TransPerfect Helps Med-Tech Avoid Big Losses In Translation

Medical Device Daily - March 19, 2004

In the recent film Lost in Translation, what's lost is meaning, specifically the meaning of some key human relationships.

In the medical technology and healthcare fields, a whole variety of things can be lost in translation: the meaning of the words and phrases themselves, the understanding of the technology or drug described and the proper understanding of medical technologies and pharmaceuticals in particular cultural contexts. Even more importantly, perhaps, some of the things that can be lost are confidence and trust in your company and - hardly the least of your concerns - potentially large amounts of money.

Addressing the need for correct, appropriate and quick turnaround of translation projects is TransPerfect (New York), a company specializing in producing translations of materials for a broad range of companies and, increasingly, organizations in the medical technology, pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors generally.

"Basically, anything in a foreign language that a company needs, we do," says Liz Elting, co-founder, president and chief executive officer of TransPerfect. A language student in college, and then living abroad and working for a translation firm, she saw "big companies out there with a need for top-of-the-line service, the best-quality translation with quick turn-around," she told Medical Device Daily. So with a partner, she founded TransPerfect 11 years ago.

Because wrong or unclear meaning in healthcare puts people at risk, the exactness of translation for a medical product going to another country is perhaps more crucially important than any other industry, according to Elting. "One word being wrong can be a major problem," she says.

The substitution of "sturgeon" for "surgeon" is one of the minor and more laughable examples she's seen in one company's literature - merely a proofreading gaffe, but one hardly breeding trust in that firm.

And a more critical error that she cites is the use of "once a day" in a pharmaceutical labeling with the word "once" carried over into the Spanish labeling - but in Spanish meaning "11," the potential risk created being obvious. (And it should be noted that neither of these mistakes came from TransPerfect's translators.)

"Definitely, everything needs to be accurate [in translation]: no typos, no missing text, no spelling mistakes, the right terms." Additionally, Elting says that good translations will be pitched to the level of language of those using the device or technology and suited to the particular cultural context where used. She calls this "style accuracy," a talent especially sought in the translators that the company chooses for its work.

TransPerfect currently has 21 offices, 15 in the U.S., the rest in Europe and Asia, with a full-time staff of 160 and resources of "outside linguists." Elting reports the company has done translations in at least 100 languages - Yapese, Zulu, Truk and Tigrinya being just some of the more abstruse examples - but usually providing translations from English to 30 of what she calls the "big business" languages of other countries.

TransPerfect's list of clients in the healthcare and medical technology sectors is imposing, including (to name just a few) Abbott Laboratories, Becton Dickinson, Boston Scientific, Edwards Lifescience, Ethicon, Interpore Cross, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Siemens, St. Jude and Smith & Nephew.

Not incidentally, some extra work is likely soon to come TransPerfect's way with the May 1 expansion of the European Union, which will grow from 15 to 25 countries. Of these, 19 of these countries' languages are required in the context of the EU's Medical Device Directives - Malta being the exception, accepting instructions for use in English.

The range of the work required, of course, is extensive: packaging and labeling, advertising and marketing materials, product use manuals, clinical research documentation, informed consent and conference interpreting - even the audio for interactive voice response systems.

Ron Tan, director of business development and a medical device specialist for the company, says that a key feature of TransPerfect's service is the speed with which it works.

He cites the case of a software company that took its work to another firm, hoping for the job to be done quickly. It wasn't. It took a month and the result "looked like the work of a college student - the level of language was very minimal."

Brought to TransPerfect for correction and upgrade, the work was done in three and one-half days, Tan reports.

"That's a big issue - getting the translation out there in a timely manner can make a big difference in terms of the money you make," Elting says, a basic concept that is totally familiar to device firms. And having to redo another company's poor translation is a significant source of unnecessary expenditures.

She emphasizes that providing enough time for translation of materials is something that companies need to think about early on. "You have to provide enough time so that quality translation can be produced," she says. "It's hard to do hundreds of pages in a couple days and insure perfection."

Elting notes that TransPerfect is ISO certified, having put in place the required step-by-step processes to ensure the quality of the final product. "We go through these steps in every single job," she says, noting that many of the companies in this sector don't provide the same quality controls. Having the ISO certification is an especially relevant credentialing, she adds, "because we have so many clients in the medical device industry."

The quality of translation offered by TransPerfect, Elting says, is "in the end, the most important thing. Anybody can do a translation. But the real need is for high-quality translation."

—Don Long

About TransPerfect
With revenue of over $250 million, TransPerfect is the largest privately held language services provider in the world. From offices in 66 cities on 5 continents, TransPerfect offers a full range of services in over 100 languages to multinationals worldwide. With a global network of over 4,000 linguists and subject-area specialists, TransPerfect is the largest translation company to be fully ISO 9001:2008 and EN 15038:2006 certified. TransPerfect is headquartered in New York and has regional headquarters in London and Hong Kong. For more information, please visit our website at www.transperfect.com.