By Liz Elting

Medical Call Center News, AnswerStat Magazine - March 2012

The healthcare applications of remote interpreting services are numerous.

Imagine heading to the pharmacy to purchase medicine and not being able to ask an important question about drug interaction because the pharmacist doesn’t speak your language. Or, if you are trying to find critical drug information by calling your health insurance company’s patient support line and the person who answers your call can’t understand you. How would you feel? Would you feel safe taking the new medication?

Consider a pharmaceutical company conducting trials around the world that needs to be accessible to patients 24 hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week in the case of drug interactions or complications. Using remote interpreters, company representatives and trial participants can be connected in moments no matter what the language needs are.

For hospitals, remote interpreting allows receptionists, nurses, and doctors to correctly diagnose and treat patients with limited English. Remote interpreting companies provide the hospital with a guide on how to determine what language a patient speaks and then connects them with the appropriate interpreter through a call center.

As the market segment in the US that does not speak fluent English grows, the need for remote interpreting services will continue to expand. Any customer-facing healthcare organization can increase their market by having the ability to communicate with every potential customer. Liz Elting is the co-founder and CEO of TransPerfect.