As we step into 2024, healthcare organizations are embracing a pivotal role as champions of equity and accessibility. In the current regulatory environment, inclusive care and equal access to critical...
The focus on health equity continues to be a pivotal force in the healthcare industry's evolution. With 2024 on the horizon, health systems and health plans are set to intensify their efforts to addre...
Whether it’s through websites, apps, patient portals, SMS, or chat, healthcare consumers are demanding the same, seamless digital experiences they’ve grown accustomed to from retail, banking, and othe...
In the United States, 67.8 million people speak a language other than English, and for healthcare organizations, ensuring language access and health equity are critical for improving access to care an...
As healthcare leaders continue to cope with rising costs and staffing shortages, they’re looking to do more with less. Yet cutting corners on translation and interpretation programs isn’t an option wh...
As healthcare organizations continue to battle negative operating margins and rising healthcare costs, efforts to engage and grow patients and members will be critical, particularly among populations ...
With a focus on advancing health equity and reducing disparities in health care access, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a proposed rule last year to revise Section 1557 of ...
A recent analysis by Deloitte found health inequities currently cost the US healthcare industry $312 billion a year, which could balloon to $1 trillion by 2040 if left unaddressed. Key industry stakeh...
Despite the progress made over the preceding decades, inequalities persist in many areas of American life, including healthcare. Disparities in both healthcare access and in outcomes like mortality, l...
Redetermination after the Public Health Emergency In response to the global pandemic, the United States declared a public health emergency, which allowed individuals and families to remain enrolled in...
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is dedicated to improving the quality of healthcare in the United States. But studies show that the caliber of healthcare individuals receive varies...
Ask any medical professional, and they’ll say their number one goal is to provide quality patient care and positive health outcomes. But there’s more to meeting the needs of patients than writing pres...
How can teams implement language solutions without going over budget? What’s considered “quality” translation and interpretation to begin with? And what’s the long-term return on investment? These are...
Have you evaluated your process for translating member grievances and appeals? Even the most conscientious Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) have disputes with patients and their providers. These can ...
This article was originally published in January 2021 and has been updated. Patients from linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds experience health disparities and adverse health outcomes co...
In the United States today, 46 million people speak a primary language other than English. In order for medical staff to effectively communicate with all of their patients from linguistically diverse ...
Healthcare providers, take note: effective January 1, 2022, your office must comply with the No Surprises Act. That means it’s your responsibility to make sure that your patients know if they will be ...
From routine checkups to medical emergencies, patients count on hospitals to provide excellent treatment. In order to ensure the best quality care, medical professionals must be able to communicate wi...
Within the healthcare industry, machine translation (MT) has rapidly come into focus as a solution for managing turnaround time and efficiency within the translation process. However, as organizations...
Solving HRA Completion Rate Challenges with Bilingual Care Liaisons and Bilingual Resources for LEP Outreach One central objective that many health insurers face is increasing Health Risk Assessment (...
The European Medical Device Regulation (MDR) is an extremely daunting set of rules for medical devices within the European Union. The MDR comprises more than 100 articles, making it virtually impossib...
Although the COVID-19 pandemic will be remembered as a global catastrophe, it also gave rise to worldwide cooperation in order to solve the biggest medical crisis in a century. While the world is not ...
Communication is essential to many aspects of everyday life, including personal interactions as well as accessing medical treatment and legal assistance. To learn how to more effectively communicate w...
Effective communication is a vital part of many aspects of modern life. When a patient's health and well-being—and maybe even survival—is on the line, effective communication can be the key to a succe...
Back in 2016, a survey found that just 4% of Americans were able to correctly define all four terms that determined how much they would have to pay for medical services and drugs under their health in...
As we round the corner into 2021, the spotlight continues to be on health and healthcare. We know that a healthy diet, physical exercise, and routine check-ups can keep us in tip-top shape, but what i...
The COVID-19 pandemic has shed a spotlight on the systemic inequalities and lack of access to health care for patients and members with Limited English Proficiency (LEP). Across the care continuum you...
Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) prohibits healthcare providers from discriminating against individuals on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. There are sp...
