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Texas Association of Healthcare Interpreters and Translators
F E AT U R E
Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) has significantly improved the healthcare experience. With VRI the
interpreter can truly “meet the register of the patient”. When making a VRI decision, there are several
factors to consider. They include:
• Is the network secure, private, HIPAA compliant and encrypted?
• Is your investment protected?
o Can you run the application on Apple IOS, Microsoft Windows, and Google Android?
o What happens when you update to new equipment?
• Can you capture information about patient, medical record, department?
• Can you access the call records over the web?
• What are the fees?
What’s next in technology?
There will always be the latest and greatest coming from the Silicon Valleys of the world. Google
Glass has already been tested by Al Navas, an interpreter at St. Joseph’s Hospital, in the Kansas City
suburbs. Navas, a Spanish interpreter in St. Joseph, thinks he’s gotten his hands on the device that will
help him do just that: Google Glass. Navas and about 8,000 other people in the country got to buy
Google Glass months early for $1,500. Navas and others posted on Google Plus and Twitter what
they would do if they had the wearable computer that fits like a pair of glasses and projects a small
screen above the user’s right eye.
“It looks pretty dorky,” he said. “But as an early adopter, I don’t mind a bit.” Navas got his sneak peek
at Glass after writing that he’d use it to help with his work as an interpreter for law enforcement officials.
For example, Navas said, if a police officer responds to an accident and the people in the car only
speak Spanish, Navas could see live video on Glass to help the victims convey important medical
information faster.
“I could be in the parking lot, I could be driving and interpreting in real time to help the victim,” he says.
“Does the victim have pain? Is the victim able to communicate?”
I look forward to the future, who knows, just like Princess Leia in Star Wars, perhaps there is a
Holographic Interpreter coming to your hospital.
