The Health Literacy Crisis in America: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Help
By Archimedes Insights
Understanding the Crisis
Health literacy — the ability to find, understand, and use health information to make decisions — is at the core of every patient’s care journey. Yet in the United States, health literacy remains alarmingly low.
According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), only 12% of American adults are considered proficient in health literacy. Among older adults, that number drops to just 3%. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that nearly 9 in 10 U.S. adults struggle with health literacy, meaning they are more likely to misinterpret medical instructions, skip preventive care, or delay treatment altogether.
This is not a matter of intelligence — it’s a matter of accessibility. Complex medical jargon, dense discharge instructions, and electronic health records often feel like a foreign language to the very people they are meant to serve.
Why It’s a National Crisis
The consequences of low health literacy extend far beyond individual confusion:
Patient Safety Risks: Misunderstood instructions can lead to medication errors, missed follow-ups, or delayed treatment.
Worse Health Outcomes: People with low health literacy are less likely to use preventive services and more likely to be hospitalized.
Economic Impact: The National Academy on Medicine estimates low health literacy costs the U.S. economy up to $238 billion each year in unnecessary services, preventable hospitalizations, and inefficiencies.
As the HHS notes, health literacy is “the currency of success for everything we do in health care.” Without it, even the most advanced medical treatments can fall short.
What Can Help
Improving health literacy requires action across healthcare systems, providers, and communities:
Plain Language Standards: Encouraging providers and institutions to write discharge notes, test results, and instructions in clear, everyday English.
Trusted Resources: Directing patients to reliable sources like CDC: Health Literacy and HHS: Health Literacy Resources.
Patient Empowerment Tools: Giving families tools to interpret their own records with confidence.
Where RosettaMD Fits In
RosettaMD was designed with this crisis in mind. Built by a physician and physicist, the platform uses deterministic AItrained specifically on medical language to instantly translate jargon-heavy health records into plain English.
Unlike open-ended AI tools, RosettaMD does not “hallucinate” or guess. It translates with accuracy and context, ensuring that patients and caregivers can:
Understand diagnoses, lab results, and medical instructions.
Reduce fear and confusion when reviewing medical notes.
Take a more active role in their own care.
With over 15,000 documents translated to date, RosettaMD is helping bridge the gap between healthcare providers and patients, one report at a time.
Conclusion
Health literacy is more than an academic issue — it’s a daily reality for millions of Americans navigating a system they cannot fully understand. As the statistics show, the stakes are high: safety, outcomes, and billions in national healthcare costs.
But with awareness, systemic change, and innovative tools like RosettaMD, there is a path forward — one where every patient has the clarity they deserve.