Rx For Communication
Imagine you are writhing in pain in an ER by unable to communicate with the doctor. It happens all too frequently, as growing numbers of non-English speakers land in hospitals that lack interpreters. In response, hospitals are turning to videoconferencing systems that connect health-care workers and patients with faraway translators.
Mercy Hospital in Miami unveiled a new interpreting service created by Language Access Network (LAN).A doctor will be able to call LAN's translation center in Columbus, Ohio, at any hour of the day, pick among 150 langauges, including a range of Chinese dialects and American Sign Language, and gain access to an interpreter who pops up on the screen.
Other hospitals around the country have introduced similar systems. Holy Name Hospital in New Jersey, which subscribes to a service like LAN's plans to equip ambulances with new uits that will provide translation services at accident sites.
This new technology can help get patients a translator quickly - in the time it takes to dial a phone. But most importantly, says Holy Name's John Hirsch, "we don't have to play charades in the hospital anymore."