NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Southcoast Health announced today that it has partnered with leading language access and telehealth company, Stratus Video, to better serve its limited English proficiency (LEP) and Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing patients. The community-based health system now provides easy access to video remote interpretation (VRI) at all three of its hospitals in Southeastern Massachusetts.

Ever-expanding language diversity, coupled with evolving federal regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), has brought on-demand interpreting from a “nice-to-have” to “mission-critical” for health systems looking to provide quality care for all patients. For Southcoast Health, there were 42,195 interpretation requests across all of its hospitals in FY 2015, of which 24,486 were for Spanish, alone. The health system realized the need to offer its diverse patient population access to a broader array of simple and effective communication tools.

“We are very focused on leveraging innovation to promote health and well-being in the communities and populations we serve, and our LEP population is no exception,” said Dr. Robert Caldas, Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Southcoast Health. “We have been so pleased with how Stratus Video Interpreting has helped enhance communication and care delivery in our hospitals that we are now beginning to discuss rolling the VRI technology out to our affiliated physician practices.”

Stratus Video Interpreting combines the benefits of face-to-face interpretation with the on-demand nature of over-the-phone interpretation. The mobile app is easy to use and can be loaded onto any tablet, smartphone, desktop or laptop, giving users instant access to medically qualified interpreters at a push of a button. On the back-end, the technology incorporates sophisticated automation and intelligent routing, enabling easy integration into existing processes and workflows.

“As patients begin to act more like consumers, hospitals are seeking solutions to improve not only quality of care, but patient experience as well,” said David Fetterolf, President of Language Services at Stratus Video. “Stratus Video Interpreting is a cost-effective way for health systems like Southcoast Health to positively impact care outcomes as well as patient and provider satisfaction, all while ensuring regulatory compliance.”