Letter from the Chair – Happy Birthday CCHI!
Sep 22, 2010
On September 15th, CCHI marked the one-year anniversary of our launch. We have accomplished an amazing amount in a relatively short period of time. As Chair of CCHI, I am both thrilled and awed with our progress
And we are all incredibly thankful for the participation of literally thousands of volunteers to ensure that our credentialing program is truly developed by interpreters and for interpreters.
CCHI continues its commitment to developing a national, valid, credible and vendor-neutral certification program. All of our work complies with the national standards established for certification programs from the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). And we have been working with some of the most highly recognized experts in the certification industry. These companies have over 100 years of combined experience in developing certification examinations. And our test development vendor, Castle Worldwide, helped develop the certification examination for the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf.
CCHI is on the cusp of the first administration of its examinations which begins next month. And by year’s end, we expect to have hundreds of credentialed healthcare interpreters across the country!
CCHI has grown from our 13 original Commissioners to a community of thousands. We are proud to have 19 Advisors who ensure the varied perspectives of the broader healthcare arena are considered. The involvement of these Advisors ensures that our credentialing program will meet the needs of interpreters as well as those who look to CCHI credentials to determine the competency of healthcare interpreters. These Advisors include representatives from the Office of Minority Health, American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, and others. Not to mention the three thousand who have joined the CCHI Community by joining our mailing list, signing up as volunteers, and participating in our national survey and the first administration of our examinations.
Looking back on the past year, here are some highlights of CCHI’s most important accomplishments:
- Conducted a national Job Task Analysis survey with participation by nearly 2500 individuals representing 141 different languages;
- Engaged thousands of interpreters, interpreter trainers and supervisors, and other stakeholders in the development of CCHI’s credentialing program;
- Received recognition of our important work by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health;
- Conducted over 25 webinars and presentations across the country to educate interpreters, healthcare providers and others about CCHI’s work and the benefits of certification;
- Completed the development of the Associate Healthcare Interpreter examination for all interpreters and Certified Healthcare Interpreter examination for Spanish interpreters.
Over the next year, we look forward to the national launch of CCHI’s examinations and beginning to develop our Certified Healthcare Interpreter oral/performance examination in additional languages. We also will be welcoming all interpreters who seek to obtain the highest credential offered to demonstrate their competency as healthcare interpreters.
We couldn’t have achieved all of this without your involvement, support, feedback and encouragement. We look forward to your continued participation in CCHI’s work and to expanding the numbers of healthcare interpreters who receive a valid and credible credential that documents the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to perform as a competent healthcare interpreter.
Please keep your input and feedback coming – these are your credentials and we want to work with you to make sure they are the best they can be!
Mara Youdelman
CCHI Chair
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