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24 Eur. J. Health L. 1 (2017)

handle is hein.journals/eurjhlb24 and id is 1 raw text is: European Journal EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF HEALTH LAW 24 (2017) 1-23 of Health Law BRILL N IJ HOFF brill.com/ejhl Lightning or Lightning Bug: The Role of the Language Gap and the Access to Proper Information on Entitlements in Cross-border Patient Mobility Gabriella Berki Assistant Professor, Department of Labour Law and Social Security, Faculty of Law and Political Sciences, University of Szeged, Hungary berkig@juris.u-szegedhu Abstract The language barrier and the lack of reliable information were identified as major practical obstacles of European patient mobility. Patients are highly concerned about the ability to communicate with their doctors when obtaining healthcare in a country where they do not speak the local language, as well as they find it complicated to gather all the necessary information about an unfamiliar healthcare system or about their cross-border healthcare entitlements conferred on them by the Union legisla- tion. In a multilingual and patient-friendly European Union these issues must be tack- led in order to ensure effective healthcare and to enforce patients' right to cross-border healthcare. This article investigates the current legal tools within the European Union on language gap in patient-provider communication and access to information on cross-border healthcare entitlements. Moreover, it offers some possible solutions for the future. Keywords cross-border patient mobility - language gap - access to information - European Union - Patient Mobility Directive @ KONINKLIJKE BRILL NV, LEIDEN, 2016 DOI 10.1163/15718093-12341405