Improving Access to and the Quality of
Health Care:
What the Private Sector Offers
Michael Greenbaum
CEO, CyraCom
Introduction
“Be careful about reading health books. You may
die of a misprint.”
Attributed to Mark Twain
Introduction
 Key role of the private sector
 Assist with breadth of language services
 Benefits include:
- Increased patient safety
- Cost avoidance
- Operational efficiency
Private Sector Offerings
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Contract interpreters
On demand telephonic interpretation
Language services program assessments
Interpreter assessments
Document translation
Private Sector Offerings
 Technological innovations
- Phone infrastructure
- Reporting tools and integration into
institutions’ management systems
- Responsiveness to varying functional needs
Benefits of Increased Interpreter Availability
Benefits of Increased Interpreter Availability
Increased availability leads to patient safety by
providing access to language services
- Increased number of languages
- Decreased wait time to engage
interpreter
Cost Benefits
 Maximize usage of interpretation resources
 When interpretation resources not available
providers may resort to other means that each have
a cost:
- Dual-role bilingual employees (“dual role”)
- Bilingual family members
- “Pantomime” interpretation
 Lack of interpretation services leads to increased
admission rates, IV interventions and testing costs
Operational Efficiencies
 Telephonic and contract interpreters
- Increase speed to engage interpreter
- Increase number of languages available on
demand
 Assessments that test medical interpretation skills
- Ensure rapid and accurate interpretation
 Reporting by department and language
- Manage best mix of interpretation resource
Impact on the Bottom Line
Using telephonic interpretation minimizes:
 Out of pocket cost for contractors
 Labor cost for staff interpreters
 Burdened staff cost of dedicated interpreters
 Opportunity costs for space and staff
Solutions Provided by Private Sector
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Trained interpreters
Telephone hardware
Software logic
Web-based reporting tools
Improving Access to and the Quality of
Health Care:
What the Private Sector Offers
Michael Greenbaum
CEO, CyraCom