Many patients at both UCSF and SFGH (more so at SFGH) have Limited English Proficiency (LEP) and require (professional) interpretation for most healthcare encounters.  Although language preferences are documented by nursing staff when patients are admitted to SFGH, this information is not consistently communicated to staff across hospital settings (for example, if a patient must leave his/her unit for some diagnostic test or procedure).  If providers and staff are unaware of a patient's preferred language, patients are at greater risk of errors, and significant time is wasted trying to obtain the proper interpreter to communicate with the patient.  Both inpatients and outpatients at SFGH could benefit from a process that alerts providers to a patient's preferred language, ideally carried with, or attached to the patient (e.g. similar to a patient ID band, have a preferred language band).