Fourth National Conference on
Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations:
Integrating Community Needs into the National Health Agenda

September 28-October 1, 2004, Washington, DC
Hilton Washington, Washington DC

Woorkshop E-1: Promising Initiatives to Improve Language Access to HHS Programs and Services

Promising Initiatives to Improve Language Access to HHS Programs and Services

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has undertaken a number of initiatives to provide meaningful access to HHS’ programs and services for persons with limited English proficiency (LEP). The session will bring together panelists from different agencies within HHS including the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Office of Minority Health (OMH), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

OCR will begin the session with a discussion of federal policies and the work of the Interagency LEP Work Group. Presenters will highlight promising programs within their agencies, the impact of these programs on LEP communities, and lessons learned. We will also screen segments of a newly produced video on language access, titled, “Breaking Down the Language Barrier: Translating LEP Policy into Practice.” The video was funded jointly by HHS and the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Justice and is intended to raise awareness among providers, LEP persons and the general public regarding the right of LEP persons to have meaningful access to Federally funded services pursuant to Title VI and Executive Order 13166. This resource will be dubbed in Spanish and Vietnamese, and will be available with Chinese, Russian and Korean subtitles.

Brief Overview of Agency Initiatives

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) assures that health care services are provided to low income, uninsured, and special needs populations that meet their unique health care needs. The session will provide information on how obligations are adapted for primary care delivery sites, and will offer some model programs that address different approaches to meeting the needs of differing types of LEP populations.

The Office for Minority Health (OMH) develops health policies and programs to protect and improve the health of racial and ethnic populations. The Bilingual and Bicultural Service Demonstration Grant, a program administered by OMH, focuses on improving the linguistic and cultural competence of health care professionals and the accessibility and use of health care services among LEP communities. During the session, participants will hear about the activities funded by this grant program to develop curriculum for health professionals, consumer education and training, linguistically and culturally sensitive health education materials, information and referral hotlines, and programs utilizing lay persons as health workers.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) oversees national health insurance programs that include the Medicare, Medicaid, and State Children’s Health Insurance Programs. CMS panelists in this session will speak about efforts to provide language-concordant outreach to LEP communities.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) mission is to improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for all Americans. Information from AHRQ's research helps people make more informed decisions and improve the quality of health care services. Audience members will become familiar with AHRQ products designed to improve healthcare for diverse populations, such as Strategies to Improve Minority Healthcare Quality, Planning Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services, the National Healthcare Disparities Report, and Literacy and Health Outcomes.

Cindy Brach is a Senior Health Policy Researcher and the Leader of the Cost, Organization, and Socio-Economics Portfolio at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). She conducts and oversees research on managed care arrangements, with a particular emphasis on public policies, children, Medicaid and SCHIP, and cultural competence. Cindy manages the Child Health Insurance Research Initiative (CHIRI™), a set of research projects on public child health insurance programs. Cindy has published in Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, Health Affairs, Medical Care Research and Review, and Health Care Financing Review. Her publications include, “Reducing Disparities through Culturally Competent Health Care: An Analysis of the Business Case,” and "Can Cultural Competency Reduce Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities? A Review and Conceptual Model." Immediately before coming to AHRQ, Cindy was the Associate Director for Research and Analysis at the Mental Health Policy Resource Center. Her earlier experience includes serving as a welfare reform consultant and provider of technical assistance, a State-level administrator, and a municipal policy analyst. Cindy received her Master of Public Policy degree from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was also advanced to Ph.D. candidacy.

Deeana Jang is a Senior Civil Rights Analyst at the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in Washington, DC, where she focuses on compliance issues related to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and health and social services programs. Prior to joining OCR in the Fall of 2000, Ms. Jang worked as a Policy Analyst for the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum, a national advocacy organization based in San Francisco, where she focused on improving immigrant access to health and social services following the implementation of welfare and immigration reform laws and on promoting cultural competency and linguistic access. She has also worked for many years as a legal services attorney specializing in domestic violence and immigration issues at the San Francisco Neighborhood Legal Assistance Foundation as well as at the Asian Law Caucus, and has trained advocates, providers, law enforcement, prosecutors, judicial officers and immigration judges on these issues. She was actively involved in the establishment of the Asian Women’s Shelter in San Francisco, one of the first battered women’s shelters in the nation offering linguistically accessible, culturally competent services for low-income, Asian immigrant women and their children. She received her B.A. from Oberlin College and her J.D. from King Hall School of Law, University of California at Davis.

