Sharon Blank Spills the Tea on the Prescription Translation Crisis Hiding in Plain Sight

Welcome to HITeaWithGrace, where we spill the tea on HIT.

Today I'm honored to welcome Sharon Blank, CEO of Language Scientific and RxTran - two organizations at the intersection of language access, patient safety, and pharmacy operations.

Here's something most people outside the industry don't realize: right now, pharmacists across the country are quietly using ChatGPT and Google Translate to handle prescription instructions for Limited English Proficiency (LEP) patients; sometimes with a liability waiver pushed onto the pharmacy. It's common, it's underregulated, and it's putting patients at risk.

Sharon has spent her career closing that gap. In this episode, she walks us through exactly where the prescription journey breaks down for LEP patients, why medication non-adherence isn't a behavior problem when you can't read the label, and what it means that 22% of U.S. hospitalizations trace back to patients not taking medications correctly.

We also dig into the regulatory wave that's coming: Washington State's ESHB 1852 goes live in January 2027 requiring pharmacies to provide instructions in at least ten languages, and New York, California, Oregon, and Nevada are already there. Sharon breaks down what pharmacy leaders need to do right now, regardless of their state.

And as a woman CEO building category authority in a space that's long been overlooked, Sharon has something to say about leading with purpose when the spotlight isn't pointed your way yet.

This one matters. Pour your tea and tune in!