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Danny Veniot, Innovation Lead at St. Mary’s Hospital says Voyce “was one of the easiest product trials [he has] ever implemented.” Voyce and St Mary’s partnered to bring on-demand video and audio interpretation in 240+ languages to the hospital through the CAN Health Network. The results speak for themselves. 

100% 

Patient satisfaction

92%

Staff satisfaction

+50%

‍Increase in interpretation usage

-65%

Decrease in wait time to connect to an interpreter 

Unexpected Benefits:

An invaluable addition of video sign language interpretation, which was found to be particularly beneficial in emergency departments.

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Financial Efficiency:

A shift from traditional interpretation to Voyce produced material cost reductions, but also paved the way for more than 50% expansion in interpretation services without increasing the overall spend on interpretation services.

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Data-Driven Insights:

Comprehensive reporting via Voyce’s online Management Dashboard facilitated insights into exact usage metrics.

Learn more about St. Mary’s story and the impact that Voyce has facilitated, including supporting St. Mary’s with a lasting ability to champion equity in healthcare. 

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Background: Identifying Communication Barriers in Care

Clear and effective communication is one of the most challenging barriers to delivering quality, patient-centered healthcare. St. Mary’s General Hospital – situated in the diverse heart of Canada’s tech capital Waterloo Region – grappled with this very challenge, as 1 in 5 healthcare encounters involved patients who didn't use English as their primary language.

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Challenge: Overcoming Limitations of Traditional Interpretation

St. Mary’s previous over-the-phone interpretation service was constrained by language availability, speed, convenience, and cost. With only 15 languages available at a given time and lengthy connection times, the need for a more comprehensive and efficient solution was evident across all areas of care.

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Solution: Interpretation Accessed with the Touch of a Button

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Recognizing these hurdles, St. Mary’s General Hospital chose Voyce. Developed with a comprehensive understanding of language concordance in healthcare, Voyce was ready to support St. Mary’s with:

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• Live, on-demand language interpretation spanning over 240 languages and dialects.
• Efficient connection with medically trained interpreters, often in under 20 seconds.
• The flexibility of choice between male or female interpreters, augmented by video capabilities for enhanced interpretation through non-verbal cues.
• The ability to integrate family members and caregivers into interpretation sessions, a feature which was especially impactful in care amidst Covid-related visitor restrictions.

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St. Mary’s was enthusiastic about utilizing Voyce to benefit healthcare providers and patients across their organization… “[Voyce] was so easy to use that many staff admitted to figuring it out on their own and did not read the provided educational materials.” reports Veniot, “instead of encouraging staff to use [Voyce], I spent much of my time managing expectations for why we were only trialing in [four areas] and answering questions on when we would be purchasing [Voyce] for long-term use"

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Goals Set & Achieved:

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Cost Reduction & Efficiencies:

‍Measurable and material decrease in associated costs.

Speed of Access:‍

Consequential and pronounced reduction in interpreter connection times.

Patient Confidence:

Enhanced patient confidence and understanding.

Equity of Care:

‍Expanded accessibility and availability of interpretation services for all stakeholders involved.

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While it is important to recognize that Voyce and St. Mary’s exceeded their set targets, the real impact lies in sustained improvement in patient and provider outcomes. A staff member at St. Mary’s shares, “I really loved that Voyce not only had traditional translation services but also sign language service which was very helpful while triaging patients. It also made patients happy to see we had it available, so they felt empowered to communicate with us."

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Voyce's partnership with St. Mary’s General Hospital stands as a testament to its commitment towards harnessing technology and respect for patients to bridge language gaps in healthcare, because everyone deserves a voyce.