COLUMBUS, Ohio, April 8, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The University of California San Diego Health System cares for a diverse population of patients from hundreds of parts of the world, who speak just as many languages – leading to what could be a dangerous breakdown in communication with their healthcare providers. With communication being the cornerstone of patient safety, UC San Diego Health System has partnered with Language Access Network (LAN) to provide live Video Remote Interpretation services through its state-of-the-art platform, Martti ™ (My Accessible Real-Time Trusted Interpreter) to ensure Limited English Proficient and Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing patients can communicate effectively with those who are there to help them.
"As a physician led company, LAN knows that the price of miscommunication in healthcare can be extraordinary. From missed diagnoses and unnecessary tests to poor outcomes and patient dissatisfaction and confusion, the stakes can be very high," explains Andrew Panos, LAN's founder and COO. "We believe language should never be a barrier to quality care."
The Martti units resemble a flat screen computer tablet and connects LAN's highly-trained, strictly medical interpreters of more than 210 languages, including American Sign Language, to healthcare providers and patients with a simple touch of the screen, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Being able to see the patient throughout an interpretation greatly enhances understanding. Body language and facial expressions provide valuable information that can be lost in other methods of interpretation. By being completely wireless and portable, the Martti units allow the interpreter to stay with a patient for as long, or as briefly, as necessary and the unit can be carried or placed on its wheeled cart to follow the patient throughout the encounter.
About Language Access Network, LLC
Language Access Network, LLC ("LAN") is the leader in trusted healthcare communications, providing video remote interpretation (VRI) services to hospitals and other medical venues nationwide. Physician owned and solely focused on healthcare, the company has unique insight into how to drive better outcomes, improve patient satisfaction and be a true partner to its client hospitals. Targeted towards Limited English Proficient and Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing patients, LAN provides its rapidly growing client base of over 350 medical facilities with 24/7/365 access to the highest quality & trained interpreters available via its centralized video language centers.
www.lan.us