"Your Voice" is hosting its 6th free Webinar on Thursday, April 1, 2010, 1:00PM - 2:15 PM Eastern Daylight

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), which accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations, released its long-awaited "Multicultural Health Care Standards" on March 29, 2010.

The standards pertain to:

• Data collection of race/ethnicity and language
• Language services such as translation of written documents and oral interpretation
• Practitioner network cultural responsiveness, and
• Accountability and quality improvement, including using data to improve culturally and linguistically appropriate services (CLAS)

To register for this free webinar, go to: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/617632675

Attention: interpreters, health care providers, educators, trainers, employers, advocates and members of limited English proficient communities, policy makers and other supporters.

Advocacy Day & Rally in DC - You are invited to join us for a National Medical Interpreter "Pre"- Advocacy Day & Rally Conference Call.

This call is to help prepare those registered, or interested in registering, to participate in the April 30th Lobby Day and Rally at the Capitol for interpreters, patient safety and reimbursement for hospitals.

• Topic: National Medical Interpreter "Pre"- Advocacy Day & Rally
  
• Speaker: Suzanne duMont, Vice President, Cardinal Point, DC (pictured)
  
• Date: Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 Duration: 1 hour
  
• Time: 9:00 a.m. Pacific / 10:00 a.m. Mountain / 11:00 a.m. Central / 12:00 p.m. Eastern
  

Come stand up with your fellow interpreters and colleagues and show your support!

This interactive call session will help you get all your questions answered National Medical Interpreter Certification.

Click here for everything you need to know to join us.

New research published by The Public Library of Science

"The Effects of Four Preventable Risk Factors on National Life Expectancy and Life Expectancy Disparities by Race and County in the United States"

"There has been substantial research on psychosocial and health care determinants of health disparities in the United States (US) but less on the role of modifiable risk factors.

"We estimated the effects of smoking, high blood pressure, elevated blood glucose, and adiposity on national life expectancy and on disparities in life expectancy and disease-specific mortality among eight subgroups of the US population (the "Eight Americas") defined on the basis of race and the location and socioeconomic characteristics of county of residence"

You can read the rest of this study here >>

Interpreter Trainers to Convene in New Brunswick, New Jersey for First Ever National Symposium Focused on Medical Interpreter Education.

Trainers, instructors, language coaches, and curriculum designers of medical interpreting educational programs will gather on the New Brunswick campus of Rutgers University, in New Jersey, on Saturday, June 12, 2010 for the first annual National Symposium on Medical Interpreter Education.

The theme of the symposium is: Medical Interpreter Education, A New Standard.

"Now is the time to embrace the new national standard and educate our peers of its value. Symposium participants can take an active role in this national process by joining various projects that are in progress, whose work will be discussed at the symposium," said Hank Dallman, medical interpreting instructor at Rutgers University.

Participants will learn of the latest best practices and trends in medical interpreter instruction, and how to overcome the current challenges of interpreter education professionals.

Key topics to be discussed include an overview of the different types of training programs and venues in which interpreter education takes place, the latest updates on different technologies, training for national certification, internships and practicums, applying for CEU credits, the National Trainers Code of Ethics, and the upcoming IMIA Accreditation Standards for interpreter training programs.

"This event marks a great networking opportunity for interpreter educators nationwide to meet in a more focused way to share ideas and knowledge related to their own working needs," said Izabel S. Arocha, M.Ed, IMIA President

For save the date flyer go to: http://www.imiaweb.org/uploads/pages/533.pdf

To register go to: http://www.imiaweb.org/conferences/2010TrainersSympReg.asp

For more information about the First Annual Medical Interpreter Symposium, please contact IMIATrainersSymposium@gmail.com.

"Hospitals facing language barriers turn to medical interpreter hot lines for help"

3/7/10-Associated Press by Annabelle Garay and Linda Stewart Bell

Dr. Barton Giessel presses on spots down Maria del Rosario Gomez's back while talking into the speaker of a cordless telephone to ask where it hurts.

