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All too often, conversations about language access focus on languages that are spoken most widely throughout the country — think languages like Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog or your local threshold languages. And while it’s certainly important to cater your language access plan to speakers of these languages, it’s also important to factor in the unique considerations that have to be made when providing language access to speakers of less widely spoken Indigenous languages as well. While an organization might have all the tools and resources needed to provide services to a Spanish speaker with limited English proficiency (LEP), chances are that its language access services for, say, Q’anjob’al speakers, are much more limited. And that’s a big problem — Indigenous people from Latin America make up a large proportion of immigrant families in shelters, meaning organizations that regularly work with immigrants and refugees must be prepared to offer their services in Indigenous languages. According to a 2021 report, roughly 62% of immigrant families in shelters were from Guatemala, 30% of whom spoke an Indigenous language like Q’anjob’al or Nahuatl. Many organizations and government agencies across the country are struggling to meet the needs of Indigenous language speakers with LEP, oftentimes in spite of an otherwise well-informed language access plan. Our country simply needs more training and certification programs to create opportunities for bilingual speakers of Indigenous languages to prepare themselves for a career as an interpreter or translator. More funding toward the creation of such programs is one long-term solution, but in the meantime, there are several other things we can do now to fill the gap. At Avantpage, we’ve worked hard to improve language access services for Indigenous languages at organizations — here are a few considerations and approaches your organization ought to keep in mind when providing language access services to Indigenous communities.
As a result of centuries’ worth of repression, Indigenous languages are not particularly well-understood outside of their speaker communities and as such, providing language services in these languages is a bit more of a challenge than languages like Spanish or Chinese, for instance. The number of immigrants speaking languages Indigenous to the Americas is bound to grow in coming years. Immigration – and the ability to support new immigrant communities – is a critical force driving the United States’ economy and growth. And in the coming years, we can expect to see even more Indigenous people of Central and South America immigrating here in response to climate change and political instability – it’s important that we are able to serve them in their language to ease things up as they transition to life in a new, unfamiliar country. To enhance language access for Indigenous languages, organizations must adopt strategies that address the unique situation of these languages.
Proactive planning is essential for any language access services, but perhaps especially so for Indigenous languages, as it can be harder or more expensive to procure services in these languages at the last minute. You may want to consider setting up contracts in advance through a request for proposal (RFP) process, a less formal request for inquiry (RFI), or even research to find out what “piggy-back” contracts are already in place that you can leverage. This way, you can establish a relationship with language service providers (LSPs) who are well-qualified to fulfill your needs and differentiate contracts based on the services you need (perhaps one provider is better suited for threshold languages but another is specialized in indigenous languages). During the contractual design, you might consider multiple vendors for added resources, or even separating your RFP/RFI requests based on language or modality (onsite, remote, translation). This can better ensure the right organization can qualify to submit their services to the bid, expanding your own pool of resources and options. Know the different services offered — ideally opt for an agency that can provide in-person interpreting, but if it’s necessary phone or video interpreting is also a viable service, and a critical back-up option to have available. Low resource languages often encounter more difficulty in coverage. Back-up options, like the use of relay interpreting (3 interpreters across 3 languages), can help close the gap. A trusted LSP may be able to help you connect with and onboard freelance interpreters and translators as well. Additionally, if you prefer to gather a pool of freelancers to provide their services as needed (instead of or in addition to working with a larger agency), court websites can be a useful tool for finding potential freelancers who work in the language you’re looking for.
While bilingual staff are not a replacement for professional interpreters, they can be helpful in situations where an interpreter is not immediately available. Bilingual staff can communicate with individuals who have LEP and help them access your services as needed. Hiring bilingual staff is not sufficient on its own — it’s important to conduct a thorough linguistic assessment to ensure that they’re able to perform all the necessary functions of the job in the target language. Training and placement are also crucial — if you have multiple office locations, it will be most useful to place bilingual staff in locations where they are most likely to use the language. Conduct demographic research to see which languages are in highest demand at specific branches so you know where to place bilingual staff. It’s also a good idea to maintain a bilingual staff directory — this has been used among state and local government offices as a back up option, and it serves well to facilitate internal access to diverse language skills. However, it’s imperative to document staff qualifications and provide guidance on when to utilize bilingual staff based on their expertise, ensuring effective language support.
