Speaking Healthcare

If healthcare organizations hope to thrive in today’s multicultural melting pot, they have to meet the language access needs of their limited-English proficient (LEP) patients. This is not news to most of you. You deal with that challenge every day. But true success means creating a medical translation program that is economically sustainable, no small thing in today’s world of shrinking budgets and growing demand.

For those who know they can do better when it comes to serving their LEP patients, but aren’t always sure how to pay for the support that requires, viaLanguage is offering a free webinar entitled “Tips to Streamline and Save on Your Healthcare Translations.” Here’s the when:

Sept. 16th at 8:00 a.m. (HT), 11:00 a.m. (PT), 1:00 p.m. (CT), 2:00 p.m. (ET)

As for the what, the webinar will explore new techniques and tips for streamlining your translation process, without compromising the quality or effectiveness of your communications. Topics include:

• Innovative practices for ensuring accurate, readable health materials, including health literacy and cultural assessment
• Recommendations for cutting time and costs while maintaining quality
• Incorporating translation tools and Translation Memory into your projects
• Machine translation today – is it free?

Maybe you’re just getting started with medical translation or perhaps you just want to get the most up-to-date information on today’s best practices. Either way, we hope you can join us!

Good health!
Chanin
viaLanguage

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If you read viaLanguage’s companion blog, WorldMarketer, and I recommend you do for its useful insights for your general multicultural marketing efforts, you’ve seen a spate of posts recently exploring the growing importance of the exploding Hispanic population in the U.S.

The larger commercial world is working hard to respond to this dramatic demographic shift, attempting to understand and meet the unique and varied needs of this increasingly influential group. This is just as true for heath care-related organizations, including those in the life science industries, many of whom may even be guilty of having overlooked this audience.

If this is true of your organization, it might be time to follow in the footsteps of one organization that is sincerely trying to do it right. Medgadget, a journal of what it describes as “emerging medical technologies,” has launched a companion Spanish website as well as a Spanish Facebook page and Twitter feed.

Medgadget is written, edited, and published by a team of independent doctors and biomed engineers. We can assume that their decision to devote the time and expense necessary to build and launch the Spanish-only adjuncts was informed by an understanding of the growth of the Hispanic population.

But whether driven by numbers or not, the site likely stands to benefit, as do Spanish-speaking Medgadget readers who now have a choice, which research has revealed is very important to this audience.

How would your Spanish-speaking audience rate your communications?

Good health!
Chanin
viaLanguage

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If you’re translation professional, you’re undoubtedly already exploiting the vast resources available on the Internet. Every week it seems there is some new tool or technique being introduced that promises to help you do your job.

But it can be confusing parsing out the real solutions from the fanciful, the fully realized from the half baked. And then even when you find an online-driven strategy that promises to help, it can take time to incorporate that tool into your communications program.

Among the useful, but still maturing, innovations is the growing number of web translation glossaries. Created by the contributions of users, these resources are becoming increasingly popular with translators. Whether it’s a definition or an entire document you need, it’s possible someone else has addressed it and added it to the glossary’s database.

But as with everything else on the web, it can be both dicey and time consuming to wade through the myriad sites currently available. Linguee and MyMemory have been identified by some as representing the top-tier alternatives. They offer context where others don’t, and permit users to add their own suggested translation and rate the quality of available translations.

No matter which sites you use, bear in mind that there is no replacement for an experienced translation professional. Just think back to your own work. Chances are good that you can cite examples that would require a high level knowledge to even construct a search. And then there’s the little matter of determining the accuracy of the results.

Good health!
Chanin
viaLanguage

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If you are medical translation professional or a limited English proficient (LEP) patient, you know firsthand how important—and how fraught with possible misunderstanding—translation of medications can be.

It can start at the very beginning with many failing to appreciate the difference between such fundamental words as “medication” and “drug.” Contrary to the words’ regular interchangeable use, they are not synonyms. Rather, the former designates those substances that have a pharmacological effect, while drugs, for our purposes here, are the products into which those medications are made.

As a consequence, some medical professionals use International Non-proprietary Names (INN) to refer to medications/drugs when creating their patient materials. Others rely on commercial brand names. Still others use common names that are understood in the U.S. but largely unfamiliar elsewhere. (e.g., acetaminophen is a widely used name in the U.S., though it is known as paracetamol elsewhere around the world).

It is easy to see how such a situation can compromise the accuracy and clarity that is necessary for safe and effective medical translation. More importantly, such a failure can have profound effects on the ability of LEP patients to make informed decisions about their health. And this is a risk we simply cannot afford to take.

Good health!
Chanin
viaLanguage

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Health-related organizations of all stripes are increasingly embracing the web and social media tools to reach their audiences. The costs tend to be competitive when compared to other communication vehicles and the possibilities potentially great.

However, the difficulties associated with capturing the data from these interactions remains an ongoing challenge for many organizations. While important issues like hosting, legal requirements, and others are being largely resolved, important details like who is visiting the site, where they are going, and how long they are staying are not always clear.

As a result, identifying the best analytics tools and how to set them up is a task many organizations are now making a priority. This is significant as such usage information is critical to determining if your online presence is truly working for your audience, especially if yours is a multilingual site.

You can start by conferring with language services provider (LSP) as they know your business and understand your medical translation and communication goals. In the meantime, you can take a look at Google Analytics as well, which addresses how to report for multilingual sites and e-commerce storefronts, should you have one.

For a bit of background, read the June post on the Google Analytics blog entitled “Advanced: E-Commerce Roll Up Reporting For Websites With Different Languages.” At the very least, it will give you some food for thought and might help you devise the right questions to address to your LSP.

Good health!

Chanin
viaLanguage

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Healthcare professionals have an astonishing amount on their plate these days. With evolving regulatory requirements, emerging technology, and the ever-present considerations of cost and risk, it is little wonder that some find it a challenge to also meet their medical translation goals.

After more than a decade working in the industry, including partnering with some 400 healthcare organizations across the U.S., we’ve learned a bit about how best to tackle this difficult enterprise. We’ve taken that knowledge and distilled it down into a handy, easy-to-use guide.

Called “Beyond Translation: Best Practices for Healthcare,” the guide outlines a range of best practices, offers some time-tested tips, shares a few success stories from other healthcare organizations, and points you to valuable translation resources to explore, all with the intention of helping you achieve your medical translation objectives.

We know from working with many of you that each organization has different needs. Some of you might just be beginning to address language access issues, while others could be looking for new ideas and maybe even a dose of encouragement. No matter where you fall, our hope is that you will find something helpful in its pages.

This is our third—and we hope most useful—edition of “Beyond Translation,” and as always we’re making it available to any and all for free. So, if you would like a copy, simply visit the registration page and let us know. You can download it right there, or we’re happy to send you a copy.

Good health!
Chanin
viaLanguage

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Much energy and attention has been and continues to be focused on how best to communicate with the increasingly influential Hispanic audience in the U.S. One thing that has been learned is that the Hispanic community is, in many cases, frustrated with those communications. For example, because of the poor quality of so many Spanish translated websites, many deem English sites a better alternative even though not their native language.

A recent post on the Hispanic Online Marketing blog expresses concern that the focus on machine translation, including the much-discussed Google Translate, is unfortunately poised to make matters worse.

The prospect of simply inserting your organization’s website content into Google Translate and receiving in return an effective, accurate translation—and for free—is simply irresistible to many. In reality, it echoes the adage that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Because as Hispanic Online Marketing duly points out, sites that opt to use this tool and others like it tend to carry disclaimers alerting you that what you’re reading may not be accurate or reliable. How, one wonders, is this in any way serving the audience?

Such a move may save you money, but in time, a poorly translated site will cost a great deal more. Language is subtle and as much a product of culture and context as words. The reality is that only a human translator, and one with sufficient experience, can effectively meet today’s translation challenges.

Good health!
Chanin
viaLanguage

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Medical translators who work with medical device manufacturers are familiar with addressing the materials associated with the hardware of these important products. Their experience, effectiveness, and accuracy are crucial facets en route to helping ensure safe use of these devices.

But as technology has evolved and grown more complex, these products increasingly have software that plays a central role in the operation of the device. Unfortunately, in some cases medical translation has failed to keep up with these developments. Thankfully, as the Medical Translation Insight blog points out in a recent post, that is changing.

It started with the update to the Medical Device Directive, which included more controls on the translation of software: Software was not considered a medical product, but that has now changed. Perhaps less familiar to medical translators is the new ISO 62304 standard for software, which requires a quality management system (e.g., ISO 13485) and risk management (ISO 14971).

As Medical Translation Insight points out, the June issue of European Medical Device Technology offers a useful primer on ISO 62304, underscoring that medical device manufacturers should ensure that they select software designers who have well-established risk management systems. Ensuring their medical translators have experience with software is a key as well.

Good health!
Chanin
viaLanguage

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Translation is more than exchanging one set of words for another. As anyone who has worked with translation or translators knows, it depends on the language, the culture, the communication vehicle, and a host of other important details. It is also impacted greatly by the industry for which the translation is being done.

For a variety of reasons, medical translation may pose the greatest number of challenges for the uninitiated language services professional. From the use of obscure medical terminology to the risk to patients if translations are not absolutely accurate, medical translation requires a special knowledge and understanding.

If you are considering joining the industry, or perhaps you work with medical translators and want a window into the work they do, Medical Translation Step by Step by Vicent Montalt and Maria Gonzalez Davis offers a clear and effective study of the discipline.

Published by St. Jerome Publishing, the 250-page book offers a comprehensive and practical look at medical translation, exploring a range of important issues, including medical writing, translation practice, and exploration of different methods for learning.

For another perspective, visit Sarah Dillon’s There’s something about translation blog and her interview with Andrew Bell. Bell, who operates AAA Scandinavian Translation and specializes in medical/pharmaceutical translation services, shares his experience working in the field.

It’s good for all of us to appreciate that what we do is important. And it’s good for those who call on our services to remember that translation is more than a simple exchange of words, especially when it comes to people’s health.

Good health!
Chanin
viaLanguage

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As anyone who has read Speaking Healthcare knows, or anyone that has worked with viaLanguage for that matter, one of our key aims is to help ensure that language does not prevent equal access to healthcare for limited English proficient (LEP) patients.

A recent news item underscores that healthcare is not the only arena in which language can prove a frustrating and potentially damaging obstruction. Last week American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a legal brief in the state of Georgia for what can only be considered a dereliction of justice.

In the case in question, a Chinese (Mandarin) speaker was sentenced to 10 years in prison after a trial in which she did not understand any of the proceedings. According to reports, her own attorney failed to request an interpreter for fear of delaying the trial or annoying the jury.

And it’s not an issue unique to the U.S. Countries from Australia to South Africa to Korea are seeking to improve their legal interpreting standards and services. In Ireland, the Irish Times recently revisited a 2003 case in which a Mongolian man did not understand the reading of his rights, a breakdown that led to a review of standards that by the paper’s assessment has produced little benefit.

What seems clear is that just as challenges remain to ensuring equal access to healthcare for LEP patients, so too are their language barriers to an equal access to justice. The upside is that both failings can be easily rectified: It’s simply a matter of delivering effective translation services.

Good health!
Chanin
viaLanguage

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