David Santana is a Health Insurance Specialist in the Philadelphia Regional Office of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). David is bilingual Spanish-English, and his background includes 4 years of experience working at the TrailBlazer Health Enterprises, a Medicare carrier, as a Technical Specialist and Beneficiary Services Supervisor for Medicare Part B. Currently, David works in the Beneficiary Services Branch in the Division of Medicare Operations, and is an outreach coordinator. He is responsible for effectively communicating information about CMS programs and resources to beneficiaries, caregivers and advocacy groups. David’s responsibilities include a variety of activities such as: conducting Medicare beneficiary outreach and education throughout the region; playing a key role in the development of materials used for the national Medicare training program for CMS contractors and partners; and providing technical assistance to federal, state, and local agencies and organizations about the Medicare program.

Guadalupe Pacheco serves as a Public Health Advisor and Special Assistant to the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In his current capacity as Special Assistant, Mr. Pacheco is responsible for managing multiple projects that address health disparities of racial and ethnic minority communities. He staffs cultural competency activities through the Office of Minority Health’s Center for Linguistic and Cultural Competence in Health Care. Additionally, he staffs and coordinates initiatives and program activities that enhance service delivery to Hispanic Americans. Mr. Pacheco serves on the board of directors of the Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care, Inc., the advisory committee of the National Center on Cultural Competence, the advisory committee of the National Hispanic Medical Association’s Resident Leadership Program, and the Advisory Committee of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Hablamos Juntos: Improving Patient Provider Communication for Latinos Program initiative.

Jennifer Fagan is a Public Health Analyst in the Bureau of Primary Health Care at Health Resources and Services Administration. Jennifer advises internal and external partners on issues concerning minority and special populations programs. She primarily focuses on cultural competency, U.S.-Mexico Border health, chronic homelessness, and rural health. As a medical anthropologist, Jennifer considers socio-cultural factors as key determinants in health and healthcare and attempts to apply this perspective into her current work. Prior to joining the federal government, Jennifer spent several years in West Africa as a health educator, researcher, and consultant working in conjunction with Health Ministry staff of the National Guinea Eradication Programs in Niger, Benin, Togo, and Ghana. After living overseas in Africa and Europe for seven years, Jennifer is very cognizant of the intricacies of attempting to access healthcare as a non-native speaker.

Qien He is a Health Insurance Specialist at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He is knowledgeable of the Asian community and mainstream service providers. Prior to working at CMS, Qien worked as Minority Outreach Coordinator at the Philadelphia Corporation for Aging and Equal Opportunity Specialist at the Office for Civil Rights of US Department Health and Human Services. Qien has always had a strong desire to make mainstream services more accessible to Asian and other minority communities.

1. Cindy Brach - Senior Health Policy Researcher, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850, Phone: (301) 427-14444, Fax: (301) 427-1430, cbrach@ahrq.gov

2. Deeana Jang, J.D. (Facilitator) - Senior Civil Rights Analyst, Office for Civil Rights, 200 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20101, Phone: (202) 619-1795, Fax: (202) 619-1333, deeanajang@hhs.gov

3. David Santana - Health Insurance Specialist, Philadelphia Regional Office of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Public Ledger Building, Suite 216, 150 South, Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106, Phone: 215-861-4165, dsantana@cms.hhs.gov

4. Guadalupe Pacheco - Public Health Advisor/Special Assistant to the Deputy, Office of Minority Health, Suite 600, TOAKS, Rockville MD 20852, 301-443-5084, GPacheco@OSOPHS.DHHS.GOV

5. Jennifer Fagan – Public Health Analyst, Office of Minority and Special Populations, Bureau of Primary Health Care, 4350 East West Highway, 9-1C1 East West Towers, Bethesda, Maryland 20814, 301-594-0225, jfagan@hrsa.gov

6. Qien He - Health Insurance Specialist, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Public Ledger Building, Suite 216, 150 South, Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106, Phone: 215-861-4211, QHe@cms.hhs.gov

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