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A Technology-Mediated Solution to Reduce Healthcare Disparities

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Lean Thinking for Healthcare

Part of the book series: Healthcare Delivery in the Information Age ((Healthcare Delivery Inform. Age))

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Abstract

As healthcare costs in the USA continue to rise exponentially, it becomes a strategic imperative for healthcare organizations to examine all areas of their healthcare delivery and identify those which are currently inefficient and ineffective and then work to design and develop solutions that provide superior healthcare and that support a healthcare value proposition of excellence in access quality and value. Moreover, given the current emphasis on identifying meaningful use of technology in healthcare in the USA, it becomes prudent to develop appropriate technology solutions that not only comply with this requirement but also facilitate superior healthcare delivery to ensue. One area within healthcare delivery that this is particularly relevant and germane is when we look at healthcare disparities that currently exist. One key area within healthcare disparities relates to access to language services in healthcare or more specifically supporting limited English-proficient patients (LEP patients). This chapter discusses how the development of a real time online technology-mediated solution to support LEP patients can address key effectiveness and efficiency issues and provide superior healthcare and thereby serve to reduce a key healthcare disparity.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Epworth HealthCare & Department of BITL & HIRi, RMIT University, 2476, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia

    Nilmini Wickramasinghe

  2. Arias Information Solutions LLC, Chicago, IL, USA

    Ray Arias

  3. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Galter 20-150, 675 N. St. Clair, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Chris Gonzalez

Authors
  1. Nilmini Wickramasinghe
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  2. Ray Arias
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  3. Chris Gonzalez
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nilmini Wickramasinghe .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. RMIT University, School of Business Information Technolog, Melbourne VIC, Australia

    Nilmini Wickramasinghe

  2. University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia

    Latif Al-Hakim

  3. Department of Urology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Chris Gonzalez

  4. DeGroote School Business, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

    Joseph Tan

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Wickramasinghe, N., Arias, R., Gonzalez, C. (2014). A Technology-Mediated Solution to Reduce Healthcare Disparities. In: Wickramasinghe, N., Al-Hakim, L., Gonzalez, C., Tan, J. (eds) Lean Thinking for Healthcare. Healthcare Delivery in the Information Age. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8036-5_27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8036-5_27

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-8035-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-8036-5

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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