Multicultural health care and cultural competence

Physicians today are acutely aware of their patient population's diversity, and recognize the challenge of providing appropriate care based on the individual patient's cultural, linguistic, educational, and socio-economic needs. At Tufts Health Plan, we aim to assist providers in delivering effective health care services to these diverse populations and position our organization to:

• Respond to current and projected demographic changes
• Meet federal and state mandates
• Improve the quality of services and outcomes
• Understand the impact of culture in health and illness
• Enhance the workplace environment

Training and education

Tufts Health Plan encourages our providers to take a free cultural competency course from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The course offers Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits in the field of cultural competency. This self-directed training course is designed for physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners.

Resources

• Language Line from AT&T
• Think Cultural Health features information, continuing education opportunities, resources, and more for health and health care professionals to learn about culturally and linguistically appropriate services.