Welcome 2010!

Thank you to everyone who made 2009 such a great year!  I hope you had a wonderful holiday season.

Here at Accipio, we’re rested, focused and ready to serve you in 2010.  As they say in the commercials….operators are standing by; ready to take your calls

Take care,

Doug Reed

Much to be thankful for….

It has been a good week at Accipio, with 2 new clients.

We recently reached an agreement with Baptist Express Care, an express clinic affiliated with Baptist Physicians Lexington.  The first location is in the Hanburg Wal Mart; for those of you familiar with Lexington.  A second location will open in December inside the Bashford Manor Wal Mart in Louisville.  Others are likely to open around the state.

Continuing our effort to expand our interpreting/translation work in general business settings, we have begun to work with a Lexington Holiday Inn. The initial idea is to work with their Spanish speaking employees with added opportunities during the 2010 World Equestrian Games at the Kentucky Horse Park.

Many thanks to all clients; new and old.

Doug Reed

Training Video for Working with Interpreters

We are often asked about resources for clinical staff on how to work with interpreters.  Kaiser Permanente and the Healthcare Interpreter Network in California have created just such a video and, best of all, it’s free!  We’ll be ordering one to check it out for ourselves.  Here is a link to the website.  It seems to load slowly so be patient….

http://www.hcin.org/Resources/TrainingDVDforClinicalStaff/tabid/168/Default.aspx

First National Certification for Medical Interpreters Launched

Washington, DC – (October 12, 2009) – 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.”

Here’s a link to a good story on the growing medical interpreting business.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/demand-for-medical-interpreters-is-booming-2009-11-05

Big day at Accipio

We set a company record for the most jobs completed in one day today with 25.  We had done 24 several times in the past.  Whenever we have a big day like this it usually involves several languages.  Today, we did Spanish, French, Mandarin and Cantonese.

A big thanks to all of our clients and interpreters!

Accipio Celebrates It’s 4th Birthday

We call Oct 19 Accipio’s unofficial birthday.  Many days could have been selected; the day we first had the idea, the day we began recruiting staff or the day we did our first interpreting job.  We chose Oct 19, 2005 because that is the day we first came together as a group.  After hiring about a dozen interpreters of various languages, we met on Oct 19 to lay out our vision for the company and to hold our first training session.  That meeting was held in the Cardinal Valley branch of the Lexington Public Library.

It’s pretty cool to think that someone starting college then would now be graduating.  Thank you to all the clients, staff and supporters who have made our dreams real.

Doug Reed

Accipio Language Services Provides Medical Interpreting Services to The Ridge Behavioral Health System

September 29, 2009: Accipio Language Services has reached an agreement with The Ridge Behavioral Health System to provide medical interpreting services in its Lexington, KY facilities. Accipio will provide both scheduled and on-call services.

Accipio President, Doug Reed says, “The Ridge is an excellent example of the variety of healthcare facilities that have been leading the way in the provision of medical interpreting. We are very excited to form a relationship with such an outstanding organization.”

Nina Eisner, CEO of The Ridge, says, “Accipio has been very responsive to the needs of The Ridge Behavioral Health System.  The Accipio staff has consistently demonstrated timeliness in response and professionalism and compassion in their interactions with the patients and families of this hospital.”

About Accipio Language Services: Formed in 2005 to meet the needs of Kentucky’s growing Limited English Proficiency population, Accipio Language Services provides interpreting, translation, training, consulting and recruiting. The company works primarily in the healthcare, government and social services sectors.

About The Ridge Behavioral Health System: Located in Lexington, Ky., in the heart of the Bluegrass, The Ridge offers a healing environment that is reassuring to a patients’ sense of security and confidentiality. Dedicated to excellence, The Ridge is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), as a licensed, 110-bed hospital, providing psychiatric and chemical dependency services to children, adolescents and adults. Inpatient care is provided on a 24-hour basis, seven days a week. Outpatient and partial hospitalization services are provided on a six-day per week basis, days and evenings. Care is provided according to an established code of ethical conduct and strict adherence to patient rights.

Medical Interpreting Salary Survey Begins

Just saw that the International Medical Interpreter Association Salary Survey is underway.  According to Reuters, the strongest
participation ever is anticipated.  Last year, more than 400 interpreters and managers from forty-two states participated in the IMIA Survey; that participation was significantly higher than in the previous year.  This 2009 survey promises to provide the data needed to start looking at profession trends, and to be a research tool that interpreters and managers can use to make decisions related to medical interpreter wages.

“The compensation rates reflect the current standards of recruitment, training and hiring of medical interpreters. National certification will ensure competency and therefore ensure patient safety and equal access to health care in diverse populations,” explained Izabel Arocha, IMIA president. “Certified ASL interpreters earn higher wages than spoken language interpreters, who are
not nationally certified. This will change soon with national certification becoming available for medical interpreters. As awareness for minimum competency increases, the profession will become more attractive for those that are looking to enter a credentialed profession.” Demand for qualified medical interpreters continues to grow at a higher rate than in other professions, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Here’s a link to an interesting story about the growing need for languages in Irish hospitals…

http://www.imn.ie/index.php/current-issue/news/2195-dealing-with-diversity-in-the-hse