In every annual enrollment period, health plans need to ensure they meet compliance standards, tight deadlines, and budgetary requirements. This year, with CMS and regulations putting more emphasis on...
Telehealth has proven to be an incredibly effective response to the stay-at-home orders incited by the COVID-19 pandemic. The telehealth services industry is expected to grow nearly 65% in 2020 as dem...
Happy Data Privacy Day! Do you know how your data is being used, and by whom? The systems we interact with and use every day can compromise sensitive data and leave us vulnerable to phishing schemes a...
Healthcare accessibility is a challenge facing millions, and an issue ULG is dedicated to working to improve. At this year’s “Paving the Way to Healthcare Access” conference sponsored by UMass Memoria...
ULG achieved HITRUST CSF certification in 2019 as a means to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to protecting sensitive information and managing data risk. HITRUST is a non-profit authoritative body t...
Smart watches. Smart homes. Smart cars. Smart...pacemakers? The prime example of the Internet of Things (IoT): smart devices. They have permeated the global market in recent years and are steadily gro...
According to the Mayo Clinic, "hundreds of thousands of people" are injured by medication errors every year in the United States. Some of those errors are caused by doctors prescribing the wrong medic...
According to the Center for Disease Control, in the U.S. alone there are 990.8 million physicians’ visits and 267.1 million emergency room visits or hospital outpatient visits in a year. The patients ...
While HIPAA compliance might complicate your life, the goal of the regulation is really the same as yours: protecting patients. You’re looking out for their physical well-being, while HIPAA is safegua...
This article was originally published in April 2018 and has been updated. How do you know when machine translation is right for a particular job or for your business? While some translation jobs are b...
What makes quality healthcare? The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, or HCAHPS, looks to answer that very question, and has been used since 2006 to gauge patients’ pers...
Medical professionals are increasingly noting the correlation between patient health and health literacy. The more people are able to comprehend and understand about their healthcare, the more effecti...
May 11, 2018 To understand HITRUST, it’s best to temporarily forget everything you know about HIPAA regulations, compliance and audits. Why? Chances are you view HIPAA as a challenge or an obstacle, w...
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted in 1996. It's been the law of the land for 20 years, and even people who don't work in the healthcare industry are aware of ...
Imagine this…. In a typical translation process, the client sends the content to be translated to the translation vendor. Then the translation vendor sends the data to the individual contractor doing ...
Open enrollment planning is more important than ever. With the global pandemic and systematic racism health equity is being considered for every strategy - including OE and Annual Enrollment Period. H...
A visit to the dentist isn’t everyone’s idea of a good time. In fact, dental checkups cause some people so much anxiety, it stops a number of them from obtaining care. A 2012 study found that UK resid...
Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) has risen in popularity as the technology becomes more readily available in the courtroom, hospitals and during international conferences. According to a recent reader ...
Here at United Language Group, we often emphasize the importance of language translation and interpreting in the medical field. For us, there’s a clear-cut rationale behind language access in healthca...
Digitization has permanently changed many industries over the past decade, and restaurants are no exception. To keep up with technologically savvy consumers, many restaurants have started to offer dig...
Healthcare is understandably one of the most regulated industries in the US today. A long list of laws and regulations ensure that language barriers don’t keep people from accessing healthcare. But st...
May 02, 2017 United Language Group gained new insights into the needs of telehealth clients at this year’s American Telemedicine Association Telehealth 2.0 conference in Orlando, Florida. In particula...
April is National Minority Health Month, and this year's theme is "Bridging Health Equity Across Communities." But right now, in too many communities, health outcomes are anything but equitable. Here,...
A study published last week found that Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Latino patients are less likely to adhere to medication regimens for type 2 diabetes than white and English-speaking Latino pat...
In the medical device industry, regulation is a big deal. Proper training for internal operations staff, and consumer and professional end users, needs to be done effectively in order to ensure patien...
In 1980 Willie Ramirez was taken to a Florida hospital in a coma. His family members explained to doctors that the 18-year-old was “intoxicado,” in Spanish, meaning poisoned. An interpreter misunderst...
