why do you need to have your healthcare interpreters certified?
DESCRIPTION
Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI) offers language service companies and others that provide interpreting services an effective and consistent tool to meet quality assurance demands of the health care industry. Employing and contracting CCHI-certified medical interpreters saves money, improves patient outcomes, lowers your liability, and helps comply with the IRS contractor status requirements. The presentation highlights CCHI’s certification program which offers a three-step medical interpreter competency assurance process based on the best national practices and validated through a third-party accreditation by NCCA (National Commission for Certifying Agencies). It discusses benefits of certification and incentives to companies that support CCHI certification.TRANSCRIPT
Why do you need to have
your interpreters certified? March 14, 2014
Natalya Mytareva, M.A., AHI™, CCHI Managing Director Guests:
Scott Crystal, Vice President, American Translation Partners, Inc Kevin Cunningham, Sales Executive, Certified Languages International Syan Ruiz, CHI™, Quality Assurance Liaison, Lionbridge Technologies, Inc.
www.cchicertification.org
A National, Valid, Credible,
Vendor-Neutral Certification Program
National – A portable credential that follows the Interpreter throughout their career
Valid – The single most important concept – the certification test measures what it intends to measure
Credible – Created by Interpreters, for Interpreters and the public good
Vendor-Neutral – Developed from the ground up and not reliant on any existing certification, training, testing or assessment developed or licensed by other organizations. No individual, organization, vendor or entity has any financial or other stake in the program's administration
CCHI Commissioners
Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, MA, University of WI Hospital & Clinics
Wayne Boatwright, MHA, Meridian Health
Frederick Bw’Ombongi, MHA, Spectrum Health, AHI™
Kathleen K. Diamond, MA, Association of Language Companies
Gabriela Flores, MBM, Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics
Jonathan Levy, MA, Consultant and interpreter trainer
Alejandro Maldonado, BA, MN Dept. of Human Services, CHI™
Maria Michalczyk, RN, MA, Coram Specialty Infusion Services
Elizabeth Nguyen, MA, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, AHI™
Virginia Pérez-Santallá, C.T., American Translators Association
Karin Ruschke, MA, International Language Services, AHI™
Mara Youdelman, JD, LLM, National Health Law Program
CCHI Managing Director: Natalya Mytareva, MA, AHI™
Accomplishments
By Interpreters, for Interpreters and the Public Good
13 Commissioners
20 Advisors and 1 Managing Director
50 Supporters
2,479 Job Task Analysis Participants
115 Test Development Subject Matter Experts
1,275 AHI™ and CHI™ Credentials Awarded
47 Continuing Education programs accredited with CEAP
Why is certification important?
What’s in it for an LSP?
Scott Crystal, Vice President, American Translation Partners, Inc
Kevin Cunningham, Sales Executive, Certified Languages International
www.cchicertification.org
Hospitals and healthcare
providers
demand assurance of competency of your interpreters
DHHS Guidance: “Recipients should be aware that competency requires more than self-identification as bilingual.”
CLAS Standard 7: “Ensure the competence of individuals providing language assistance…”
The Joint Commission standards: “HR.01.06.01 Staff are competent to perform their responsibilities.”
(Audience poll) www.cchicertification.org
CCHI Certification Offers
Consistency in assessing professional competencies of interpreters
Validity of the assessment tool verified by a third-party – the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (of Institute for Credentialing Excellence)
Workforce development by requiring interpreters to complete continuing education as a credential renewal requirement
www.cchicertification.org
CCHI Certification
is available to
Interpreters of all languages
Interpreters working in all modalities:
Face-to-face
Telephonic
Video
Interpreters in any state
Staff, contractor or volunteer interpreters
www.cchicertification.org
CCHI’s 3-step competency
assurance process
1. Rigorous application process establishing prerequisite requirements are met
2. Taking and passing CCHI’s certification exams
3. Credential maintenance requirements – to renew every 4 years:
Continuing Education Requirements
Work Experience Requirements
www.cchicertification.org
Who is CCHI Certification for?
An Entry-Level Interpreter:
A person who is able to perform the functions of a healthcare interpreter competently and independently in a healthcare setting with the knowledge, skill and ability required to relay messages accurately from a source language to a target language in a culturally competent manner and in accordance with established ethical standards.
Credentials Offered
Associate Healthcare Interpreter™ (AHI™)
Core knowledge credential available to all interpreters EXCEPT Spanish-, Arabic- and Mandarin-speaking interpreters
Certified Healthcare Interpreter™ (CHI™)
Language-specific credential, currently available to Spanish-, Arabic - and Mandarin-speaking interpreters
www.cchicertification.org
AHI™ Credential
is the core certification and a professional entry point for healthcare interpreters regardless of the language(s) in which they interpret.