Community-based organizations (CBOs) play a pivotal role in addressing the unique needs of local Indigenous and immigrant communities. Partnering with these organizations, which represent community needs, can enhance outreach and build trust with local immigrant populations and Indigenous-language speakers. CBOs can offer insights into local needs and facilitate a more profound understanding of historically underserved communities. For more information on how and why you should partner with CBOs, take a look at our guide to partnering with CBOs.
Of course, you can’t provide adequate language access services to somebody if you’re unable to identify their language. All too often, Indigenous languages of Latin America are mistaken for Spanish due to a general lack of awareness of these languages. And while it can certainly be difficult to identify the language somebody else is speaking if you have no prior knowledge of it, there are a handful of tools that can help. Language identification posters, I-Speak cards, and phonetic pronunciation guides aid frontline staff in correctly identifying languages. Make sure the tools you’re using for language identification include several Indigenous languages so that you’re able to identify the languages that are in demand. Training programs for staff can also enhance awareness of linguistic diversity, mitigating the risk of mislabeling languages. In non-urgent situations, it’s worthwhile to suggest alternatives to the individual, such as rescheduling an appointment for a date when an on-site interpreter will be available.
Demand for language access in Indigenous languages is bound to rise — be sure your organization is just as prepared to offer services in Indigenous languages like Mixtec or Nahuatl as it is to offer services in English or Spanish. Here are a few strategies you can employ to improve language access for these languages: At Avantpage, we’re acutely aware of the unique considerations that must be made when providing language access for Indigenous languages. To learn more about how our interpreting, translation, and localization services can fit into your language access plan for Indigenous languages, contact us today at (530) 750-2040 or [email protected].

2024 is shaping up to be a big year in politics — with the Republican Party’s primary elections already under way, there are a lot of elections to watch out for. Voting in these elections is an important aspect of civic life here in the United States, but many residents with limited English proficiency (LEP) may struggle to fully participate in these elections, despite actively contributing to our society. While the Voting Rights Act ensures that election materials will be translated into high-demand languages across various districts, it’s important to take a look at how language access can shape our electoral process. “Whenever any State or political subdivision [covered by the section] provides registration or voting notices, forms, instructions, assistance, or other materials or information relating to the electoral process, including ballots, it shall provide them in the language of the applicable minority group as well as in the English language,” reads Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, which was amended in 1975 to improve language access in the electoral process. We’re at the beginning of a big election year with a lot on the line — here at Avantpage, we partner with election organizations across the US and in some of the most diverse states like California, Texas, Florida, and New York to promote language access in the electoral process and gain unique insights into the demand for language access in elections. And there are some creative ways that election offices can engage residents with LEP — take the Yolo County Elections Office’s “Train the Trainer” program as an example. The program trained leaders of religious and community-based organizations that work closely with the county’s non-English speakers to help community members register to vote. As we look toward the upcoming primary elections and the big event in November, here are some important language access considerations that electoral officials should be aware of. Translating ballots and voter information guides into the relevant languages is a collaborative process — states and other political subdivisions need to work closely with trained language professionals to ensure high quality translations. Election offices should work closely with a trusted language service provider to review all of the materials that need translating and determine a course of action for making those materials accessible in the languages you need. By working with a language service provider that specializes in electoral materials, you can mitigate the risk of mistranslating something and improve the quality of these materials overall. You also don’t have to start from scratch either — the Election Assistance Commission has compiled a list of language access resources for elections, including best practices for different locales across the nation. Many relevant, evergreen materials such as the National Mail Voter Registration Form have already been translated into multiple languages, so you can leverage resources that are already available. There’s a lot that needs to be translated for every election. Once you’ve identified the already-translated materials available to you, it’s time to figure out what you do need to translate. At Avantpage, we’ve done thousands of translation projects for our election clients. Over the years we have found some materials that are most commonly translated across the board. Here are some common materials that will likely need to be translated: Interpretation is also an important consideration to make as well — you’ll want to have on-site interpreters and also work with an agency that offers phone or video interpretation as a back-up. You can also hire bilingual poll workers to strengthen community trust in the election and place them at polling stations that are likely to have a higher proportion of LEP speakers of a specific language. When working with a language service provider, it’s also important to consider the volume of translated materials you need. Take a look at historical data , anticipated deadlines, and future election dates to see which months have had especially high demand in your area so that you can prepare ahead of time. You’ll also want to figure out which materials are time-sensitive and which aren’t. Request translations well ahead of time wherever possible, and try to batch together documents and languages so you can avoid having to pay minimum fees.
