Health Care Standards.
- The Joint Commission - Hospitals, Language and Culture: A Snapshot of the Nation (2008)
Begun in 2004, this study collected data from 60 hospitals nationwide about the challenges hospitals experience when providing care and services to culturally and linguistically diverse populations, and how these hospitals addressed these challenges. The results will serve as a foundation for the Joint Commission to set realistic expectations for hospitals to meet the cultural and linguistic needs of the populations they serve.
- AMA Office Guide to Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Patient Care (2007)
- CLAS Standards (2001)
See also the Office of Minority Health CLAS Standards crosswalked to Joint Commission 2007 Standards for Hospitals, Ambulatory, Behavioral Health, Long Term Care, and Home Care
Interpreting Standards.
- National Standards of Practice for Interpreting in Health Care (2005)
- National Code of Ethics for Interpreting in Health Care (2004)
- RID Standards
- CHIA Standards
Quality and professionalism.
Karin Ruschke, MA, has been co-chair of the Standards, Training and Certification committee of the National Council on Interpreting in Health Care since 1999, and was elected as Vice-Chair of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreting in 2009. In her leadership role, Ms. Ruschke has spearheaded the development of critical industry benchmarks such as the National Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice for Interpreters in Health Care. Ms. Ruschke has used this experience to develop the industry's most comprehensive and demanding training program, the Curriculum for Interpreting in Healthcare™. All ILS interpreters must complete the CIH before becoming an ILS interpreter. To successfully complete the CIH, interpreters must:
- Pass oral and written proficiency exams to qualify for the CIH class.
- Complete 50-hours of in-depth training including the study of medical terminology, advocacy, HIPAA guidelines, cultural brokering, difficult encounter role-plays, and the proper role of the healthcare interpreter.
- Complete a multi-appointment internship with a senior ILS interpreter who must sign-off on the intern's ability to implement classroom skills in real patient encounters. For health care interpreters the internship extends to six different assignments in various medical specialties such as cardiology, pediatrics and physical rehabilitation.
A benefit to hospitals.
Hospitals reap several benefits by using ILS interpreters. By providing an accurate and culturally sensitive language bridge between the patient and the healthcare provider, ILS interpreters help the medical team to accurately diagnose each patient and avoid ordering unnecessary and expensive tests that might not be fully reimbursed. While building community loyalty and patient satisfaction, hospitals are also able to enhance quality of care and increase patient safety.
ILS is well-versed in the key compliance policies that healthcare providers need to adhere to including Title VI as well as OMH CLAS Standards, HIPAA, NCQA, and Joint Commission accreditation standards.
ILS charges an hourly rate for on-site interpreting, with rates designed to meet your organization's unique needs. ILS offers flat pricing by language, which can be the most economical and efficient way to pay for a high volume of interpreting services in a single language. Payment plans can range from pay-as-you-go to prepaid time blocks. There are no set up fees or monthly service charges and monthly billing can be tailored to your requirements.
Communicating accurately, and with sensitivity and nuance, is associated with high quality interpreting services. Accurate communication is essential not only to the well being of your clients but to your business as well.
Languages.
We update offered languages continuously based on client needs. Below is a list of languages currently available. If the language you require does not appear below, please call for availability.
| Afrikaans Akan Albanian Amharic Arabic Armenian Ashanti Assyrian Azeri Bahasa (Malaysia) Bambara Basque Basaa Belarusan Bengali Bosnian Bulgarian Burmese Cambodian Cantonese Cape Verde Cebuano Chamorro Chinese Yunnan Choujo Chukchi Chuukese Cotocoli Creole Croatian Czech Danish Dari Dinka Dutch Estonian Ewe Farsi Fijian Finnish Flemish French French Canadian Frisian Fulani Fulde Fuzhou Ga Georgian German Greek Greenlandic |
Gujarati Hakka Hebrew Hindi Hmong Huanese Hungarian Ibo Icelandic (modern) Ilocano Indo Italian Jaaxanke Japanese Javanese Kanjobal Kannada Karen Kazakh Khmer Kinyarwanda Kirundi Korean Kosrae Kpelle Krahn Kunama Kurdish Lanzhou Lao Latvian Lebanese Lithuanian Maithili Malay Malayalam MalteseMandarin Mandinka Marathi Marshallese Maay-Maay Mien Mongolian Myanmar Navajo Nepali Norwegian Nuer Oromifa Pampangan Pangasinan Pashtu |
Polish Ponapean Persian Portuguese Pulaar Punjabi Quechua Romanian Russian Samoan SaraSerbian Shanghainese Shona Sichuan Sicilian Sinhalese Slovak Somali Somali Bantu Spanish Sudanese Swahili Swedish Tagalog Taiwanese Tamil Tatar Telugu Teochew Thai Thai Dam Tibetan Tigrinya Toisan Tongan Trukese Turkish Turkmen Twi Uighur Ukranian Urdu Uzbek Vietnamese Visayan Welsh Wolof Xhosa Yiddish Yoruba Zulu |
