SBH Health System Launches Partnership with Voyce to Communicate Virtually With Non-English Speaking Patients
Summary
A touch on the Voyce screen – an iPad mounted on a rolling cart – connects patients and providers with a live interpreter in three-way conversations that can stretch to as many as nine participants, should family members or other members of a patient’s care team be brought in remotely into the emergency department, ICU or exam room. Access to quality interpreters can address patient-provider communications challenges that result from limited English proficiency. “ We are providing quality translation, but also cultural and sociological interpretation,” said Lynette Alvarado, SBH Language Access Coordinator. “ Especially now, in the middle of the pandemic, which has isolated so many vulnerable people, it is critical to provide our patients with an interpreter who understands them and their needs.” “ Our partnership with St. Barnabas Hospital allows the clinician to seamlessly communicate with their patients who don’t speak English as a first language, which can often be a barrier to treatment and care plan adherence,” said Andrew Royce, chief executive officer of Voyce. “ The technology helps me provide a better, more personalized appointment for patients, regardless of their primary language.” St. Barnabas Hospital is the flagship of the SBH Health System, a teaching institution which cares for an underserved population in the Bronx.