Why Medical Interpreters Are Necessary For Telehealth

Technological advancements in telemedicine are changing the ways in which we interact with our healthcare providers. More and more people now have access to timely and affordable healthcare. Additionally, hospitals continue to adopt telemedicine technology at an increasing rate. However, according to the U.S. Census, in the U.S. alone, more than 25 million individuals speak poor English. With increased diversity, medical interpreters have quickly become a necessity in the healthcare industry.

Effective Care

Language translation and interpretation continue to be critical factors in providing effective patient care for poor English speakers. Accurate communication and language comprehension directly affect patient satisfaction and, most importantly, patient safety. It’s almost impossible for a doctor to provide high-quality healthcare services to a patient who speaks a foreign language without the help of a professional medical interpreter. These trained professionals have a working knowledge of complex medical terminology, and they can relay crucial communication points from doctor to patient quickly.

Lowering Practice Risk

With better care comes better compliance. Interpreters essentially function as the link between poor English-speaking patients and the healthcare system as a whole. Improved patient comprehension in medical care means a lower risk of adverse events for your practice. In turn, this decreases the risk for malpractice. Additionally, hospitals using qualified interpreters are more likely to have patients with shorter hospital stays and reduced short-term readmission rates, further reducing liability.

Decreasing Costs

Video remote interpretation, or VRI, is an attractive interpretation method for hospitals and other healthcare facilities. VRI is one of the quickest and most easily accessible options for interpretation; providers aren’t without access to on-demand language services for the most critical medical emergencies. Plus, VRI is often much cheaper than traditional on-site interpreter services. Having a medical interpreter available instantaneously means that facilities likely pay much less for interpretation services than if staffing a full-time interpreter. Both VRI and telehealth have been made possible through advancements in technology, so they complement each other well.

Professional Telehealth and Medical Interpreters

Telehealth is an amazing advancement for the healthcare industry. When used correctly, it improves the access and quality of healthcare for patients, and it reduces costs for both patients and providers. But, for telemedicine to be at its best, it requires partnering with a dependable language services provider.

If you are in the medical industry and are interested in professional telehealth interpreter services, please contact Interpretation Services today. We offer language services for maximized growth and technology designed to enhance the language management experience. Stay compliant with easy-to-use interpretation technology.