Focus - Healthcare

We all understand that healthcare is a pretty important matter. It is important to have it, but it is just as important to understand how one is covered by it. And the first step to understanding healthcare coverage is… you might have guessed it: language.

According to the 2013 US Census, about 21% of the population (that’s 60.6 million people more or less) spoke a language other than English at home. Language diversity has only increased in the past few decades, a fact due partly to long-term historic immigration patterns. Thinking of how this applies to healthcare, linguistic variety brings up the need for an adequate communication between healthcare providers and their members. This is essential, as poor communication could lead to disparities in the quality of the services.

In order to make your company’s healthcare documentation available in other languages that may be relevant for your members, there are a few things to keep in mind:

Accuracy, accuracy, accuracy! An accurate translation is of utmost importance in the healthcare sector. A mistake in the translation can misinform members, leading them to act on the wrong information. Any changes to plans, copayments, covered medications, etc. need to be communicated in a timely and correct manner to the members. After all, we are dealing with people’s health here!

Linguists must be familiar with the target audience. Our healthcare translators are based in the US and have direct experience with the subject matter, in order to correctly convey the content to the target audience. While the members’ main language may not be English; they currently live (and may have lived all of their lives) in the United States, therefore being familiar with the country’s system, laws and customs. It is essential that our linguists understand that, and that our translations reflect such understanding.

Timelines. We understand that you deal with tight deadlines, and that many things are not within your control: from healthcare reforms to compliance audits, documentation needs to be updated constantly based on different external and internal factors. As your translation partner, we will keep these in mind and work with you to help you meet any deadlines!

Some examples of healthcare documentation that we can help you translate:

• Evidence of coverage

• Summary of Benefits

• Annual Notice of Changes

• Pharmacy Directories

• Letters to members

• Formularies

• Policies

• Newsletters

• Claims

Read about BeatBabel's approach to Translation