Telehealth is a diverse term that contains several characteristics in it such as offering remote non-clinical healthcare services. These services count on administrative meetings, medical education, and connecting with healthcare professionals via electronic information and telecommunication technology. Telehealth interpreters are also called medical interpreters. They perform specific duties and they are certified in doing so. In the U.S there is a high rate of non-English speakers and they need a medical interpreter at the time of checkup during an in-person examination or through telecommunication. Let’s find out the Telehealth Interpreter services and the solutions to their problems.
Telehealth Interpreter Services:
Non-English speakers rely on Medical interpreters during the time of diagnosis. Medical interpreters assure the transfer of accurate information between the doctor and the patient. It is also beneficial for the medical staff and nurses. The working areas for medical interpreters are nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, physician offices, and mental health clinics. They also work independently and with interpretation agencies such as Languagers. However, a telehealth interpreter offers the service of translating medical conditions, treatment options, follow-up appointment details, billing, and insurance. They are involved in each procedure of the treatment such as in interpreting medical documents, books, and lectures in a clinical setting and also help the patient to carry out the paperwork. One of the biggest roles is to gap the distance between the doctor and the patient. Communication is the only key to get acquainted with each other but in the case of speakers of different languages, telehealth interpreters do so. The patient also feels secure around them interpreter and easily shares sensitive issues about their health. Working as an assistant for the patient while telecommunication demands various tasks such as follow-up phone calls and check-ins and appointment reminders. In the medical field, there are continuous researches made on new diseases and their cure, therefore, the healthcare professional and interpreter need to get the update to improve the quality of their services. Last but not least patient confidentiality is of extreme importance to the interpreter and they are bound to act according to the hospital policies.
Problems and their solutions:
Telehealth interpreter services face many problems. There is a list of them let’s explore them. The first one is service unawareness. It happens when the patient is not aware of the services offered by the telehealth interpreters and it results in a low conversion rate of the client. It is extremely important to create and run a social media marketing campaign for your services to reach the targeted audience and get more conversion. The next one is poor understanding of technical skills by the patient. In such circumstances, patients are unfamiliar with the technological advancement and they use incompatible devices which results in ineffective interpreting services. The solution is to aware the patients by the proper use of telecommunication methods.
The other problem is expensive technology. The patient gets a bundle that includes many services by telehealth services providers but its cost and profit can be a concern for the hospitals and physicians. Reimbursement is also a concern for telehealth interpreters. Because it is difficult for telehealth service providers and interpreters to get reimbursement coverage because of virtual dealings with the authorities. Its solution is to make a reimbursement claim through a plan that keeps the receipts and records of the expenses of treatment.
Conclusion:
Telehealth Interpreter services and the problems of their solutions are listed above. The problems are lack of awareness of the patient, low-marketing strategies, reimbursement, and expenses of telecommunications. However, Languagers is playing important role in offering reliable telehealth services and interpreters. To know more about our services, check out our website.