SEATTLE — The Regence Foundation announced today it awarded a $20,000 grant to help Seattle-based Cross Cultural Health Care Program (CCHCP) take its training online so health care institutions anywhere in the state can communicate medical issues in a culturally and linguistically appropriate way. Regence employee Jennifer Frederick nominated CCHCP as part of the Regence’s second annual employee-nominated Transformation Grant program.

“In health care, misunderstandings are not only uncomfortable, they can be expensive and life threatening,” said Jennifer Frederick, Regence employee and grant nominator. “I nominated CCHCP for a Regence Foundation grant because the work they’re doing to bridge language and cultural barriers for patients and providers is absolutely essential for improving health care outcomes.”

Patients with limited English proficiency often face barriers to care, and CCHCP’s goal is to ensure linguistically and culturally appropriate information is available to help them make informed health care decisions. At the core of this effort is CCHCP’s program to train providers to work effectively with bilingual interpreters, which leads to better health outcomes including higher prescription fill rates, more preventive screenings and increased patient satisfaction.

“One of our greatest challenges as an organization is to make sure interpreter and cultural competency training is available to providers in rural and remote areas,” said CCHCP executive director Ira SenGupta. “We’re grateful for this grant from The Regence Foundation because it will enable us to develop the technological infrastructure necessary to create online training modules and offer Web conferences to health professionals regardless of location.”

For more information about Cross Cultural Health Care Program, visit www.xculture.org.