Look for a special issue of "In Other Words" coming to you early next week.

A new report, "The New Joint Commission Standards for Patient-Centered Care" co-authored by two former hospital administrators with nearly 60 years of combined language-access expertise, calls attention to the lack of compliance with language access requirements for limited English proficient patients, as new regulations by The Joint Commission enter a year-long pilot phase this year.

The report details the challenges ahead as healthcare organizations struggle to provide necessary language access services and integrate these new and revised standards into their day-to-day operations.

Below is the Executive Summary of "The New Joint Commission Standards for Patient-Centered Care"

"The number of patients with limited-English proficiency seeking treatment from U.S. healthcare institutions is rapidly on the rise.

"Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are already struggling to ensure that these patients receive the same standard of care as those who speak English.

"Now, new Joint Commission standards that have been implemented in 2011 as part of a pilot phase to prepare the field, will require healthcare organizations to provide all patients, regardless of language, patient-centered communication.

"Beginning no earlier than January 2012 organizations that fail to comply may risk jeopardizing their accreditation.

"This paper discusses the challenges ahead as healthcare organizations struggle to provide necessary language access services and integrate these new standards into their day-to-day operations."

Look for your special edition of "In Other Words" newsletter in the coming week.

In addition to this new report, you will learn of a continuing series of "compliance tips" from the report's two authors, and a new program from Language Line Services that will help you ensure language access compliance for your organization.

See you again soon!

The following is excerpted from the NBCMI January 2011 newsletter*

The National Board of Certified Medical Interpreters (NBCMI) has been awarded a grant by the Oregon Office of Multicultural Health & Services for the development of oral certification exams in five additional languages: Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, Vietnamese and Russian.

The State of Oregon currently recognizes the independent board's testing and credentialing in Spanish as meeting the requirements for certification of Oregon interpreters and will extend approval to the CMI credentialing in the additional languages upon implementation of the new oral exams.

"By embracing the National Board's standards and supporting its expansion for five additional languages, Oregon is saving considerable time and resources to achieve our goal of ensuring the safety of LEP patients," said David Cardona, MD, MPH, Healthcare Interpreter Program Coordinator for the Oregon Office of Multicultural Health & Services.

"Oregon is ready to bring the benefits of medical interpreter certification to our state, where the LEP population has nearly tripled since 1990."

* Read the rest of the Board's January 2011 newsletter here >>

Following on the heels of the recent announcement of Louis Provenzano being named CEO of Language Line Services effective, we have received a number of inquiries about Lou, and what is in store with his continued leadership.

Here are just a couple of many supporting comments.

"Lou has proven to be a caring and compassionate advocate for language rights in healthcare" said Izabel Arocha, M.Ed., CMI, and Executive Director, International Medical Interpreter Association (IMIA).

"He not only was one of the first to call for a national standard of care for LEP patients, but also helped make it a reality."

IMIA and Language Line Services are co-founders of the National Board of Certification of Medical Interpreters, the first independent certification board for medical interpreters in the U.S. (www.certifiedmedicalinterpreters.org).

"The field of medical interpreting has recognized Louis Provenzano by bestowing awards for his leadership, vision and relentless pursuit of quality and effective communication," said friend and colleague, Jeanette Anders.

Such honors include the "Friends of CHIA" Award from the California Healthcare Interpreters Association; the Nebraska Association for Translators & Interpreters (NATI) "For the Good of the Profession Award'; and, IMIA's highest honor, the "Rachel Cashman Language Access Award" for which he is extremely proud.

In addition to his efforts on behalf of the profession of medical interpreting, Louis has also served as an active participant in the Monterey Language Capital of the World Advocacy Council, Economic Development leadership of the Monterey Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Board of Directors for the United Way of Monterey County.

When asked about the success he has helped to create at Language Line Services over the past several years, Louis is the first to acknowledge the personal integrity, hard work and professionalism of our company's thousands of interpreters and all who support them.

IMIA Organizes First National Administrators Symposium - Registration is Open!
Interpreter Services Managers to Convene in Miami, Florida on March 18, 2011
Contact: info@imiaweb.org
Sponsorship Opportunities: IMIAFlorida@imiaweb.org

For more information please go to: http://www.imiaweb.org/conferences/adminsymposium.asp

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

5th Annual May 1st National Medical Interpreter Certification Forum, Los Angeles California

Register Now: may1st_nmic_forum@yahoo.com

No Registration Fees to attend - Space is limited, advanced registration is strongly advised!

NAJIT's 32nd Annual Conference
Long Beach Hilton in Long Beach, CA on May 13-15, 2011. Info Kit: http://www.najit.org/

Selected News of the Month

• "Open Letter to Hospital Compliance Officers: Training Records Dilemma and Questions to Ask as Accreditation Standards Enter Pilot Phase" - by Louis Provenzano in the HuffingtonPost.com


• Brown & Toland Physicians Partners with Language Line Services to Expand Language Access for Limited English Speaking Patients

Read more Language Line Services news here >>

Language Line Services, the leader in language interpretation, is seeking to increase its interpreter team in many languages, as well as offering a wide variety of corporate openings.

Dual Role Interpreters in California

An exciting new opportunity is available to experienced interpreters living in or near Contra Costa County or Palo Alto, in Northern California. 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, Russian, Farsi, Vietnamese, Punjabi, Tagalog, Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, as well as American Sign Language.

As for work-at-home, over-the-phone interpreters, we have openings in a number of languages including:

• Arabic
• French
• Somali
• Cantonese
• Korean
• Lithuanian
• Nepali
• Portuguese
• Russian
• Spanish
• Vietnamese

As well as...

• Bambara,
• Cakchiquel
• Cape Verdean (Portuguese Creole)
• Chamorro
• Chru
• Edo
• Hungarian
• Lingala
• Lusoga
• Mankon
• Mixteco
• Papiamento
• Punu
• Slovak
• Susu
• Tigrinya
• Trique
• Uzbek
• and several others (see our Web site)

And, finally, top Corporate opportunities include:

• Human Resources Coordinator
• Sales Executive - Federal Government
• Senior Sales Executives in Business Partnership Development, Healthcare, Government, General Markets, and Face-to-Face Interpretation
• Account Managers in Healthcare and General Markets
• Business Manager - Face-to-Face Interpretation
• Reporting Analyst - SQL Server
• Spanish Tester for Language Line University
• Customer Service Representative
• Scheduler

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 up every week. Visit our Career Center here >>

Each month you'll receive our free monthly email newsletter...

featuring news, tips, interviews, surveys, stats, special offers and other useful information to help you better serve limited English speakers.

If you enjoyed this issue, share it with your colleagues and friends. Just ask them to visit our website and subscribe.

They'll receive the bonus "11 Tips for Working with an Interpreter" as our way of saying thank you.

By the way, your information will never be shared with anyone, ever! See our Privacy Policy here.