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At least three risk management issues are related to health care illiteracy (Rao, 2003):
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Failure to navigate the health care system (no-shows; insurance eligibility problems; incomplete and/or inaccurate forms; and uninformed informed consents)
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Therapeutic failures (incomplete, inaccurate medical history leads to an incorrect diagnosis and treatment; noncompliance with health care directions; excess hospitalizations; longer length of stay; excessive use of hospital emergency department; and increased malpractice risk)
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Workforce issues (shortage of pharmacists, nurses, and certain medical specialties; support staff may have limited literacy themselves; lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate services; patients may have limited literacy in both languages; interpreter may have limited literacy or may be of a different social strata or be unable to simplify translation)
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