly through translators, the nuances can get lost in translation,” said Sandra Murray, chief learning officer at Providence.

Meeting the need for direct communication isn’t always easy, even for caregivers who speak Spanish. In a 2021 study from Stimulus: A Medical Humanities Journal, Spanish-speaking physicians said their low exposure to Spanish medical terminology made clear communication with their patients difficult.

Leaning on family members of patients isn’t always helpful, either. In a 2024 study published in the International Journal for Equity in Health, researchers found that family members were often asked to serve as ad hoc interpreters, which they found hard to accomplish due to a lack of training and health literacy.

Providence is dedicated to health equity, and leadership is deeply invested in employee education. Providence also serves communities in which Spanish is a dominant language. Those factors create the need for health care-specific language courses for employees, ensuring Providence can deliver language-concordant care.

Providence patient base

Providence has a presence in states with a large number of Spanish speakers.

Many Providence professionals have been drawn to Oregon State’s medical Spanish microcredential online. This offering is designed to help providers deepen their comprehension skills, so they can listen closely to their patients and understand their concerns. Students can also improve their speech and writing capabilities, allowing them to speak directly with their patients and share detailed treatment plans.

Every lesson is tightly focused on health care and medical language, so even fluent Spanish speakers can gain new skills. Students can also deepen their understanding of health care issues specific to the communities they serve.

“I truly believe that it is essential to be able to speak Spanish with patients and family members who only speak Spanish. By speaking the same language and being culturally knowledgeable, the health care provider will gain the trust of their patient,” said Mulas, who teaches OSU’s medical Spanish courses online and has worked as a nurse. “As for the patients, they will feel more confident in expressing directly to their provider their symptoms, worries and medical history. They will also be able to comfortably ask questions and get any doubts that they may have cleared up.”

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Let's work together

This case study illustrates how Providence Health & Services is able to improve patient care efforts thanks to the workforce education solutions by Oregon State University. To discover how Oregon State’s programs and courses can help to upskill and reskill your organization, contact Howard Burns, the senior director of OSU’s Corporate and Workforce Education Unit.