The idea of an app changing an industry may sound farfetched, but it’s not impossible. There have been many “small” ideas that resulted in big changes. Airbnb, for example, has created a significant impact on the tourism industry. Uber is changing the way people hail rides. It has even inspired the introduction of new services for different settings such as Uber Eats (for food delivery) and Walmart’s Spark Delivery (for grocery delivery).
In search for an Uber or Airbnb for the medical industry
A revolutionary medical app that can match the impact of Uber or Airbnb is something that would efficiently and reliably facilitate connections among patients and physicians. Some healthcare institutions have tried this, but they tend to be limited in geographical coverage. Apps like ITriage, CareAware Connect, and Marbella offer notable functions, but they are nowhere as revolutionary and far-reaching as Airbnb. None has become globally adopted or franchised by healthcare institutions across the world.
____________________________________________________
Are you a healthcare provider looking to double your revenue? Then our Guide for Hospital Expansion is for you! Check out the different strategies you can put in place to succeed in this process, and benefit from our list of free resources designed just for you!
____________________________________________________
What could come close?
It’s difficult to replicate Uber’s era-defining presence in the medical sector, but it’s possible for an app to achieve something that comes close in specific aspects. One good example for this is in the field of medical interpreting. When medical experts from different countries communicate and collaborate, it only makes sense to employ an interpreter or translator.
Likewise, when international doctors interact with patients who don’t speak their language, an interpreter has to be called in. This is where a translation app/service becomes revolutionary.
Right now, language interpreting apps put more emphasis on ordinary language translation to facilitate communication among people who don’t speak a common language. There are a few quality medical interpreting apps available, but they are not guaranteed to provide accurate translations, especially since most of them only employ machine translation. Only a few would be willing to pay for a team of standby human interpreters to supplement the computer-generated medical translations.
Even with the aid of artificial intelligence and neural networks, machine translation for natural languages remains to be far from accurate. Don’t expect translations to be easier when it comes to the medical setting. Things can only get more complicated and the demand for accuracy and precision more stringent.
Given all of these, there’s one app that has the potential to revolutionize medical translation as it emphasizes the following fundamental features:
- Accuracy through the involvement of human translators
- A cost-efficient crowdsourcing model
- Convenience
- Security and privacy
- Timely translations
This is called the DayInterpreting app, which conveniently connects phone interpreters to those who need them with just a few taps on their mobile devices. Unlike machine translation apps, it does not rely on unreliable automatic translator systems. The interpreting is done by real people with the right qualifications and experience in doing medical interpreting.
What does the DayInterpreting app do?
As mentioned, DayInterpreting is a platform for connecting phone interpreters to whoever needs their services anywhere in the world. It is a constantly online service that is easy to use and hassle-free. There’s no setup fee or contract to worry about.
There’s no waiting time to get approved to use the service (not subscription-based). It provides access to hundreds of expert interpreters 24/7 the moment the app is installed and the account signup is completed.
Getting a DayInterpreting account is for free. The user just needs to get a unique client ID to obtain self-service access to the dashboard. Once in the dashboard, the user needs to set a four-digit passcode. The app is free but the interpreting services are not, so the user has to purchase prepaid credits, which can be done online through the app dashboard. Payment can be made through PayPal or credit card.
Once the account has prepaid credits in it, the user can proceed to contacting an interpreter. DayInterpreting automatically chooses the best interpreter available at the moment. The service is billed per minute.
DayInterpreting is a highly convenient solution especially for business or institutions that are supposedly required by law to provide interpreters to customers or patients who cannot converse in English or the lingua franca of a specific country or territory. It takes away the need to hire in-house interpreters, which can be costly and limited to just a few languages.
How does it revolutionize the medical industry?
To answer this question, it’s important to highlight how errors in medical interpreting can have serious consequences.
- Wrong interpreting can affect the reputation of doctors who present research findings in another language. Medical experts can suffer setbacks when undertaking discussions with colleagues (who don’t speak the same language) if the interpreter erroneously translates conversations.
- Worse, erroneous interpreting between doctors and patients or the lack of proper interpreting can lead to the wrong diagnosis and treatment. This can result in serious legal problems for healthcare professionals and an even bigger burden on patients whose lives may be endangered by the erroneous identification of a disease or health condition and the administration of an inaccurate medication or therapeutic solution.
There have been several instances when problematic interpreting put doctors in grave professional, legal, and credibility woes. The Willie Ramirez case for example, one of the most expensive medical mistranslations ever, resulted in a $71 million liability for a hospital after its doctors wrongly diagnosed and treated a patient because the patient and his family were not properly given access to a Spanish interpreter.
In another tragic case, due to the lack of an interpreter, a nine-year-old Vietnamese migrant patient was made to interpret for herself until she collapsed and died. The patient’s death was caused by an adverse reaction to the drug Reglan.
There was also a similar case involving a seventeen-year-old Taiwanese girl who was hit with a tennis racquet in the head. The attending physician failed to provide an interpreter for the patient that she suffered a respiratory arrest and died in the absence of prompt and appropriate treatment.
Then there’s the case of the missing kidney of a Spanish-speaking Francisco Torres who was confined at a hospital in California. He was not given the opportunity to get an interpreter before he was made to sign a consent form that was in English. Torres was set for a surgical operation that was supposed to have his diseased kidney removed. He had no idea he signed a consent form that indicated the wrong kidney for extraction.
The hospital belatedly realized the mistake and decided to remove the correct kidney in the process. This serious mistake left Mr. Torres without a kidney. The hospital was reported and was eventually cited by the Health Department for grave mistakes particularly in following safety protocols and failing to ensure accurate communication with a non-English speaking patient, which resulted in the wrong surgery.
An efficient medical translation app can revolutionize the medical industry by ensuring that mistranslations don’t happen thereby avoiding instances wherein patients die or suffer aggravations in their conditions. If only an app like DayInterpreting were available in the tragic examples mentioned above, lives would have been saved and massive liabilities would have been prevented. The app would have certainly saved lives and prevented massive liabilities as it would conveniently provide accurate and timely interpreting without privacy and security risks.
The availability of interpreters would have not been a problem considering that the app connects to hundreds of interpreters in different parts of the world. There should at least be one who can attend to urgent needs without charging exorbitant fees.
One of the reasons why medical facilities fail to provide qualified interpreters is the cost (having in-house interpreters can be very expensive). App-based remote interpreting can easily address this problem and prevent outcomes that favor neither the patient nor the doctors/hospitals.
This is a serious claim
The idea presented here may sound ridiculous, but it’s not. Not many are paying attention to the importance of proficient interpreting in the healthcare field, even though there are laws requiring it. An app like DayInterpreting might not appear extraordinary or notably useful, but it actually has the potential to replicate the success of trailblazing apps like Uber and Airbnb.
It can be adopted by healthcare establishments worldwide to make sure that medical interpreters are available whenever and wherever they are needed to provide prompt and accurate language translation at lower cost (compared to having hospitals hire on-demand interpreters or contract a local LSP for exclusive services).
Allow us to help you get error-free medical translation
Human translation remains to be considerably superior compared to automated or machine translation. The difference is even more pronounced when it comes to interpreting. If you need precise interpreting, translation, or other language services, don’t hesitate to contact Day Translations, Inc. Our network of language experts worldwide are always eager to serve your needs. Call us at 1-800-969-6853 or send us an email at Contact us. Our lines are open year-round 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.