With so many benefits, many times the smallest things get overlooked. VRI has a huge list of benefits to organizations that choose to utilize this new sign language interpreting technology, but making the office as a whole more effective, many times gets overlooked. Many large medical facilities are already moving to video remote interpreting to keep costs down and expand their patient accessibility for those who's first language is not English.
Patient satisfaction is something most organizations cannot put a price on. This is one of the main goals at many medical offices and you can bet that the wait time in the office is on top of the list of complaints for many patients, especially those who have to wait for an interpreter before their appointment can begin. For these patients, arriving on time or early, does not mean they will be escorted right back to see their doctor. They also must wait for an interpreter to go in with them. If an interpreter is running late due to traffic or the office has forgotten to schedule interpreting services, this can be very frustrating.
If an office already has VRI services setup, this can be a real game changer. If the office forgot to setup services, many times they can request an on demand ASL interpreting session and have a live interpreter in minutes not hours. Another big factor here is travel time. If an interpreter gets stuck in traffic or has car trouble, there is nothing that you can do, but wait. Video remote interpreters do not have to commute, so they are more often ready and on time.
Many patients who are stuck waiting and not knowing if they are going to have an interpreter to assist, become nervous and sometime agitated. This is no way to go into your doctors visit. However, with the right system in place, patient wait times go down as well as the stress that your patients must endure. This is a win win and can really make for a whole new workflow in many medical offices when it comes to seeing deaf patients.
