To help expand patient access, healthcare embraced virtual interpreting, a trend that was jumpstarted by the pandemic. In a survey conducted by the Center for Connected Medicine, medical professionals agreed that the problem with the greatest potential to be improved with technology and innovation is patient access.
Although telehealth has been an option since 2019, merely 8% of patients took advantage of it. Despite 66% of them agreeing that they’re open to telehealth. Since the onset of the pandemic, however, that number has increased exponentially. An early June 2020 survey from Doctor.com found 50% of 1800 patients have used telehealth since the start of that year.
The COVID-19 crisis helped the world realize that interpretation isn’t a service dependent on physical presence. In fact, Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) has been on the rise over the last couple of years. And the demand for remote video interpreting skyrocketed with the outbreak of the global health crisis.
What Does the Rise of the Use in Virtual Interpreting Mean Language Service Providers?
There’s a much higher demand for telehealth and other virtual interpreting services. This is why healthcare interpreting providers now push for even more solutions. Up to 97% of doctors report treating a variety of patients that have some level of difficulty understanding the English language.
To meet this new higher demand for language services, telehealth adaption includes interpretation options. Language service providers that cater to the healthcare sector pivot toward virtual integration so they remain competitive as healthcare language support providers.
Understanding Telemedicine
Telemedicine is a practice that enables healthcare professionals to evaluate, diagnose, and treat patients through communications technology. The service is offered through videoconferencing solutions on platforms including Zoom and Skype.
In many cases, however, healthcare providers and their patients are hindered by a language barrier because they do not speak the same language. And this is where virtual interpreting comes in. Interpreters are added to the setup to help facilitate smooth communication between doctors and their LEP patients.
Many language service providers also have their own video conferencing platforms to facilitate this remote service whenever interpreting is required for LEP patients.
Although English is the most common language used throughout the United States, it doesn’t rule the roost. In fact, one of the biggest challenges that healthcare providers face is language access.
Fortunately, health care organizations can improve their value proposition for LEP patients by including remote interpreting services in their virtual healthcare solutions.
Understanding Video Remote Interpreting in Healthcare
When healthcare embraced virtual interpreting, video remote interpretation (VRI) services gave them a way to communicate with LEP and Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing patients effectively and efficiently.
Today, VRI is the fastest growing language service in the United States since it eliminated language barriers by quickly connecting healthcare professionals with on-demand, remote interpreters via video.
VRI effortlessly combines highly accurate interpretation with face-to-face communication while retaining the speed and simplicity of telephonic interpreting.
Here’s a look at how it benefits the medical sector:
Offers Fast Responses for Urgent Situations
VRI allows healthcare providers to provide a fast response for spoken and sign languages when their patients need it most. VRI is an on-demand interpreting solution ideal for times when the need for communication is urgent. Here at Day Interpreting, we provide on-demand access to professional interpreters 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year!
Cost-Effective Language Access Solution
Video remote interpreting fills the gap between telephonic interpretation and in-person interpreting. On-site interpreting has a set minimum charge on top of mileage and travel charges. However, VRI is perfect since you only pay for the language services you use. There are no minimum hours, and you don’t have a set contract. Part of Day Interpreting’s commitment to our clients is that we want to optimize and lower your language service expenses. And that’s why we only charge you for what you use.
Suitable for a Wide Range of Uses
VRI relies on videophones or web cameras to provide sign and spoken language interpreting services. It can be a highly efficient remote interpreting method because it’s an on-demand service that gives you instant access to language services. Thanks to the visual support element or VRI, everyone in the conversation can pick up on non-verbal communication, which further enhances the experience.
Promote Equal Access to Healthcare Services
Using virtual interpreting, healthcare providers better understand their patient’s cultural backgrounds and how they might affect their healthcare journey. Interpreters can also educate the members of the healthcare team on the ethics and requirements of practice when facilitating medical interpreting.
Security
Day Interpreting’s secure, online portal ensures that clients have 24/7 access to their data. The secure app also allows healthcare providers to instantly connect with interpreters on the go, which means it’s safer, quicker, and more accessible than ever before to bridge the language gap in hospital settings.
Many Languages in One Place
It’s not uncommon for hospital staff to encounter multiple foreign languages in one day. Although many hospitals employ permanent on-site interpreters, it’s highly unlikely that they’ll have an interpreter on hand for every spoken language within the hospital. But VRI offers an abundance of language options. Healthcare providers have access to all these languages the click of a button. VRI is an ideal solution to cross the language barrier if specific languages aren’t frequently spoken and there is no full-time need for interpretation of the particular language.
Improve Your Language Access by Teaming Up with Professional Language Service Providers!
Day Interpreting, as part of the Day Translations inc. group of companies, offers HIPAA-certified medical interpreting services for healthcare organizations. We offer video remote interpreting, over-the-phone interpreting, and on-site interpreting services. We handle more than 100 languages, including minority and indigenous languages.
For more information on our VRI services, reach out to us today! We’ll show you how beneficial they are to business. We also have a full suite of language services to help you transcend the language and culture barrier! Get in touch with our team of interpreting experts today!
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