App interprets Seton’s patients

To help bridge the gap, Seton contracted with Monterey, California-based LanguageLine about four years ago to test its video remote interpreting, or VRI service. The app allows non-English speaking patients to hear—and in 13 languages also see—a licensed health interpreter on a digital tablet.

Since the trial run, five Seton facilities have adopted the technology, including Seton Medical Center, Seton Northwest Hospital, Seton Southwest Hospital, Dell Children’s Medical Center and University Medical Center Brackenridge.

Rivera said within a year she hopes to expand LanguageLine services to more locations.

Dr. Jessica Morse, a pediatrician, said she used the LanguageLine app during her residency at Dell Children’s in 2014 when a family of Turkish refugees came into the hospital needing help for one of their children.

Using LanguageLine, Morse said she got a Kurdish interpreter’s voice on the tablet immediately.

“All of the sudden we got all this information,” Morse said.

Austin is one of several Texas resettlement locations for international refugees.

The state provides social services, financial and medical assistance to about 4,500 refugees each year, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission’s Office of Immigration and Refugee Affairs.

Sean Normansell, a senior language interpreter at Seton, said many patients who require interpretation services are well-educated political refugees but are limited in their language proficiency.

The app provides users with a list of language selections. Once the user selects a language, the bottom half of the screen displays live footage of the user, and the top half shows a live-streaming interpreter whom patients can see and hear.

The interpreter can also type physician instructions or prescriptions information on the screen for patients to read.

Normansell said patients’ eyes light up when they see their own language written on the screen, and they often take pictures so they can refer back to the information.

LanguageLine Account Executive Jorge Ungo said interpreters are stationed at 29 call centers throughout the United States offering 200 languages via audio interpretation and 13 via video.

Ungo said Seton is the only health care entity in Austin providing VRI service.

“They are paving the way, for sure,” Ungo said.

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