MetroLatinoUSA.com Interviews Habib Serrano, First Nationally Certified Medical Interpreter

Original story in Spanish can be located here >>

Story highlights include:

• Headline: Certified Medical Interpreters Benefit Patients: “Being bilingual does not mean being an interpreter, you have to be familiar with the material.”

• It’s beneficial and important to have certified medical interpreters; one reason includes reducing possibilities of neglect

• Habib Serrano is one example who has studied medical terminology and taken science courses in order to be able to deliver accurate messages to patients

• Along with 70 other professionals, Serrano was appointed CMI by the National Medical Interpreter Certification Association

• Since the launch of the program in October of 2009, 300 interpreters have taken or are in the process of taking written and oral exams to become CMIs

• “Being understood in a hospital or any other health center can determine life or death” – Serrano

• An order issued by former President Bill Clinton in 2000 hoped to facilitate access to language interpretation under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Law which prohibits discrimination by race, color or national origin

• However, due to lack of an established national certification, medical centers responded differently

• Although becoming a CMI is a great achievement, limited-English speaking patients’ safety is not guaranteed until certification is established as a national norm

• Language Line Services along with IMIA (the International Medical Interpreters Association) and more than 100 medical interpreters, health professionals and hospital executives have asked Congress this week to adopt CMI as the official certification

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ABOUT THE NATIONAL BOARD OF CERTIFICATION FOR MEDICAL INTERPRETERS

The National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters is a non-profit organization, formed from an independent group of industry professionals who represent all key stakeholder groups, including professional medical interpreters, trainers, employers, providers, and regulators.

The National Board serves as the certifying entity and has independent authority over all essential certification decisions. The purpose of certification is to ensure limited-English proficiency patient safety by evaluating and assuring the competency of medical interpreters.

The formation and structure of the National Board of Certification adheres to the standards and requirements for certification program governance mandated by the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (ICE) - formerly NOCA, and will be applying for its accreditation.

For more information, visit http://www.certifiedmedicalinterpreters.org

See related news release "Medical Interpreters Embrace Nation’s First Certification Through Independent Board" here >>