NUMC FIRST AND ONLY HOSPITAL IN NORTHEAST REGION TO JOIN PARAS ALL LANGUAGE VIDEO INTERPRETER NETWORK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 6, 2010

PRESS CONTACT:
Shelley Lotenberg
shelley@numc.edu
516-572-6055

NUMC FIRST AND ONLY HOSPITAL IN NORTHEAST REGION TO JOIN PARAS ALL LANGUAGE VIDEO INTERPRETER NETWORK

VIDEO INTERPRETER NETWORK PROVIDES INSTANT ACCESS TO TRAINED HEALTHCARE INTERPRETERS, IMPROVED PATIENT SAFETY AND CARE, LOWEST COST SOLUTION BY USING NUMC’S TRAINED INTERPRETERS, 24/7 INCLUDING SIGN LANGUAGE, CONNECTED TO A CALL CENTER WITH
ADVANTAGE OF ECONOMIES OF SCALE

East Meadow, NY… Arthur A. Gianelli, President/CEO of the NuHealth System, announced the launch of the All Language Video Interpreter Network through its contract with Paras and Associates at the Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC), the first and only site in the Northeast region to provide immediate access to language interpreting via video and telephone. Paras and Associates will host and manage the video/voice call center services.

“We are excited to have contracted with Paras and Associates Interpreter System and being the first and only hospital on Long Island to provide our patients with a unique, automated video and voice call center that instantly matches the user needs to the best available interpreter, helping to reduce medical errors, improving customer service and patient safety, boosting productivity and helping us save funds relative to the cost of contracted interpreting services,” said Gianelli.

“By training and using in-house multilingual employees, we can reduce costs by minimizing the number of contracted interpreters required to provide the required services and by participating in a healthcare interpreter network, it allows us to use the language skills of employees at other hospitals,” said Guy Courbois, vice president of operations. “This will be achieved over a private and secure high speed data connection dedicated to video and voice interpretation services.”
Melinda Paras, President and CEO, Paras and Associates said, “We are excited to welcome Nassau University Medical Center to our All Languages Video Interpreter Network, or “ALVIN.” This hospital has a great reputation as a teaching institution with a deep commitment to serving Nassau County in all its economic and cultural diversity. As a member of the ALVIN network, NUMC will be able to offer its patients immediate access to its own team of dedicated language interpreters, as well as other hospital-based interpreters in eleven spoken languages and American Sign Language.”

The video interpreter network begins with a mobile video unit wheeled to the point of care with the clinician pushing a button and initiating the interpreter request. Requests are first routed to interpreters who work at NUMC. If interpreters are not available at NUMC, the request is routed to a regional network with other hospitals. If an interpreter is not available at that network, the request moves to a commercial language interpreter provider that automatically routes interpretation requests, so there is no need for a dispatcher. Services to test, support and train interpreters are also available through certified educational institutions, reducing the administration required to support a staff of interpreters.

Benefits of video language interpreter services:
• Ease of use: A press of the button from a video-conferencing unit or a phone call provides instant video or voice access to in-house interpreters or bilingual staff and to commercial interpreter services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at all points of care; improved patient safety: quality of care is improved with accurate patient-provider communication that take into account visual cues.
• Enhanced patient and provider experience: No more waiting for interpreters to travel to the point of care; Very cost-effective solution: Hospitals can use internal resources, share resources with other hospitals and clinics and contract required resources for the lowest total cost of the solution.
• Other benefits include cost savings, compliance, and the increased ability to respond to changing customer demands and market conditions.
• Economies of sale are gained by utilizing standard-based technologies, time savings and reduced training due to single (and flexible) network management capability.

According to officials from the MedStar Interpreter Network (MIN) at Georgetown University Hospital, “We wholeheartedly welcome Nassau University Medical Center to our network of on-demand medical interpreters.    We are so excited to have network members in our time zone.  This is tremendous.   Welcome Online.”

Gianelli concluded by emphasizing: “The instant 24/7 access to trained healthcare interpreters, including Sign Language, will result in cost efficiencies through the collaboration with other hospitals. Through the Paras video interpreter network, I am confident that we will achieve demonstrable results in improved patient safety, enhanced quality of care and a better patient experience for patients of the Nassau University Medical Center.

ABOUT NUHEALTH
NuHealth is a Long Island health care organization delivering essential medical care and disease and lifestyle management to everyone at every stage of life.  Also known as Nassau Health Care Corporation, NuHealth is a public benefit corporation managing the operations of Nassau Medical Center, A. Holly Patterson Extended Care and a network of Family Health Centers that bring primary and specialty care out into the community.  By emphasizing wellness, cultural sensitivity and collaborative efforts with the North Shore-LIJ Health System, NuHealth is working to make good care more affordable and easier to access.

For more information about NuHealth or its Centers of Care, visit www.nuhealth.net.