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Pacific Interpreters continually recruits highly qualified interpreters throughout the United States through a variety of specifically targeted advertisements and activities. Our extensive database contains thousands of resumes and application requests. Applicants must pass a criminal background check, meet stringent qualification requirements, and pass rigorous skills screening.
We routinely participate in and sponsor national conferences organized by professional interpreter/translator associations such as:
Interpreter Qualifications
Pacific Interpreters prefers to contract interpreters who have the following qualifications:
- At least two years of college education
- Professional interpreting training from an accredited institution
- Professional certification or qualification(s)
- Experience in medical settings, medical interpreting, and other professional industries
- Active membership in a professional interpreter organization
- Minimum two years' professional interpreting experience, either on-site or telephonic, preferably in fields related to health care or social service
Medically Qualified
Pacific Interpreters recruits interpreters who have worked in medical settings as either interpreters or providers. Pacific Interpreters staff includes foreign medical graduates, registered nurses, medical assistants, and other health care providers.
Screening and Assessment
Pacific Interpreters utilizes a comprehensive bilingual capacity assessment designed to test a potential candidate's oral language skills in English and the non-English language, their knowledge of general medical (and other industry-specific) terminology, as well as their ability to accurately transfer meaning units back and forth between the two languages. This process meets the standards currently recommended by the National Council on Interpretation in Health Care.
Active in Establishing National Standards
Even though a federal certification program for interpreters does not currently exist, Pacific Interpreters is active in establishing national standards for telephone interpreting. We currently qualify our interpreters based on stringent company-established criteria, which has been adapted and is upheld by the most current industry standards recommended by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL).
Commitment to Quality Assurance
Pacific Interpreters continually monitors our services to assure our customers that their patients are provided accurate, professional, and timely language interpreting.
- Random daily call monitoring
- Telephonic interpreting skills evaluation
- 1-on-1 real time training after a call is concluded
- Daily reports
- Customer service performance evaluations
- Call quality evaluation, including technical issues
Confidentiality Pledge and HIPAA Compliance
All of Pacific Interpreters' In-House Employees, Customer Service Agents, Telephonic and On-site Interpreters sign a confidentiality pledge. During the initial orientation session and quarterly, a Human Resource Department representative discusses the topic of confidentiality with each employee/contractor.
Note: Pacific Interpreters is prepared to assist our customers to meet the regulatory requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). We can provide a Business Associate Agreement as an Addendum to the contract that addresses the management of documentation required under HIPAA.
Code of Ethics
Each interpreter is provided with a Code of Ethics that defines Pacific Interpreters' commitment to ethical interpretation and confidentiality standards. A signed copy of the Code of Ethics, and an in-depth discussion of the Interpreter Code of Ethics is an integral part of the orientation required of all Pacific Interpreters' staff before they begin accepting assignments.
Continuing Education
Pacific Interpreters takes pride in its commitment to provide continuous education and development for all interpreter staff. All interpreters are required to gain 12 hours of continuing education each year of their employment either in house or by utilizing other training programs in their community. We provide continuing education through:
- Real-time coaching (1-on-1 training from our Quality Assurance raters concluding actual calls just taken)
- Monthly interpreting conferences
- Monthly newsletters that address current interpreting issues/trends being adapted by the interpreting industry
Industry Advisors
Pacific Interpreters employs the following industry-respected professional consultants to ensure that our market knowledge, methods, and performance support our mission and objective. They are in large part, responsible for the development of our Interpreter Training Programs, Language Assessment Tools, Provider Trainings, industry compliance documents, Code of Ethics, and Standards of Practice.
Mary Esther Diaz, M.Ed.
- Training Specialist
- Texas State Dept. of Health
- Accredited by the American Translators Association
- Taught Medical Terminology for 19 years at the Texas Rehabilitation Commission
- Co-founder of the Austin Area Translators and Interpreters Association
Cynthia E. Roat, M.P.H.
- Consultant and Trainer on issues related to language access in health care
- Certified by the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services for both medical and social service interpreting,
- Founding member of the Society of Medical Interpreters (SOMI) in Seattle
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