Language Line Services: New York State Hospitals Come Together to Learn About Language Barriers and Solutions.

MONTEREY, Calif. -- During the week of July 25th, 2005, healthcare providers representing over 90 hospitals met in Rochester, Albany and New York City to address the linguistic needs of New York's diverse patient population.

The events were co-hosted by HANYS Solutions, Inc. ("HSI"), a subsidiary of the Healthcare Association of New York State, and the leading healthcare language interpreting service provider, Language Line Services, Inc. The meetings drew healthcare providers, doctors, patient care representatives, risk managers and hospital executives interested in learning about increasing diversity in their patient census and how to effectively communicate when a patient or family member does not speak English.

The conferences included discussions by industry experts who shared information on the latest laws and regulations, best practices, and up-to-date technology to assist in providing quality services to limited-English proficient (LEP) patients and their families.

Martin J. Conroy, Director, Bureau of Hospital and Primary Care Services, New York State Department of Health, shared current information with the audience and described several best practices that hospitals in New York State have adopted

"The need to provide patients with a professional, qualified interpreter is well documented in the form of mandates, guidances and standards," said Language Line Services' Senior Vice President and New York resident, Louis Provenzano. "We wanted to provide hospitals information that would be meaningful and practical so providers have a better understanding of what the issues are surrounding language barriers, as well as solutions and tools available to support them in developing a language access program."

Additional information was presented by representatives of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services as well as the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). The audience heard information regarding federal mandates and recommended guidelines to ensure compliance with those laws.

"Technology is also changing to meet the growing needs of language access," said Jon Hirsch, Director of Hospitality and Guest Services for Holy Name Hospital. "Our facility has embraced the new technology which has made it easier for our staff and patients to communicate with each other, enhancing our healing environment. Limited English Proficient and ASL patients have told us that the interpretive technology has made a significant difference in their understanding when they have received medical services at Holy Name," said Hirsch.

"Our hospital has been using Language Line Services to ensure we can access a medically certified interpreter to augment our own internal professional bilingual staff. Regardless of the magnitude of the need, the time of day, or language, Language Line Services has been an essential back-up to our staff interpreters," said Irene Quinones, Director of Cultural Competency and LEP of Bellevue Hospital.

"More of these sessions are needed in order to share ideas and discuss best practices among healthcare professionals. Together with HSI, plans are already in the works to host another event," Provenzano said.

About Language Line Services

Language Line Services is the industry leader in over-the-phone interpreting. It provides interpreting and document translation services to healthcare organizations, other businesses and government agencies located in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Language Line Services offers an array of language solutions to the healthcare market including interpreter testing and training and its newest service, Language Line(R) Video Interpreting Service. The company is also the provider of the dual handset Language Line(R) Phone which connects patient and caregiver to a medically certified interpreter. Through Language Line Services, anyone with a telephone can now communicate from English into more than 150 languages.

Language Line(R) is a registered trademark of Language Line Services, Inc.