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A high-tech translation at hospital

Posted October 24, 2008

Erika Tovar, an interpreter for Systematech, answers a call from Central Washington Hospital on Thursday. The local company employs 12 people who provide English/Spanish translation.
WENATCHEE — Until last month, Central Washington Hospital contracted to have a certified Spanish-speaking interpreter stationed at the hospital, and others on call to respond when needed.

This is the equipment used at Central Washington Hospital’s dialysis center for Systematech’s interpreter services. Systematech is a local company that employs 12 people and provides English/Spanish translation. (World photo/Kelly Gillin)
Now, at the touch of a computer screen, an interpreter is available immediately, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
In seconds, an interpreter answers, and a live picture comes up on the computer screen, alongside a picture of the patient who’s in front of the screen.
After a one-month trial, it was an easy decision to sign up for inDemand Interpreting, said Jack Powers, the hospital’s director of human resources. Offered by a new Wenatchee company called Systematech, the program is easy to use, faster and cheaper than in-person interpreters, and surprisingly, patients seem as comfortable with a computer-screen interpreter as they do with one in the room, he said.
Community Choice, a consortium of North Central Washington hospitals and clinics, is looking to expand the service to its other members, and interpreters at those health care facilities can join in the network and interpret for others as well. Mid-Valley Hospital in Omak and North Valley Hospital in Tonasket are now planning to switch, said Jesus Hernandez, Community Choice executive director. He said it’s particularly good for small hospitals, which may not get enough business for a full-time interpreter, and whose patients may personally know their interpreter and appreciate the option of using someone they don’t know.
The Wenatchee Police Department is also testing it, with a computer in its lobby and one in a patrol car. Sgt. Cherie Smith said she’s not sure when the department will make a decision. But having an interpreter available at all times would be a big improvement over what’s available to non-English speaking residents now, she said.
“Sometimes we have a bilingual officer on duty, and some days we don’t,” Smith said. If it’s not a serious matter, police may wait until someone inside the department can handle it. “Sometimes, people have to wait a whole day for someone to be on duty. I’m thinking of one case, a lady had her dog stolen, and she found her dog and she wanted to tell us, ‘This is where my dog is.’ But no one could understand her, so she had to wait a day to get her dog back,” she said.
Powers said hospital patients sometimes waited 20 or 30 minutes for an interpreter, and now it’s instant.
He said during the testing phase, Central Washington Hospital used the online interpreters 153 times in one week, for a total of 568 minutes. That’s an average of 22 calls a day, with each call taking less than four minutes.
From that trial with four interpreter stations, the hospital is expanding to least 17 stations, including the hospital’s dialysis center and home care services. Powers said the hospital will still keep an interpreter at the hospital, particularly for emergencies, and interpreters from Systematech will also come to the hospital when requested.
He said initial costs for the online service will be higher due to set-up, but over time, the hospital will save 20 to 30 percent on its interpreting costs.
K.C. Mehaffey: 997-2512
mehaffey@wenworld.com



Wenatchee company saw need for translators on demand

Posted October 24, 2008

"WENATCHEE — Daniel and Elena Pirestani combined their careers and a five-year dream to develop inDemand Interpreting, an online translation service operating day and night in downtown Wenatchee.
Eleven certified interpreters, as many as four at a time, sit at computers ready to take calls and translate from English to Spanish and back again.
Daniel is a computer technician and Elena is a certified interpreter.
Daniel said he attempted to develop online interpreting five years ago, when his wife traveled long distances to interpret for state Labor and Industries. But the technology wasn’t good enough at the time. When he tried again, inDemand Interpreting was born.
The cost is $1 to $2.75 a minute.
For Elena Pirestani, improving the availability of translators is a personal venture as well as a business one. She grew up in California, and as a child was often called upon to translate for the adults in her family.
She remembers having to tell her grandmother that her aunt had leukemia.
“That’s hard when you’re growing up. But you’re the only one they have” to translate for them, she said.
Having affordable, online interpreters will prevent many Latino families from having to rely on their children, she said.
Pirestani said it’s not surprising patients are comfortable talking to an online interpreter.
“In our culture, we’re not against the technology. It’s knowing there’s somebody there who cares that matters,” she said. “We can actually see the other person on the other side. And we don’t have to wait for 15 or 20 minutes.”
— K.C. Mehaffey, World staff