Limited English Speaking Patients Closer to Being Guaranteed Quality, Equitable Healthcare

Limited English Speaking Patients Closer to Being Guaranteed Quality,
Equitable Healthcare
National Certification for Medical Interpreters Launches; Inaugural Members of
the National Board of Medical Interpreters to Oversee Certification Announced

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Patients in the United States with limited
English proficiency (LEP) continue to face language barriers that threaten
their health and undermine their well-being. But today they are one step
closer to quality, equitable healthcare with the launch of the first National
Certification for Medical Interpreters. A culmination of an over 20-year
effort that included stakeholders from across the industry, this
first-of-its-kind national interpreting standard provides professional
interpreters working in the medical field with the opportunity to be tested
and credentialed as "Certified Medical Interpreter" (CMI).

The CMI designation will first be available to Spanish language interpreters,
with national certification rolling out for several other languages in 2010.

"Hospitals across the country should provide their patients with qualified
interpreters that can prevent the miscommunications and subsequent medical
errors that still occur far too often in some of today's hospitals," said
Mursal Khaliif, Senior Director of Multilingual Services, Cambridge Health
Alliance, Cambridge, Massachusetts. "A national certification for medical
interpreters has been desperately needed to ensure the safety of LEP patients
and I am extremely delighted that we now have a national standard in place."

Language Line Services President and COO Louis Provenzano noted that according
to a recent study by The Joint Commission, LEP patients are almost twice as
likely to suffer adverse events in U.S. hospitals.

"In the highly regulated field of medicine, where doctors, nurses, medical
assistants and even our health insurance agents must hold federal and state
licenses, it seems outrageous that until now the medical interpreter, who is
quite literally the bridge between a patient and potential life-saving care,
had no nationally recognized certification standard," added Provenzano.

Today's launch of the first national certification program coincides with the
announcement of the inaugural members of the National Board of Certification
for Medical Interpreters, an independent non-profit certification entity
founded to oversee the national certification process, award qualifying
individuals the credential of "Certified Medical interpreter" (CMI) and ensure
overall LEP patient safety. The 12-member inaugural board, which represents
top leaders from across the medical and interpreting industries, includes:

-- Jeanette Anders, Manager of Health Care Strategic Initiatives,
Language
Line University, AZ
-- Elizabeth Chegezy, medical interpreter and educator, PA
-- Martin J. Conroy, Senior Manager Public Sector Initiatives, Language
Line Services, NY
-- Karina Craig, Program Manager, CIIC Comunidad Integrada-Integrated
Community, CO
-- Joel Dougherty, Chief Operating Officer, OneWorld Community Health
Centers, Inc., NE
-- Eric Hardt, MD, physician, Boston Medical Center, MA
-- Elena Langdon, medical interpreter and Supervisor of Interpreter and
Translation Services, Baystate Health, MA
-- Nelva Lee, Ph.D., President, The Medical Interpreting and Translation
Institute Online ( MITIO) and IMIA Certification Committee, GA
-- Theo Oshiro, Director of Health Advocacy, Make the Road New York, NY
-- Inna Persists-Gimelberg, Linguistic Programs Manager, Culture Insight
at
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation, MA
-- Alvaro Vergara-Mery, Ph.D., staff interpreter, University Medical
Center
of Southern Nevada, and IMIA Nevada State Representative, Nevada

-- Rita Weil, Ph.D., medical interpreter and educator, PA

The board will review other applications received and may appoint other
members and will work to ensure all stakeholders are involved in the process.

"My colleagues and I are honored and excited to be selected to lead this
historic endeavor that will guarantee competent medical interpretation in the
United States and improve patient safety and quality of care for limited
English speaking patients," said Dr. Eric Hardt, MD, of Boston Medical Center.
"It is our mission to ensure that the certification process is credible,
transparent, valid and inclusive, and protects the interest of all
stakeholders that can be impacted by certification."

During their three-year term, the board members will be responsible for the
policies and procedures related to the implementation of the certification
program, which will adhere to the standards and requirements mandated by the
National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA). They will also assume
responsibility of overseeing the qualification and screening programs that are
necessary to grant credentials to all working interpreters.

The inaugural members of the National Board of Certification for Medical
Interpreters were chosen through an open and public process that invited all
industry stakeholders to participate. Following a call for participation
issued in June and again in July that invited interested individuals and
organizations to apply to become board members, an independent selection
committee, which included representatives from across the industry, spent more
than two months reviewing applications and vetting potential candidates.

"Although there is still work to be done, with the rollout of additional
languages in 2010, I am very pleased with progress we've made and thrilled
that a single national certification standard was put in place in 2009," said
Izabel Arocha, President of the International Medical Interpreters
Association, one of the founders of the National Board of Certification for
Medical Interpreters. "I am especially proud of the manner in which we
selected the national board. The founders did not want to appoint board
members; it had to be a process that was open to the public."

About the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters

The National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters is a non-profit
organization, formed from an independent group of industry professionals that
represent all key stakeholder groups, including professional medical
interpreters, trainers, employers, providers, and regulators. The National
Board serves as the certifying entity and has independent authority over all
essential certification decisions. The purpose of certification is to ensure
LEP patient safety by evaluating and assuring the competency of medical
interpreters. It will not be responsible for accreditation of educational or
training programs or courses of study as per accreditation guidelines. The
formation and structure of the National Board of Certification will adhere to
the standards and requirements for certification program governance mandated
by the National Organization for Competency Assurance. For more information,
visit http://www.certifiedmedicalinterpreters.org.

Media Contact:

Shawn Yanan / shawn.yanan@rbbpr.com / 305-962-1768

This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information, visit
http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Language Line Services

Shawn Yanan for Language Line Services, +1-305-962-1768,
shawn.yanan@rbbpr.com