TTA has an open invitation to industry leaders to contribute to our Perspectives non-promotional opinion and thought leadership area. Today’s contribution is from Mark Knudsen, the president of AMN Language Services. Mark brings experience from previous roles at AMN Healthcare, Synzi, and Stratus Video. He holds a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Theological Studies at Regent College. AMN Healthcare Language Services (AMN LS) is a healthcare language solutions provider that offers a range of services for patients with limited English proficiency, hearing impairments, or deafness.
For millions of Americans with limited English proficiency (LEP), accessing healthcare can feel like trying to solve a puzzle with missing pieces.
Telehealth, once considered a temporary solution to the pandemic, is filling in those gaps, removing language barriers that have long hindered LEP patients from understanding their care. It is clearly here to stay.
The integration of medically trained language interpreters into many telehealth platforms has been making it easier for LEP patients and those who are deaf or hard of hearing to converse with healthcare providers in their preferred language, and ultimately, providing better quality care for patients. This access is essential for effective diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up, helping patients understand their health information.
In rural or underserved areas, where access to specialized healthcare is limited, telehealth becomes especially valuable. Finding qualified bilingual providers or medically qualified interpreters who speak specific languages in these regions is often challenging. Telehealth overcomes this obstacle by connecting LEP patients with language-appropriate care from professionals across the country. This not only reduces travel burdens but also minimizes misunderstandings that could lead to incorrect treatments, offering patients a reliable, culturally competent care experience.
Telehealth’s cost-effectiveness is another advantage. Telehealth consultations are generally more affordable than in-person visits, and the built-in interpretation services help lower access barriers for patients. For healthcare organizations, telehealth also presents a scalable, sustainable approach to language access, allowing them to provide high-quality care to diverse populations without the logistical challenges and costs of in-person interpretation.
However, telehealth still faces challenges in ensuring equitable language access. Some platforms lack sufficient language and accessibility features, creating frustrations for LEP patients. Additionally, some healthcare providers may try to “shortcut” interpretation by relying on family members or unqualified bilingual staff instead of trained medical interpreters. While this may seem practical in the moment, it’s not an adequate substitute for professional interpretation, can lead to misunderstandings that compromise care, and in most cases is considered a violation of the patient’s civil rights under the Affordable Care Act.
Integrating language services seamlessly into the telehealth workflow is also key. If language support isn’t user-friendly, it can create extra burdens for both patients and providers. Patients may struggle to navigate complex systems to request interpretation, while providers may face disruptions. Without careful integration, telehealth’s potential for LEP populations is limited by poor user experience.
To fully realize telehealth’s potential, care delivery platforms must prioritize accessibility and patient experience, designing features that provide equitable access to quality care. This means genuinely understanding the needs of LEP and deaf or hard-of-hearing patients and offering effective communication channels.
Telehealth is becoming a staple in healthcare and the focus is shifting toward making it a permanent, optimized part of healthcare delivery and integrating it with existing platforms such as EHR systems. Incorporating language interpretation services into these platforms could clearly streamline workflows for clinicians, making it easier to connect patients with the right resources with a click of a button.
Additionally, integrating language services into telehealth workflows could not only improve the patient experience and patient care but also improve clinician satisfaction by reducing administrative burdens, allowing them to focus on patient care rather than logistical issues. This streamlined process can lead to higher job satisfaction and potentially reduce burnout rates for physicians and nurses alike.
The future of telehealth lies not just in maintaining its accessibility but in reimagining how it can serve every patient, regardless of language or ability. The responsibility rests on healthcare providers and tech innovators to forge a path where language and hearing impairments are no longer obstacles to quality care. The real challenge now? Not simply to sustain telehealth, but to elevate it to a level where it is genuinely inclusive, fully intuitive, and universally transformative.
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