Language Line® University Partners with PSI Services LLC

To Develop a National Medical Interpreter Certification Program 


MONTEREY, CA – (December 17, 2008) – Language Line® University, the globally recognized interpreter testing, training and certification division of Language Line Services, and PSI Services LLC, an industry-leading provider of professional testing services, today announced a new partnership to expand the development and implementation of national medical interpreter certification for all medical interpreting disciplines, including on-site and remote interpreting.


The patent-pending (filed 2002) national certification is being developed to support standardization and raise the profile of the medical interpreting profession, as well as improve the quality of language services in the nation’s healthcare institutions and subsequently the delivery of care for patients and families with limited English proficiency (LEP).

“The lack of standards and guidelines in providing language access remains a significant health concern for LEP patients and continues to result in unnecessary pain, suffering and expense, making it imperative that we succeed on a national level in eliminating linguistic and cultural barriers in healthcare,” explains Louis Provenzano, President and COO of Language Line Services. 

“We are proud to collaborate with PSI, the leader in certification, licensure, and talent assessment testing programs, to make medical interpreting certification accessible to all qualified professional interpreters working in the healthcare field.”

Through the partnership, PSI will provide technical assistance to Language Line University’s team of test developers in the work that leads to development of a certification test, including a national job analysis, with a broad representation of interpreters and experts in the medical interpreting field. PSI’s psychometricians will also perform a study for test validation.

In addition, PSI will facilitate the nationwide roll-out of the new national certification test through PSI’s Premier PLUS™ national network of hundreds of secure proctored test centers located in all 50 of the United States and U.S. territories.

“We at PSI are very excited about the opportunity to work with an industry leader like Language Line University to bring professional medical interpreters, and healthcare organizations they serve, a national certification program that will help save lives,” says Stephen Tapp, President and CEO for PSI.

Language Line University and PSI will seek input from the Global Advisory Council (GAC), in addition to the job analysis, to determine the test format and content. The GAC is an independent, international body of healthcare and medical interpreting experts, patient advocates, other language service providers, and professionals who have experience in interpreter certification processes.

In related news, Language Line University recently announced the establishment of the “Certified Medical Interpreter” (CMI) professional designation and the launch of the “International Registry of Certified Medical Interpreters,” located online at www.ircmi.org.

These initiatives, along with Language Line University’s current medical certification program, which has been utilized by healthcare organizations throughout the country for nearly a decade, are designed to improve the quality of healthcare for LEP patients while providing recognition and professional development tools for the medical interpreters who serve them.

About PSI

PSI has over 60 years of experience providing solutions to corporations, professional associations and government regulatory agencies. PSI offers a comprehensive solutions approach from test development to delivery to results processing, including pre-hire employment selection, managerial assessments, licensing and certification tests, license Management services and professional services. More information is available at www.psionline.com.

About Language Line® University

Language Line® University is the globally recognized interpreter testing, training and certification division of Language Line Services, the leading provider of language-based services and solutions. Language Line University provides interpreter training, as well as an externally validated test in 170 languages, and Certification of Medical Interpreters (CMI), currently available in 22 languages. It also offers Court Certification in 15 languages. Language Line University’s testing, training and certification have proved to be valuable, credible and dependable tools used by healthcare organizations and interpreters nationwide and in Canada to ensure that the language access services they provide to their patients and community are of the highest quality. For more information, visit www.languageline.com/llu, email , or call 1-877-351-6636.

About Language Line Services

Language Line Services, the world’s leading provider of language-based services, is a trusted partner to thousands of organizations whose focus is to effectively serve the rapidly expanding market of limited English proficient speakers. The company delivers a dynamic suite of solutions spanning phone, on-site and video interpreting, translation, transcription, localization and localized software and devices and the only medical interpreter certification program that is externally validated. Through its leading-edge technology infrastructure, Language Line Services provides support for more than 170 spoken languages and American Sign Language to its industry-leading portfolio of clients across markets including health- care, financial services, government, telecom, manufacturing, insurance, entertainment, travel, and more. For information on how Language Line Services is helping clients achieve their strategic multicultural marketing and regulatory compliance objectives, please call 1-800-752-6096.

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