It is a multiple-choice, computer-based test in English which focuses on the role of the healthcare interpreter and measures the interpreter’s knowledge, abilities and skills related to the following areas:
www.cchicertification.org
Knowledge of medical
terminology
Effective interaction/communication skills with other healthcare professionals, patients, and
their families
Ability to prepare for and manage an interpreted
encounter
Cultural responsiveness
Critical thinking & decision-making abilities
Value of the AHI™ Credential
Measures the core professional knowledge that distinguishes a healthcare interpreter from a bilingual
Measures critical thinking and ethical decision-making abilities that are vital for protecting your company’s reputation and reducing your liability.
Available to interpreters of all languages
www.cchicertification.org
CHI™ Credential
Language-specific certification, currently available in Spanish, Arabic and Mandarin
Certificants pass two exams:
AHI™ multiple-choice examination +
computer-based oral performance, language-specific (CHI™) examination
www.cchicertification.org
CHI™ oral performance
exam measures
Language skills (being
bilingual)
Consecutive Interpreting
skills
Sight Translation & Written
Translation skills
Simultaneous Interpreting
skills
Why are Simultaneous
Interpreting Skills Important?
Emotionally charged
situations
Emergency
Dept
Mental health encounters
2014 Testing Windows for CHI™:
April 23 - May 14, 2014
July 21 - August 9, 2014
October 20 - November 8, 2014
www.cchicertification.org
Fees
Application: $35
AHI™ exam: $175
CHI™ exam: $275
Volume discounts are available for organizations purchasing 10 or more exams
Contact us at [email protected] for specifics regarding volume discounts
Certification as Workforce
Development Solution
Audience Poll You can save your training $$ If you have contractors – you can comply with
the IRS requirement better: “If the business provides the worker with training on how to do the job, this indicates that the business wants the job done in a particular way. This is strong evidence that the worker is an employee. Periodic or on-going training about procedures and methods is even stronger evidence of an employer-employee relationship. However, independent contractors ordinarily use their own methods.” (http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Behavioral-Control)
www.cchicertification.org
Credential Maintenance
AHI™ and CHI™ credentials are valid for 4 years
Maintenance Requirements 32 hours total Continuing Education = 16 hours
(classroom or contact) in years 1 & 2, 16 hours in years 3 & 4
40 hours of work experience = 20 hours in years 1 & 2, 20 hours in years 3 & 4
Renewal fees: 2 installments of $150 at year 2 and 4 (or $300 total at year 4)
www.cchicertification.org
Do you want to invest in a long-term
solution to reducing risk & liability?
If yes – CCHI certification is for you!
We can
Offer you discounts for certification exams of your interpreters
Explain our application & certification process to your interpreters
Accredit your training programs (especially online and language-specific ones) and market them as CE to certified interpreters (see www.ceapcchi.org for info)
www.cchicertification.org
Interpreter Registry and
Credential Verification
Interpreter Registry
www.cchicertification.org
Interpreter Registry and
Credential Verification
Credential Verification
www.cchicertification.org
Why do you support CCHI?
Syan Ruiz, Quality Assurance Liaison,
Lionbridge Technologies, Inc.
www.cchicertification.org
Our Success Stories
Examples of LSPs that either adopted a policy of requiring CCHI certification as employment requirement or reimburse the cost of interpreter certification:
American Translation Partners, Inc
Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Cleveland Clinic (OH)
Rush U Medical Center (Chicago)
Spectrum Health (Grand Rapids, MI)
St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital Center (NYC)
www.cchicertification.org
How can you support
certification of interpreters?
Sponsor your interpreters’ training – they need to have 40 hours of HC interpreting training before they apply for certification
Sponsor your interpreters’ language-specific training to help them pass the CHI™ oral exams in Spanish, Arabic and Mandarin
Encourage your interpreters to subscribe to CCHI Newsletter to get professional updates (website tab “Stay Informed/Subscribe”)
Invite CCHI to speak to your interpreters about certification Make certification (AHI™ or CHI™) a preferred or required
qualification for new hires Reimburse all or a portion of certification costs to your
interpreters or purchase the CCHI exams for a group at a discounted rate
www.cchicertification.org
www.cchicertification.org
Like us on www.facebook.com/CCHIcertification
Follow us on Twitter @CCHIcertify
Join us on LinkedIn – “Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters”