IMPORTANT CONVERSTATIONS: Q & A WITH TRANSLATION SERVICES

Riverside University Health System - Language and Cultural Services has helped serve our LEP community for over 15 years. Through continued commitment, prioritization, and long-term planning they have paced their efforts devoting resources toward providing high-quality language access services to RUHS patients and communities. The department has changed throughout the years, but the one thing that remains constant is our mission and purpose.

Cary Stueland Administrative Services Manager I and Gabriela Vargas Administrative Services Analyst II, share a conversation to provide an insight into what RUHS - Language and Cultural Services is all about.

Cary: What types of services are offered through Language and Cultural Services?

Gabriela: RUHS offers patients and families with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) free access to a medical interpreter at no cost to them. Our services are provided by a team of professional medical interpreters via in-person, telephonic, and virtual means in over 250 languages. Virtual and telephonic language access services are available 24/7, 365 days a year. In-person medical interpreters are available during business hours and some locations also have extended availability. Video Relay Services are also available upon request.

Cary: Which languages are available through your services?

Gabriela: At RUHS Medical Center, we currently provide in-person interpretation in ASL, Spanish, Arabic, and Mandarin/ Chinese. At the RUHS Medical Center, Arlington Campus, Moreno Valley Community Health Center, and Corona Community Health Center, we provide in-person Spanish interpretation.

Telephonic and virtual interpreting is available in over 250 different languages at all locations 24/7, 365 days per year.

Cary: How many medical interpreters does RUHS have onsite?

Gabriela: Our team consists of 21 medical interpreters, 18 Spanish, 1 Chinese/ Mandarin, 1 ASL and Spanish, and 1 Arabic. Cary: How many interpreted encounters would you say are performed within 12 months?

I hope you are ready to be amazed. Looking at the 12 months from July 2021 to June 2022, Language and Cultural Services interpreted 38,746 in-person encounters and facilitated another 134,520 via telephonic and virtual means. More astounding, telephonic and virtual call volume also totaled 1,671,473 minutes within these 12 months.

Cary: What is the difference between Interpretation and Translation?

Gabriela: Interpretation is rendering a spoken or signed message into another spoken or signed language while preserving the context and meaning of the source language content. Translation is the process of converting written words or text from one language into another language. This must be done with accuracy, cultural sensitivity, and literacy level maintaining the same meaning as the original document.

Cary: Are there translation resources for RUHS?

Gabriela: Yes, we have a team of 6 translators, 4 Spanish, 1 Arabic, and 1 Chinese/ Mandarin that work diligently on translation projects for different programs and departments RUHS.

Cary: How many translation projects has this team completed?

Gabriela: In the 12 months from July 2021 to June

2022, the translation team completed 205 translation projects. The complexity of these projects ranges from low to high and some take longer to complete than others. There are many factors to consider such as the word count of the original document, the document format, the number of pages, not to mention the source language, and our thorough review process. We have translated medical records from foreign countries, patient education materials, consents, hospital communications, marketing materials, and much more.

Cary: What is something new that is happening with Language and Cultural Services?

Gabriela: I am proud to share some initiatives we are currently working on. We are always looking for ways to improve our services and ensure that we provide the best possible care for our patients. We provide continuous support to sustain the success of these initiatives and are continuously monitoring and making assessments to adjust for evolving needs at RUHS.

One of our latest initiatives would allow us to extend in-person language access services for patients that are admitted to the emergency room at RUHS Medical Center during the night shifts. This would amplify our in-person services to patients and families that visit RUHS after normal business hours. This is still in the development stages, but we are hopeful that it will be up and running in the near future.

Another project we have been working on for the past year and a half is introducing additional technological resources into departments and locations that experience high LEP volume. Virtual interpretation services are now accessible through a mobile application on iPads. We have delivered over 150 new iPads equipped with the application throughout RUHS Medical Center, Arlington Campus, and Community Health Centers. Currently, we are in the process of incorporating more throughout other locations. In addition to delivering the equipment, we provide training to staff ensuring an optimal end-user experience.

Cary: In the time that you’ve been a part of Language and Cultural Services, how has the program changed for the better?

Gabriela: I onboarded with RUHS - Language and Cultural Services in April of 2021. I am constantly saying that I feel so proud to be a part of this team because our services are evolving alongside the healthcare system.

One example is, we are a department that makes data-driven and evidence-based decisions. We closely monitor the performance of our program. We are continually measuring and analyzing data to improve the quality of care that we provide our LEP community. The data we collect also plays a big part in determining the department’s future direction and our overall organization. We have been able to use data to address the needs of RUHS departments and locations. Some of the data analyzed include language mix, interpreter utilization by department/ location, encounter types, translation requests, and more. This data supports decisions we make regards to workflows, budgets, and staffing needs.

Cary: How are Language and Cultural Services connected to other programs? How does this benefit the patient?

Gabriela: Language Access Services are important and play a significant role to provide holistic care for patients. Language and Cultural Services works collaboratively with all RUHS programs to facilitate communication. We provide departments and other programs access to professional medical interpreters ensuring that patients have full and equal access to all services provided by RUHS. Healthcare and communication are two critical areas that must work together to deliver the best possible care for patients. We connect to other programs by serving our purpose.

In my experience, I have learned that when patients are provided language access, they have a golden opportunity to become engaged in their healthcare. Once a patient understands their condition(s), care plan(s), and healthcare, they make behavioral changes. They become more compliant taking initiative and ownership, making necessary adjustments to their lifestyle fully knowing they have a chance to improve their quality of life.

Cary: Is there someone in your department who serves as a role model or a great example of the program’s ideals?

Gabriela: If I am, to be honest, all our medical interpreters serve as role models. Medical interpreters are often the unsung heroes of the healthcare world. People don’t realize what they endure when they interpret encounters in the first-person role. It is amazing to me how they can immediately go from encounter to encounter and mentally adjust in between. Sometimes they have less than five minutes in between and depending on the types of encounters some of them are tough. Just to give you an idea, we have had medical interpreters perform more than 300 in-person encounters in one month. Our team is a great example of what it means to be a professional medical interpreter, the hard work it entails, and the professionalism needed to fulfill the needs of the LEP community. They are truly inspirational.

Cary: What tech or platforms help improve patient care and/or improve patient outcomes?

Gabriela: The application in the iPads used to access a virtual interpreter has added value to patient care and outcomes in the sense that the service is mobile and innovative all at once. This makes it pos- sible to provide our services as needed. It’s great technology and is very easy to use. This benefits patient outcomes in many ways. When a patient comprehends their responsibilities, they make informed decisions about their health. Which in turn, also plays a big part in shortening hospital length of stay and reducing hospital readmission rates.

Cary: What are you looking forward to in the future?

Gabriela: Healthcare evolution has taught me to be a visionary advocating for growth and change when necessary. In the future, I look forward to the possibility of incorporating community outreach into our services. Promoting and raising awareness of our language access services is powerful. We can encourage the LEP community to seek healthcare for their conditions, whether chronic or acute. The more we reach out to the community, the more population health has the potential to improve. We want our communities to feel supported in knowing that we do everything we can to reduce healthcare disparities. We provide them with equal access to all our healthcare programs, and we want them to know RUHS provides language access services at no cost to them when they are visiting any of our facilities.