America’s Essential Hospitals, Voyce Announce Partnership to Expand Video Access to On-Demand, Real-Time Language Interpreters

WASHINGTON—America’s Essential Hospitals and Voyce announce a strategic partnership to expand access to Voyce remote video language interpreter services at essential hospitals, which care for many patients who face linguistic and cultural barriers to care.

“We know more than 100 languages are spoken among patients of essential hospitals, so our members need reliable, accessible interpretation services. Voyce offers an innovative way to meet that need and help reduce disparities in care,” says Bruce Siegel, MD, MPH, president and CEO of America’s Essential Hospitals.

“In often 20 seconds or less, the Voyce app connects physicians and other health care workers to a professional medical interpreter on demand to facilitate a real-time conversation with a patient who doesn’t speak the same primary language,” says Andrew Royce, CEO of Voyce. “Our expansive network of medically trained interpreter staff represents more than 235 languages and dialects, ensuring that no matter how many different languages are spoken across essential hospitals, Voyce provides someone who speaks yours.”

Among the more than 300 members of America’s Essential Hospitals, 85 percent provide linguistic services compared with about 60 percent of other hospitals nationally, association data show. The higher percentage reflects essential hospitals’ safety net role and presence in many of the nation’s most diverse communities. Some individual association members report a need to interpret up to 70 languages.

The partnership with Voyce aligns with America’s Essential Hospitals’ long-standing and ongoing focus on social determinants of health, such as language and health literacy. The association has devoted much of its research and advocacy to helping essential hospitals overcome the detrimental effects social and economic factors can have on health and health care outcomes.

“Language barriers and low health literacy are pervasive in the communities our members serve,” Siegel says. “Technology, such as the tools Voyce provides, offers a solution to that challenge and a way for our members to ensure high-quality, culturally competent care for all people.”

Voyce provides convenient access to on-demand video remote interpreters on a variety of devices. Light, unintrusive, and cost-efficient mobile equipment options from Voyce mean live interpreters can be requested when and where they are needed most. Hospitals can put their own interpreters on the platform and rely on Voyce interpreters to back them up. No special equipment is required, installation is easy, and Voyce will send a site assessment team to the hospital to optimize deployment.

“Whether in the emergency room or during a telehealth visit, our technology is simple to use and significantly more efficient than other methods of language interpretation” adds Royce. “Voyce services aim to eliminate hurdles to health care caused by diverse populations of people being unable to communicate with each other.”

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About America’s Essential Hospitals
America’s Essential Hospitals is the leading champion for hospitals and health systems dedicated to high-quality care for all, including the most vulnerable. We support our more than 300 members with advocacy, policy development, research, and education. Communities depend on essential hospitals to provide specialized, lifesaving services; train the health care workforce; advance public health and health equity; and coordinate care. Essential hospitals innovate and adapt to lead the way to more effective and efficient care. Learn more at essentialhospitals.org.

About Voyce
Voyce is a technology driven company deeply committed to helping people in need facing language barriers, enabling them to easily and quickly communicate and get help. Voyce’s professional and qualified language interpreters provide interpretation across a variety of technology and telehealth platforms in 235+ languages and dialects, including American Sign Language. Across the U.S., Canada, U.K. and globally, Voyce supports thousands of sessions a day providing language assistance to those in need. Learn more at voyceglobal.com.

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