Welcome to “Pain Points,” a newsletter from Solvent Networks intended to discuss the problems that keep hospital leaders up at night and inform them about programs, services and products offered by our endorsed business partners that can help. We tackle pain points and present ready-to-deploy solutions.
PAIN POINT
How can we ensure clear communication with non-English speaking patients?
SOLUTION
Voyce has got you covered in more than 240 languages.
With Canada in the second year of a three-year program of increased immigration, St. Mary’s General Hospital found itself needing interpreters who spoke Albanian, American Sign Language, three dialects of Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Farsi, French, Spanish and many more languages. And that was just in one 30-day period!
In emergency situations where every minute matters, their existing translation service sometimes needed up to 20 minutes to connect hospital staff members with a qualified translator. So they turned to Voyce, a technology-driven company offering on-demand access to a pool of trained medical interpreters who can translate more than 240 language and dialects, including Indigenous languages.
The hospital placed four of the company’s special iPads for a three-month trial in the emergency room, cardiac ward, diagnostic imaging and a medical ward that sees a lot of referrals and has a rapid turnover of patients.
The results were stunning. Time to connect with a translator averaged 19 seconds, patient satisfaction with the service was 100%, and staff satisfaction was 95%. St. Mary’s now has 15 of Voyce’s customized iPads and stands.
The Canadian-based company was created by Andrew Royce partly in response to healthcare needs facing an influx of refugees from Syria to Canada. It now serves hospitals and health clinics throughout Canada, the U.S. and United Kingdom.
“From April 14 back to March 15 that’s 30 days, we have done 432,589 encounters,” he said. “When I started the company, I had no idea we would help this many people.”
For a fast, effective and compliant solution to your translation needs, contact Kristin Hill, Solvent Networks business development manager, at khill@scha.org or 803.454.6959.
As a division of the South Carolina Hospital Association, we understand the hospital business. Our ready-to-deploy solutions for your workforce, financial, operational and compliance needs can save money on your bottom line – or generate revenue that you can re-invest in improving healthcare for the people of South Carolina. For more information, visit Solvent Networks, follow us on LinkedIn or watch HERE. Access your network today.