According to Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, states and other political subdivision (i.e., cities, counties, etc.) must provide translated voting materials in regions where “more than 10,000 or over 5 percent of the total voting age citizens in a single political subdivision (usually a county, but a township or municipality in some states) who are members of a single language minority group, have depressed literacy rates, and do not speak English very well.” In 2021, a total of 331 jurisdictions met those criteria and had to provide language assistance to voters with LEP. That number appears to be on the rise too — in 2016, only 263 jurisdictions had to do so. These numbers are updated every five years using data from the American Community Survey, so while things may not change much for the 2024 elections, it’s likely that there will be even more demand in the 2028 elections, given the rising population of individuals with LEP in this country. Now is as good a time as any to begin looking into languages other than English that are spoken into your community to prepare for future changes. And even if your jurisdiction isn’t required under the Voting Rights Act to provide these materials, it doesn’t mean you can’t — by improving language access in your local elections, you can boost voter turnout and civic engagement within communities that have historically been less likely to participate in elections. As we head into what’s bound to be a busy year for election offices across the country, it’s important to keep in mind that improving language access can increase voter turnout by making the electoral process more accessible to individuals from all backgrounds. Here are some things to consider when thinking about language access in this year’s elections: At Avantpage, we’re proud to work closely with election offices across the nation. If you need translation or interpretation for any upcoming elections, contact us today at (530) 750-2040 or [email protected].

As we enter the new year, there are a handful of important regulatory changes to keep in mind about Medicare and Medicaid. With these changes, the demand for language services like translation and localization is sure to rise in the field of healthcare. On a national level, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is updating the requirements for the kinds of documents and information that agencies have to translate or communicate to patients in non-English languages. In the state of California, another change is taking place to focus on enhancing care management. As of this month, all low-income residents of California between the ages of 26 and 49 will be eligible for the California Medical Assistance Program, also known as Medi-Cal, regardless of their immigration status. Previously, undocumented immigrants in this age group — despite making up a significant portion of the state’s population of undocumented immigrants — were ineligible for Medi-Cal, even though undocumented children, young adults, and adults over the age of 50 were able to receive it. This means roughly 1.5 million people could now be eligible for Medi-Cal — it also means that healthcare providers in California need to be more prepared than ever to offer high-quality language access services. The majority of unauthorized immigrants in the United States have limited English proficiency (LEP), meaning that providers must be ready to serve them in their language. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at the recent changes to government health insurance programs — with a particular emphasis on the changes to Medi-Cal here in California. We’ll also explain how healthcare providers can ensure their services are accessible to individuals with LEP.
