NPR's "All Things Considered" on Monday reported on how the use of videoconferencing medical interpretation technology (VMI) at San Francisco General Hospital and Alameda County Medical Center allows the facilities to share language interpretation services facilitating communication between health care providers and patients who do not speak English (Wiederholt, "All Things Considered," NPR, 11/14).
The Videoconferencing Medical Interpretation project allows the facilities to share about 50 interpreters who speak more than 20 languages combined. The technology, which can be moved from room to room on carts, allows an interpreter working in one hospital to translate for a patient at the partnering hospital while watching what is taking place through a two-way video link.
