Clinical Workflow Associated with Spanish-Speaking Patient Encounters at JayDoc Community Clinic-Wichita: A Quality Improvement Project.
- 1The University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, Wichita, Kansas.
Abstract
Introduction
JayDoc Community Clinic-Wichita is a student-run free clinic serving a predominantly Spanish-speaking patient population. Authors of this study evaluated whether interpreter staffing represents a potentially modifiable systems-level factor associated with clinic workflow.Methods
This retrospective observational quality improvement evaluation included 715 patient encounters nested within 128 clinic sessions at JayDoc from November 2023 to July 2025. Encounter-level workflow differences by Spanish-speaking status were evaluated using linear mixed-effects models accounting for clustering within clinic sessions and adjusting for clinic day. Clinic-session-level multivariable linear regression evaluated associations among Spanish-speaking patient volume, in-person interpreter staffing, and clinic workflow.Results
After accounting for clustering and clinic day, Spanish-speaking encounters were 5.3 minutes longer than non-Spanish-speaking encounters, although the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.065). Spanish-speaking encounters had significantly longer medical preparation time (adjusted mean difference, 2.57 minutes; 95% CI, 0.83 to 4.31; p = 0.004) and wait-to-present time (adjusted mean difference, 3.46 minutes; 95% CI, 0.47 to 6.45; p = 0.024). At the clinic-session level, each additional Spanish-speaking patient was associated with a 6.7-minute increase in clinic-session duration after controlling for total patient volume and interpreter staffing (p <0.001). Each 1-unit increase in the Spanish-speaking patient-to-interpreter ratio was associated with a 3.72-minute increase in clinic-session duration (p = 0.052).Conclusions
Spanish-speaking encounters had longer medical preparation and wait-to-present times, while greater Spanish-speaking patient volume was associated with longer clinic-session duration. In-person interpreter staffing was not independently associated with session duration. These findings support further evaluation of strategies to better align interpreter resources with patient needs.
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BibTeX
@article{duncan2026clinical,
title = {{Clinical Workflow Associated with Spanish-Speaking Patient Encounters at JayDoc Community Clinic-Wichita: A Quality Improvement Project.}},
author = {Leah C Duncan and Wyel Halimeh and Dania Jumpa and Carlos Schwindt and Evie Schmitz and Dulcinea Rakestraw},
journal = {Kansas journal of medicine},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.17161/kjm.vol19.25667},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921645},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Clinical Workflow Associated with Spanish-Speaking Patient Encounters at JayDoc Community Clinic-Wichita: A Quality Improvement Project.
AU - Leah C Duncan
AU - Wyel Halimeh
AU - Dania Jumpa
AU - Carlos Schwindt
AU - Evie Schmitz
AU - Dulcinea Rakestraw
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
JO - Kansas journal of medicine
DO - 10.17161/kjm.vol19.25667
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42921645
AB - Introduction JayDoc Community Clinic-Wichita is a student-run free clinic serving a predominantly Spanish-speaking patient population. Authors of this study evaluated whether interpreter staffing represents a potentially modifiable systems-level factor associated with clinic workflow.Methods This retrospective observational quality improvement evaluation included 715 patient encounters nested within 128 clinic sessions at JayDoc from November 2023 to July 2025. Encounter-level workflow differences by Spanish-speaking status were evaluated using linear mixed-effects models accounting for clustering within clinic sessions and adjusting for clinic day. Clinic-session-level multivariable linear regression evaluated associations among Spanish-speaking patient volume, in-person interpreter staffing, and clinic workflow.Results After accounting for clustering and clinic day, Spanish-speaking encounters were 5.3 minutes longer than non-Spanish-speaking encounters, although the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.065). Spanish-speaking encounters had significantly longer medical preparation time (adjusted mean difference, 2.57 minutes; 95% CI, 0.83 to 4.31; p = 0.004) and wait-to-present time (adjusted mean difference, 3.46 minutes; 95% CI, 0.47 to 6.45; p = 0.024). At the clinic-session level, each additional Spanish-speaking patient was associated with a 6.7-minute increase in clinic-session duration after controlling for total patient volume and interpreter staffing (p <0.001). Each 1-unit increase in the Spanish-speaking patient-to-interpreter ratio was associated with a 3.72-minute increase in clinic-session duration (p = 0.052).Conclusions Spanish-speaking encounters had longer medical preparation and wait-to-present times, while greater Spanish-speaking patient volume was associated with longer clinic-session duration. In-person interpreter staffing was not independently associated with session duration. These findings support further evaluation of strategies to better align interpreter resources with patient needs.
SN - 1948-2035
ER -