Creating Continuous and Seamless Language Access for Patients
What Is the “One Patient, Multiple Interpreters” Problem?
In many healthcare settings, patients with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) encounter a different medical interpreter at each stage of their visit. From registration and triage to nursing assessments, physician exams, diagnostic testing, specialist consultations, and discharge instructions, interpretation is often treated as a series of isolated transactions rather than a continuous service.
This fragmented approach forces patients to repeat their medical history multiple times, which not only causes frustration but also increases the risk of miscommunication and clinical errors. Furthermore, each time a new interpreter is connected, there is typically a wait time that delays care and disrupts clinical workflows.
Current Interpretation Models: Always-On vs. On-Demand
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Hospitals typically rely on one of two interpretation models, each with significant tradeoffs:
- Always-On Interpretation: Some hospitals keep an interpreter connected continuously for the duration of the patient’s stay, usually via a dedicated tablet or video device. While this ensures immediate interpreter availability, it is costly and inefficient because interpreters may be idle for long periods.
- On-Demand Interpretation: Other hospitals connect interpreters only when needed. This reduces costs but causes patients to interact with different interpreters at every step, resulting in longer wait times and fragmented communication.
While some healthcare teams use smart scheduling—keeping interpreters connected between closely timed provider visits to reduce wait times—this remains a limited workaround rather than a full solution.
A Team-Based Workflow
One emerging solution is coordinated team-based interpretation. This model involves bringing all members of the care team together with a single interpreter for a joint session with the patient. By doing so, everyone hears the same information simultaneously, eliminating repeated patient storytelling and reducing interpreter wait times.
Coordinated interpretation improves shared understanding among providers and fosters real-time collaboration. Although this approach requires thoughtful scheduling and coordination, the benefits include significant time savings and a better overall patient experience.
Embedding Certified Medical Interpreters Into Care Teams
Another promising strategy is training bilingual healthcare staff as certified medical interpreters. This approach integrates interpretation directly into the care team, removing the need to rely on external interpreters.
Certified staff interpreters bring advantages such as familiarity with clinical workflows, cultural competence, and established trust with patients. This model is especially effective in clinics serving linguistically diverse communities and offers a sustainable, high-quality language access solution.
The Future of Healthcare Interpretation: Continuous, Integrated, and Patient-Centered
To eliminate language barriers effectively, healthcare systems must shift from fragmented, transactional interpreting toward continuous and integrated language support. Whether through coordinated team-based sessions or embedding certified interpreters within care teams, language access can become seamless, efficient, and truly patient-centered.
Learn More from Healthcare Leaders
These insights are drawn from frontline healthcare providers and leaders who have shared their experiences on Care Culture Talks. To dive deeper into innovative interpretation models and their impact on patient care, listen to episodes featuring:
✍️ About the Author
Eyal Heldenberg brings 15 years of experience in speech recognition, AI, and B2B solutions to healthcare communication challenges. As an engineering and product leader focused on language accessibility in healthcare, he works to bridge communication gaps and improve outcomes for all patients, regardless of language background. Eyal was recently involved in research on how technology can improve medical translation accuracy and has facilitated discussions with doctors and healthcare providers across the United States to better understand real-world interpretation challenges. His work aligns with current healthcare regulations and is informed by the latest research on patient-provider language barriers.
