One of the things we’re most proud of at LanguageLine Solutions® is how our expert language professionals can help the heroes of the healthcare industry perform their challenging jobs. When one of our interpreters can talk an injured patient through an EMT’s treatment protocol, assisting them in getting the help they need, it becomes a highlight of that interpreter’s day. More importantly, it enhances the communication between the treatment team and the patient so that the most positive outcome can be achieved.
That’s one of the areas where we know that what we’re doing makes a positive difference.
It’s not just the limited English proficient (LEP) patients who are affected when an interpreting session is required in a medical setting. The doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals at each of our partner hospitals and medical practices are deeply involved as well, and language access has a profound effect on their day-to-day lives.
One means of providing language access that’s highly effective in a healthcare setting is LanguageLine’s InsightSM video remote interpreting (VRI).
VRI at Seton Healthcare Family in Austin, TX
A newspaper article in Community Impact highlighted the fantastic experiences one of our client medical facilities had with InSight.
Seton Healthcare Family is the largest hospital network in Central Texas and a member of Ascension, the largest non-profit health system in the U.S. and the world’s largest Catholic health system. Based in Austin, Seton uses Insight at many of their hospitals: Seton Medical Center Austin, Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas, University Medical Center Brackenridge, Seton Southwest Hospital, Seton Northwest Hospital, and Seton Shoal Creek Hospital.
Because Austin is a popular location for international refugees to settle in the United States and for immigrants highly skilled in technology, the hospital network sees many LEP patients each day. As many as 40 percent of patients at Seton are limited in their ability to speak and/or understand English. Spanish is the most common foreign language for which interpretation services are needed at Seton, followed by patients who speak Vietnamese, Burmese, Arabic and Nepali.
InSight allows staff members to connect with a trained medical interpreter via a convenient tablet-based mobile app. The app is a helpful tool when in-person interpreters are not available to help keep patients informed and provides support at every stage of a hospital visit, from initial admission, through treatment and discharge. With clear and accurate communication being vital in a medical environment, this service is – quite literally – a life saver.
Dr. Jessica Morse, a resident at Dell Children’s, recalls how powerful VRI is:
“A Turkish family came to the hospital needing help for one of their children,” Dr. Morse said“ Their English was very limited, but when I accessed the Kurdish interpreter on the iPad, we were able to get all the information we needed, right away.”
Patients truly appreciate the opportunity to both see and hear a professional interpreter. Sean Normansell, a professional interpreter at Seton, knows firsthand how thin their team can be stretched at times with such a high volume of LEP patients.
“When they see someone on the screen who understands them and can make them understood, their eyes just light up,” he said.
When a Spanish-speaking mother delivered her baby prematurely at Seton, she, too, found the tool helpful. Throughout her stay at the hospital, Insight was a powerful tool that provided the mother with extra comfort and support.
“The doctor speaks a language that I don’t understand well, so this (referring to VRI) is the only way we can communicate,” she said.
She says the tool not only allowed her to understand what her doctor was saying about treatment and care, but also to realize the intricacies of an issue with her daughter’s heart.
Tangible benefits beyond quality of care and patient satisfaction
In addition to quality healthcare and happy patients, healthcare facilities such as Seton have also realized tangible financial benefits through the use of Insight.
Hospitals have successfully received funding through the Medicaid 1115 Waiver program in Texas by tracking incidences of readmission and patient adherence to care instructions with and without VRI available. Using VRI has demonstrated a notable decrease in cost of care along with improved quality of care.
About LanguageLine
LanguageLine has been the world leader in innovative language-access solutions since 1982. The company sets the global standard for phone, video, and onsite interpreting, as well as translation of the written word. LanguageLine is trusted by more than 30,000 clients to enable communication with the limited English proficient, Deaf, and Hard of Hearing communities. LanguageLine provides the industry’s fastest and most dependable access to more than 35,000 professional linguists in 290-plus languages — 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Please do not hesitate to contact us.
