Cultural competence and language interpreter services in Minnesota: results of a needs assessment survey administered to physician members of the Minnesota Medical Association.

Physicians in Minnesota are seeing an increasing number of immigrants in their practices, some of whom have limited English proficiency. Because of the growing diversity of the patient population, health care providers are becoming more aware of the importance of cultural competency and effective cross-cultural communication. This article reports on the results of a survey administered to members of the Minnesota Medical Association that queried physicians about their knowledge of and access to language interpreter services, and their perceptions about barriers to cross-cultural communication.