With more than 25 million people in the United States having a non-English language preference (NELP), choosing an interpreting partner is a big decision for your hospital. Language barriers greatly affect communication between healthcare staff and patients, and can lead to lower patient satisfaction, longer stays, higher readmission rates, and patient safety issues.
Before choosing an interpreting company for your hospital, it’s important to ask about interpreter qualifications, HIPAA compliance, service availability, and the languages supported. You’ll also want to understand pricing and implementation so you can get started without surprises.
Ask the following questions to find a company that supports your standard of care, your staff, and your organization’s budget.
Question 1: Are Your Interpreting Services HIPAA Compliant?
Under HIPAA, any company that handles protected health information (PHI) on behalf of a hospital is classified as a business associate. That means the interpreting company must sign a business associate agreement (BAA), enforce strict confidentiality standards, and maintain administrative and technical safeguards across its platform.
As you learn about a company’s HIPAA compliance, consider asking these specific questions:
- Will you sign a business associate agreement?
- Does your platform use end-to-end encryption and have a “no-storage” policy?
- How often do you conduct HIPAA training for the interpreters your work with?
Interpreting providers should be able to clearly explain how they protect PHI across their technology, interpreter workforce, and operational processes.
At Certified Languages International (CLI), HIPAA compliance is embedded in our language services. The interpreters we work with are HIPAA certified, screened monthly against exclusion lists, and bound by strict confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements. We don’t document, store, or process any patient data or personally identifiable information to minimize the risk of a data breach.
Question 2: How Is Your Interpreting Service Priced?
Cost is one of the first factors any hospital will evaluate, and pricing models vary across providers and can differ by modality.
In addition to asking the per-minute price, you’ll also want clarity on setup fees and any additional charges that may not be obvious in an initial quote. The more transparent a provider is about costs, the better for your organization’s budget.
We offer per-minute pricing for both over-the-phone interpreting (OPI) and video remote interpreting (VRI), with rates based on volume and language mix. This pay-as-you-go model keeps costs tied to actual usage.
Question 3: What Are Your Interpreter Qualifications and Vetting Standards?
Working with individuals who are bilingual but who don’t have experience in healthcare interpretation introduces risk for misdiagnosis and poor patient outcomes. Along with language competency, professional medical interpreters understand specialized terminology and have the decision-making capabilities to manage the flow of conversation.
Ask how the potential provider vets the interpreters who will serve your patients and staff. You’ll want to understand their process for evaluating language proficiency, interpreting skills, medical terminology competency, and HIPAA compliance so you can be confident that every session meets your standard of care.
The medical interpreters we work with go through a rigorous qualification and vetting process that includes a medical interpreter assessment, affirming HIPAA compliance training, ensuring relevant interpreting experience, and documented language proficiency. For American Sign Language (ASL), we require all interpreters to hold Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) certification.
Question 4: How Quickly Can You Connect a Patient with an Interpreter?
Delays when connecting to an interpreter don’t just cause frustration — they can cause bottlenecks that affect your entire workflow. Your language services partner must be built for the operational reality of healthcare. That’s why it’s important to evaluate average connection times for OPI and VRI, and find out how the provider handles sudden call spikes, volume surges, and holiday coverage. They should offer on-demand availability at all hours, all year long.
With CLI, you simply dial a phone number for OPI, answer a few quick questions, and promptly connect to an experienced interpreter. Your clinicians can communicate with NELP patients faster, no matter the time or day, and provide the care that patients need.
Question 5: What Languages and Modalities Do You Support?
On any given shift, your staff may need to communicate with patients who speak Spanish, Mandarin, Somali, Arabic, or another language. Your interpreting provider must be able to meet those needs today and as your patient population shifts.
Find out how many languages the provider covers across both OPI and VRI and whether they support ASL. You might also want to ask if they offer document translation for materials like discharge instructions to ensure patients can understand critical information even after they leave your facility.
At CLI, we support more than 230 languages by phone and 22 by video, including ASL with RID-certified interpreters. We also provide document translation services to help your hospital maintain language access at every patient touch point.
Question 6: What Does Your Implementation Process Look Like?
Even the best interpreting service is only as effective as the rollout behind it. Before partnering with an interpreting company, ask how long it takes to go live, what technical setup is involved, and whether they offer training for your clinical and administrative staff.
We take a high-touch approach to implementation, working closely with your team to make sure the process is smooth. MERFi® — our proprietary VRI platform — is easy to use and runs on nearly any device with no software installation required. We offer staff training and onboarding support, including quick-start guides and live or virtual training sessions, to help your team feel confident from day one.
Ready to Ask Questions? We’ve Got Answers.
Asking the right questions will help you find the best interpreting company for your hospital. That said, it ultimately comes down to choosing a company that isn’t just a vendor, but a strategic partner who will help your organization deliver compliant and compassionate care. A quality partner prioritizes interpreter competency; offers secure, on-demand service; and brings deep healthcare expertise.
At CLI, we’ve been that trusted partner for healthcare organizations, supporting language access nationwide for over 30 years. Let our experts demonstrate how a partnership with CLI can help your hospital improve patient satisfaction, reduce risk, and support compliance. Contact us today for a no-obligation demo and learn how we can strengthen your language access program.