As of January 1, a handful policy changes have taken place for government health insurance plans, two of which will have an impact on the demand for language services in the healthcare sector. On a nationwide level, the CMS introduced a policy change that more explicitly requires Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D programs to provide more accessible standardized communications in non-English languages. More specifically, plan providers must keep translations of required materials in any language spoken by 5% or more of the population of a plan’s service area. These materials must also be available in an accessible format such as braille, large print, or audio upon request. This change will require MA providers to seek out language and accessibility services in order to accommodate the new translation requirement, meant to enhance care for patients with LEP. Healthcare providers in California are also likely to see increased demand for translation, localization, and interpretation, as a huge swath of the state’s undocumented immigrant population has just become eligible for the state’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal. While low-income unauthorized immigrants below the age of 26 and above the age of 50 have been eligible to receive insurance through Medi-Cal for a while now, those from 26 to 49 have not. This means that a huge population of unauthorized immigrants will now be eligible to receive free or low-cost health insurance, making healthcare far more affordable for them. However, it’s important to keep in mind that many of these immigrants have LEP, meaning that hospitals, clinics, and health plan communications need to be ready to offer interpreting and translation to these new patients.  It also means that Medi-Cal providers need to be proactive about communicating plan eligibility to people with LEP, as many of these individuals may not be aware that they’re suddenly eligible to receive health insurance through Medi-Cal. Although more people will be eligible for these services, it’s important to note that trust and outreach will be a major barrier in actually providing healthcare to newly eligible immigrants. Providers must use a diverse range of platforms — from print marketing campaigns to social media posts in multiple languages — to ensure that prospective patients are getting the information they need about Medi-Cal.
With the number of people eligible for Medi-Cal increasing significantly, California-based providers need to be ready for an increased demand for healthcare services. Expect to see more patients accessing your services in non-English languages, and adapt accordingly — that might mean translating more materials, working with a language service provider to contract more interpreters, even hiring more multilingual staff, or a combination of ways. Here’s how some Avantpage clients are working to adjust to the new policy changes and ensure that they’re able to meet the needs of linguistically diverse communities, enhancing care overall.
As the landscape of healthcare access undergoes significant changes in California, healthcare providers must prepare for an increased demand for language services. Conducting an inventory of available language resources, including translation materials, multilingual staff, and interpretation services, will help providers identify potential gaps. By understanding the linguistic diversity of their patient population, healthcare organizations can strategically allocate resources to address the specific needs that arise from the expanded eligibility criteria.
The first quarter of the year is a critical period for healthcare providers to closely monitor usage trends and adapt their language services accordingly. By analyzing data related to language preferences, service utilization, and patient demographics during this initial phase of policy changes, providers can gain valuable insights into the evolving needs of their patient population. For institutions with historical data on language service utilization, comparing Q1 trends with previous periods can offer a baseline for understanding the impact of policy changes. If you don’t have much data to compare Q1 with, think of this period as a sort of benchmark you can use to align your resources with emerging patterns. It’s also a good idea to get patient feedback on your language services to see where you might need to improve.
Understanding various options for cost reduction can help organizations optimize their language service delivery without compromising quality. Traditional translation memory systems can be leveraged to streamline the translation process and enhance cost savings. By reusing previously translated content, providers can reduce the time and resources required for repetitive translations. Open communication with your language service provider is crucial during this phase. Providers should engage with their account managers to explore innovative solutions, whether it involves adopting new technologies, optimizing savings, or finding alternative cost-efficient approaches. With policy changes taking place this year, there’s a lot for healthcare providers to do — but making these changes means you’ll be better suited to serve communities that have historically been underserved by the medical establishment. If you’re a California-based healthcare provider, here are some recommendations as we begin the new year: At Avantpage, we’ve helped innumerable healthcare providers serve patients with LEP. If you’re looking for help navigating increased demand for language services, Avantpage is here for you: We offer translation, interpreting, and localization services. Contact us today at (530) 750-2040 or [email protected] to learn more.

In the year since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022, we humans have been scrambling trying to figure out just what to make of artificial intelligence (AI). No matter the industry you work in — government, medicine, or even language services — the use of AI as a tool has been a hot topic for all of us this year. In the language services industry, we’ve been dealing with AI and translation for even longer now — since the rise of neural machine translation in the 2010s, AI has been an extremely powerful translation tool. But the highly fluent nature of texts produced through modern machine translation tools raises the question: When is human translation better than AI translation, and vice versa? The answer is complicated — it all depends on the type of content you need translated and the specific requirements you have for that translation. That’s why we’ve devised the following roadmap for you to determine whether you should request AI-powered translation, human translation, or a hybrid model for your language services. Here, we’ll take a look at the questions you should ask yourself before determining which approach to use in your translation needs.
