Translating Better Care

Twin Cities health providers are turning to remote video language interpreting as a way to better meet the needs of a growing number of immigrant patients.

The technology could save them money in the long run too.

Allina Hospitals & Clinics, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, HealthPartners, and North Memorial Health Care all contracted in the past two years with Columbus, Ohio-based Language Access Network (LAN), which provides the equipment, its own privately run telecommunications network, and a staff of 50 interpreters who respond from call centers in Ohio and California. The firm’s equipment and services generally cost $2,500 to $3,000 per month for a hospital system, according to LAN.

Fairview Health Services, meanwhile, developed videoconferencing technology in-house. It started trying out Web-based software last week at the University of Minnesota Medical Center emergency department.

Officials at the health providers say the service is worth it because they’re seeing more patients who don’t speak English well.

More than 18,000 people immigrated to Minnesota in 2009, more than double the number in 2000, according to U.S. Homeland Security Department data provided by the Minnesota state demographer. That translates into more patients who don’t speak fluent English.

Some of those encounters are at hospital emergency rooms and baby delivery wards, where in-house interpreters aren’t always present. Before videoconferencing, the best option was to use an over-the-phone service that might miss patients’ visual cues and gestures.

“Typically, when we have a scheduled patient arrival, there will be an in-person interpreter. But with the [emergency department], it could be any time of the day or night or weekends or holidays," said Tom Falkowski, director of patient access strategies at Allina, which introduced LAN to seven hospitals since it picked up the service in April. Besides improving service for a growing group of patients, there are also potential money savings in using remote video for interpreting.

The technology reduces the need for health providers to contract with agencies to bring in interpreters on short notice, a more costly proposition than calling up an interpreter over a television screen.

In-house interpreters are still needed, but the LAN system provides a stop-gap during emergencies if an interpreter isn’t immediately available, said Joy Johnson-Lind, director of child and family services at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota.

“Our biggest advocates for LAN are our interpreters, because they get it. They know it can bridge the gap until they get there," she said.

For more on how technology is helping save costs and serve immigrant patients better, click here for the full story from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal (subscription required).