Patients to get interpreting help

Non-English-speaking patients at Stevens Hospital can now ask for an interpreter's help when calling to discuss billing information or to speak with a doctor.

The Edmonds hospital is contracting with a toll-free service to offer language help to Spanish, Korean, Russian and Vietnamese patients and their family members.

The phone service is one of a number of steps Stevens is taking to aid increasing immigrant populations in Snohomish County who live within the public hospital district's boundaries.

Stevens began an assessment of its patient needs a little more than a year ago with the help of the Washington Community Action Network — also known as Washington CAN! — a grass-roots social-justice organization. Hospital board member Deana Knutsen is a member of the group, and suggested it help the hospital identify a changing patient base and their needs.

What resulted was a general consensus that not enough hospital services were in different languages, creating a barrier to receiving service or understanding billing.

"Mostly, it was a lack of interpretation," said Maru Mora Villalpando, a Washington CAN! community organizer who helped with an immigrant task force at the hospital. "Going to the doctor is difficult in itself, but if English is not your first language, we saw that as one of the biggest barriers in trying to reach the hospital."

When a person calls the toll-free number, they're immediately asked to select from among the prompt languages — Spanish, Korean, Russian and Vietnamese — but the service offers help in as many as 127 different languages.

The caller is connected to an interpreter, who then calls the needed hospital department and assists the person through the telephone conversation with staff.

Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center was the first in the state to use the telephone translation system, beginning in November 2005. At first, families were skeptical, said Juan Fernandez, the hospital's translation coordinator, but the system has since paid off in terms of usage.

"We had about 50 calls that first month," Fernandez said. "Now, we have about 700 calls each month."

At Stevens, the number of non-English-speaking patients is about 8 percent of its total. As a result, the hospital also has added new signage and printed some of its materials, especially billing, in different languages.

"The goal is to make diverse communities welcome here," said Stevens Hospital spokeswoman Beth Engel. "The goal is to increase our outreach to all communities, and so as a result, increase the number of patients to the hospital."

The hospital has been overhauling its services for nearly three years now as it moves back to profitability. But Engel said the addition of the phone line wasn't so much about increasing revenues as being a better servant to the community.

The cost of the phone line to the hospital is $1.29 per minute, and hospital officials have said they don't know what to expect in terms of usage or annual costs.

"But I don't think it will be cost-prohibitive," Engel said. "We just feel this is a customer-service issue that people need."

Christopher Schwarzen: 425-783-0577 or cschwarzen@seattletimes.com