Polyglot Systems, Inc. Develops Software to Translate Medication Instructions into 30 Languages – New Technology to Support Language Barriers for Hospitals, Pharmacies and Community Health Centers

“Polyglots products are designed to decrease medical errors by reducing language, comprehension and visual barriers, thereby improving health literacy.”

MORRISVILLE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--With more than 90 million Americans considered ‘low health literate,’ Polyglot Systems, Inc. has recently announced the roll-out of the first medical technology product to address language, low-health literacy and age-related issues for medication instructions. Titled ‘Meducation,’ the new technology is designed to reduce medication adherence errors caused by language barriers, low-health literacy and age-related issues, thus improving understanding of prescription medication instructions.

“Medication mistakes are the most common form of medical errors in this country and result in more than 700,000 emergency room visits, and nearly 120,000 hospitalizations”

According to the Institute of Medicine, nearly 4-billion prescriptions are filled annually in the United States alone, making sure patients take those medications by understanding and following directions appropriately is a critical component for patient care.

“Medication mistakes are the most common form of medical errors in this country and result in more than 700,000 emergency room visits, and nearly 120,000 hospitalizations,” said Dr. Charles Lee, president and founder of Polyglot Systems, Inc.

Developed in part by funding and support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Meducation currently supports 11 languages using expert human translations, simplifies instructions to a fifth or sixth grade reading level, provides pictograms of instructions, offers printing in 3 large fonts and provides videos of commonly misused medications such as inhalers and eye drops. All Polyglot products are “cloud based” meaning they are internet based and are designed to be integrated into most pharmacy (PMS) and Hospital (EMS) software systems.

Currently, Costco Wholesale Corporation has licensed Polyglot’s software for locations in New York and North Carolina, and future expansion into Ontario, Canada. Costco Pharmacy customers are now provided with multi-language options of easy-to-understand instructions for self-administering medications.

North Carolina Community Care Network has also incorporated Meducation into its suite of software utilized by all 900 primary care physicians throughout the State.

About Polyglot Systems

Polyglot Systems is an industry-leading provider of software-based communication solutions designed to reduce language barriers and improve medication literacy in health care. The company is headquartered in North Carolina’s Research Triangle and is financed by private and institutional investors, and grants from the National Institutes of Health. Visit www.pgsi.com for additional information.