The first question you’ll want to ask yourself is about the type of content that you need translated — AI is especially good at translating more technical, repetitive texts, however it still lacks the human touch necessary for more creative types of content, like pun-heavy marketing materials or nuanced blog posts, just to name a couple of examples.  While a human will generally review AI translations before you get the final product, you may find that the translation process goes more smoothly when you start with a human translator from the get-go for certain types of content. You’ll also want to consider some of the specific requirements of the project when you’re wondering which route to go. Here are just a few factors to look at: If you have a tight deadline for a given project and the content type is suitable for AI translation, AI could be the right way to go. AI tends to be much faster, where human translators need more time. That said, if the content type isn’t ideal for AI translation, you may find that the review process ends up taking longer than desired — in cases where your content needs to be translated quickly by a human, consider requesting a rush translation from a trusted language service provider. Human-produced translations are going to cost you more than an AI translation. Still, it’s important to consider the fact that human translations are typically higher quality, and mistakes resulting from an AI translation could be costly. Consider the type of content you need translated first before determining what your budget constraints allow for.
Quality expectations vary across projects — choosing between AI and human translation may also hinge on factors like the expected accuracy, cultural sensitivity requirements, and the project’s potential impact on organizational outcomes and performance. Generally speaking, human translators will be able to ensure more accurate results, as AI often makes errors in vocabulary and context. Additionally, critical content like legal or medical documents demands the precision that human translators provide. AI, while advanced, often lacks the contextual understanding required for such materials. Language service experts often note that AI translates words, not meaning, while humans translate meaning, not words. This is particularly important to keep in mind with texts that may have culturally sensitive information — certain words and phrases might come across bluntly or insensitively when directly translated into another language, and as such, a human translator is important when considering cultural sensitivity. Human translators excel in capturing cultural nuances, ensuring that the translated content aligns seamlessly with the target audience. For projects where translation quality directly impacts outcomes — think educational materials that will assist a patient in their health decisions, or a child’s individualized educational plan that will determine their educational path — investing in human expertise is generally the more strategic choice.
While AI can produce content that meets your voice requirements, human translators are generally much better at creating content that adheres to your style and voice guidelines. A common complaint about AI translation tools is that they can’t consistently account for stylistic requirements — for example, if your brand’s content strictly follows the Chicago Manual of Style, AI may not be able to adequately follow those style guidelines. While machine translation glossaries and adaptive machine translation can be useful for AI translations, human translators still have an edge here. Humans are more well-equipped to translate jargon-heavy or highly stylized texts, and it’s much easier to get them to review and follow your organization’s unique style and tone guidelines.
Because AI-powered translation tools tend to struggle with accuracy more than human translators do, it’s important to consider the risks associated with your project — that is, what could go wrong, and how can you prevent the likelihood of that happening? For highly sensitive content — medical documents, legal texts, and anything else that’s heavily regulated — human translators provide the necessary expertise to navigate complex terminologies accurately. Inaccurate translations of these kinds of texts can be costly, have legal implications, and could even be life-threatening — that means it’s important to work with a trusted human translator who can provide the most accurate translation possible. If you determine that the overall risk is low and opt for machine translation, you can mitigate risk even further by incorporating thorough review and quality assurance processes. Quality assurance tools can perform objective measures of the quality of a given translation, while human reviewers are an absolute must, as they can fill in the gaps in any AI translation. Additionally, user feedback can play a useful role in mitigating the risk associated with AI or human translation. Consider testing out a translation with a small focus group to hear their thoughts on a given translation — this will give you a sample of what end users will think when they encounter the final product, allowing you to tweak details as necessary.
