Language Line Services Launches BiMedical.net Service, Providing Online Access To Bilingual Medical Forms

MONTEREY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Language Line Services, the leading provider of interpreting services, in partnership with BiMedical.Net LLC, announced today the availability of Language Line^® BiMedical.net, an online application that generates bilingual medical forms and questionnaires in multiple languages to allow for immediate communication with limited English proficient (LEP) patients. Printed in both the patient’s and the caregiver’s languages, the forms are designed to protect patient safety, improve service quality and save time by obtaining key health information in an easily understood format.

Through a subscriber-based website (http://www.languageline.com/bimedical), users select the appropriate medical form from 67 current options in a patient’s language. The patient completes the form, providing symptoms and core health information, without the need of an interpreter being present. By using BiMedical.net first, healthcare providers can then use interpreters to confidently narrow in on the patient’s current health problem and make better diagnostic and treatment decisions.

“BiMedical.net does not replace the need for an interpreter. Rather, it is to be used prior to the arrival of, or in concert with, an interpreter,” explains Louis Provenzano, President and COO of Language Line Services. “BiMedical.net is another important tool for overcoming language barriers in healthcare settings, one that can help improve patient outcomes while potentially saving the healthcare provider’s time and money.”

BiMedical.net forms were developed by doctors, nurses, and administrators. The information gathered by the forms is tailored to the patient encounter and would likely take 15-20 minutes of staff and interpreter time to obtain otherwise. BiMedical.net forms are available in 11 languages -- Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Vietnamese and English -- with additional languages planned. The forms are also used for patients who are deaf or hard of hearing.

“Everyone in healthcare knows the single most important determinant of a rapid and accurate diagnosis is a complete and reliable medical history, which is why LEP patients continue to have significantly higher rates of misdiagnosis and poorer outcomes,” says James Huizenga, M.D., BiMedical.net Project Lead. “Too often practitioners make do with less information. BiMedical.net helps protect patient safety by giving busy clinical staff more baseline information and more time to use an interpreter to delve into the details of a patient encounter.”

According to Patrick Ray, M.D., an emergency physician based in Dayton, Ohio, “When a Russian-speaking family presented at the ER with abdominal pain, we had them complete the BiMedical.Net questionnaire before the interpreter arrived. It took me about two minutes to accomplish what could have taken 30 minutes with an interpreter. I was able to quickly diagnose a case of food poisoning and get the patients faster relief.”

For more information about Language Line^® BiMedical.net, visit http://www.languageline.com/bimedical or contact Ken Anders at Language Line Services at 1-800-731-6437 or bimedical@languageline.com.

BiMedical.Net LLC

BiMedical.Net LLC is a division of Eagle Software Corporation, founded in 1994. BiMedical.net is the first release in a series of products that provides Limited English Proficiency (LEP) tools to the healthcare market. Based in Dayton, OH, BiMedical.Net LLC can be reached by visiting http://www.bimedical.net.

About Language Line Services

Language Line Services, the global leader in telephone interpreting and total language solutions, serves clients in government, health care, telecom, financial services, insurance and many other industries by quickly connecting them to their customers, patients and sales prospects in over 170 spoken languages and American sign language. Growth of the language interpreting industry has soared with increased immigration and government regulatory policies mandating that organizations provide services to limited English speakers in their own languages. Language Line Services is recognized as a trusted partner to thousands of clients throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, providing access to the industry’s fastest language interpreting service at highly competitive rates. For more information about Language Line Services’ suite of dynamic solutions spanning telephone and video interpreting, document translation, interactive software-based translation, interpreter training and certification programs and regulatory compliance objectives, please call 1-877-886-3885 or visit http://www.languageline.com.