A man's voice spills out from the phone, posing the question to Gomez in Spanish and then relaying her response in English.

"The pain goes to the left breast," the interpreter on the phone says, as if he were the patient. After her consultation ends, Gomez calls the entire exam a blessing.

The telephone interpreter is part of Parkland Memorial Hospital's growing effort to connect with patients in their own language throughout the facility, from the intake windows, to triage to patient rooms.

On-the-spot interpreters are accessible through about 1,000 cordless, headset and dual-handset devices at the Dallas hospital.

It is a trend getting more attention at many other U.S. hospitals, several of which are turning to telephonic or video interpretation services to help supplement their in-house interpreters and bridge the language barriers that might otherwise keep growing numbers of non-English-speaking patients from getting an accurate diagnosis or proper medical attention.

Read the rest of this Associated Press story here>>

• Hear presentations on latest national lobbying updates
• Receive training on how to advocate
• Be the voice of the LEP patient in Washington, DC
• Come with us to your Senators and Representatives offices, we need you!

Attention! Providers, State Representatives, Interpreters, Associations, Trainers, Educators & other stakeholders. Register now to ensure a seat.

Last year's May 1st Forum was full capacity! There is NO FEE to attend this important annual, multi-stakeholder event.

Register now!

Selected News of the Month

• "Misclassification of Workers Puts Courts, Due Process in Jeopardy" by Louis Provenzano - HuffingtonPost.com


• Language Line Services' - Cross-Cultural Update for March 2010. Useful Cultural News, Tips and Timely Information


• Language Line Services Awarded Interpretation Services Contract by United States Department of Homeland Security

More Language Line Services news here >>

What Every Interpreter Needs to Know to Get Certified

This is the second open call in an ongoing series of informational forums to provide updates and information to interpreters, stakeholders and the industry at large.

All are invited and welcome to participate!

Topic: What Every Interpreter Needs to Know to Get Certified

Speaker: Nelva Lee, PhD. Chair, National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters

Date: Saturday, April 10, 2010

Time: 9:00 a.m. Pacific / 10:00 a.m. Mountain / 11:00 a.m. Central / 12:00 p.m. Eastern

Duration: 1 hour

To access Audio portion of the meeting: USA Toll-Free: (877) 336-1839 ACCESS CODE: 6248587

To access the Web portion of the meeting:

Web Meeting Address: https://www.webmeeting.att.com

Meeting Number(s): (877) 336-1839

ACCESS CODE: 6248587

We recommend that you dial in 5 minutes early to avoid issues. The call will be muted to participants to prevent audio issues or background noise. If you have questions in advance ñ you can also submit them to info@certifiedmedicalinterpreters.org

In case you do not have web access but still wish to follow along, the presentation can be downloaded at www.certifiedmedicalinterpreters.org

If your organization would like an individual presentation, we will be happy to accommodate! Please contact info@certifiedmedicalinterpreters.org

Language Line Services, the leader in language interpretation, is seeking to increase its over the phone interpreter team in many languages including:

• Chru
• Edo
• Garre
• Kotokoli
• Kpelle
• Mam
• Mixteco
• Trique
• Punu
• Putian
• Sango
• Sinhalese
• Uzbeq*

An exciting new opportunity is available to experienced interpreters living in the Los Angeles area. Interpreters will now be able to do both on-site, face-to-face interpreting as well as over-the-phone interpreting in the following languages: Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Korean, Russian, Farsi, Armenian, and Japanese.

And, finally, among non-interpreter positions, here is a selection for which we are interviewing:

• Account Manager
• Collections Specialist
• Customer Contract Salesforce Administrator
• Interpreter Response Center Specialist
• Payroll Specialist
• Business Development Executive
• Response Center Specialist
• Graphic Designer/Production Artist, and
• Several other positions

For non-interpreter positions, please apply at: www.languageline.com/careers. Click on "Apply Today" under "Corporate Careers" and follow the directions to add your profile.

EEO/AA Employer.

* Some positions may have been filled by the time you apply. However, new positions open every week.

Visit our Career Center here >>

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