Nashville ranks high for language gap between patients, doctors, study reveals

People who need physicians who speak a second language are likely to have a harder time finding their language spoken in Nashville than many other cities across the nation.

Nashville ranked at number nine in the top 10 metro areas with the greatest disparity between languages spoken by patients and those spoken by physicians, according to a new study from Doximity, a professional social network for physicians and advanced practice clinicians. 

The study compared the languages spoken by clinicians on Doximity with language results from the Census Bureau. About 70 percent of doctors, or 600,000 in the U.S., use Doximity. Of those, about 60,000 list a proficiency in a second language.

The results found wide gaps between languages spoken in doctors' offices and those needed by patients.

Chris Whaley, lead author and adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, said it's important to understand whether patients can communicate with providers because a language barrier can lead to poorer qualities of care.

The disparities ranged across the metro areas, highlighting how individuality of local health care markets. 

"It's not simply enough to say we think this is a problem at the nationwide level," said Whaley.

The cities with the most significant language gaps: 

1. Washington, D.C.
2. Louisville, Ky.
3. Minneapolis
4. Baltimore
5. Seattle
6. Detroit
7. Boston
8. Pittsburgh, Pa.
9. Nashville, Tenn.
10. Jacksonville, Fla. 

About half of physicians who speak languages besides English are foreign-trained.

Hindi is the most spoken language behind English and Spanish in Tennessee and most states. Many foreign-trained physicians come from places with Hindi-speaking populations. 

Bridging the gap requires changing, or training, the workforce

The diversity of languages spoken could be surprising and interesting to health care administrators who have tried to bring on Spanish-speaking physicians, said Joel Davis, vice president of analytics at Doximity. Job postings often want Spanish-speaking candidates.

Not all physicians have access to a medical translator or service, which can help bridge the language barrier. 

In Memphis, Filipino is the most under-represented language among physicians while Turkish is more common than necessary. 

In the coming years, the disparity could be impacted "positively or negatively" by changes to immigration law, whether more medical translators are trained or the number of new physicians with language proficiency, said Davis. 

"I don't know that we've seen quite as much granularity addressing the language (disparity)," Davis said. 

Reach Holly Fletcher at hfletcher@tennessean.com or 615-259-8287 and on Twitter @hollyfletcher.