Dive Brief:
- Clinicians at 30 Providence Health & Services facilities across the western United States are getting help treating non-English-speaking and deaf patients with online interpreters, according to the Spokesman-Review.
- The hospital's video interpretation provider, Language Access Network, provides access to interpreters through a touchscreen computer. The interpreters are available around the clock and can translate more than 200 languages.
- Video interpretation has saved the facilities money, as in-person interpreters are not paid for by insurance in most cases, and interpreters charge $30 an hour plus per-mile travel costs, according to the article.
Dive Insight:
Hospitals need interpreters — it's just a matter of how they access the service. Without interpreters in place, hospitals have gotten into legal trouble. For example, according to FierceHealthcare, a deaf man's family filed a lawsuit against three Long Island medical facilities in February, arguing that the man died of malignant melanoma because the facilities failed to get him a sign language interpreter and performed procedures without explaining risks and benefits.