Before you decide to opt for an AI translation tool over a human translator, ask yourself the following questions: Whether or not you use AI or human translation depends on a wide range of factors — and sometimes, the answer still isn’t clear. In those instances, you may find that a hybrid approach works best. At Avantpage, we recognize the value of both AI and human capabilities. Our approach integrates AI features, human expertise, and hybrid methods to ensure a customized solution that works best for your project’s unique demands. If you’re looking to learn more about whether AI translation, human translation, or a hybrid approach is best for your project, contact us today at [email protected] or (530) 750-2040. We’ll help you determine and execute the most effective strategy for your project.

Developing and executing high-quality diversity initiatives — both internally and externally — should be a no-brainer for any organization looking to promote equity and inclusion in their community. Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) have become major pillars in today’s world — and for good reason too. And it’s not just a moral imperative for organizations to engage communities of all socioeconomic backgrounds — embracing minority-led businesses and amplifying non-English voices is also a strategic move for agencies looking to have a more equitable impact on their community. One way to improve your organization’s approach to diversity is to begin working with vendors that uphold the core tenets of diversity and employ workers from many different backgrounds, whether that be in terms of the language they speak or their gender identity. Chances are, your agency works with other businesses to outsource certain, more specialized tasks — whether that’s translation, copywriting, design, videography, etc. If you’re looking to improve your DEI strategy, working with diverse, minority-owned suppliers for these tasks can be a good start. By working with diverse suppliers to provide services in an equitable manner, your organization can become well-poised to reach communities that have historically been underserved. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at the profound impact that working with diverse suppliers can have on your organization’s approach to equitable services.
By intentionally choosing to work with diverse suppliers, you contribute to the economic empowerment of underrepresented communities. This in turn helps close gaps in equity, while also allowing your organization to develop a more diverse and innovative approach to the services you offer. Research has shown that minority-owned small businesses are at a higher risk of failure than their counterparts — during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, Black-owned businesses were significantly more likely to close their doors than white-owned businesses. When you make an effort to contract diverse suppliers, you can help promote economic development for groups that have historically been socioeconomically marginalized.
Improving language access is an important way to foster diversity within your organization. After all, DEI isn’t just about diversity in gender or ethnicity — it’s also about linguistic diversity. As such, working with specialized language service providers to translate your content and marketing materials is an important part of promoting diversity within and outside of your organization. By translating your message into another language, your message has the potential to resonate with members of your community that you may not have been reaching before. For example, roughly 39% of the United States’ Spanish-speaking population has limited English proficiency — that means that translating your content and messaging into Spanish could have a profound impact on your organization’s engagement levels. Given the United States’ growing diversity, multilingual engagement is an absolute must. Making your services and programming accessible in multiple languages — whether that’s Spanish or another language spoken widely throughout your locale — ensures that you’ll be able to reach people who have historically had difficulty in seeking them out.
Employing vendors from a diverse range of backgrounds can also make your organization more innovative. When you bring fresh perspectives and worldviews into your process, your team is bound to come up with more varied and creative ideas than it would if it were composed of people from similar backgrounds. This results in more innovative solutions to problems and can help your organization achieve its goals and beyond.
Just as it’s important to promote the economic growth of minority-led businesses, it’s also critical that we amplify non-English voices in both our internal and external communication. By boosting non-English messaging, your organization can show its support for linguistic diversity and enhance your message’s ability to resonate with prospective clients. This goes beyond mere translation; it involves understanding the nuances of different languages and the cultures to which they belong. Organizations that prioritize linguistic diversity create an environment where everyone’s voice is heard, fostering a culture of respect and appreciation for differences. This can, in turn, improve individuals’ perception of your organization, and, in the case of internal communications, make employees from diverse linguistic backgrounds feel more welcome in the workplace.
At Avantpage, we pride ourselves on our status as a diverse supplier of language services. Our founder and CEO Luis Miguel Musi started Avantpage with the goal of making public services and healthcare more accessible to residents of the United States who have limited English proficiency. We not only champion diversity in our vendor relationships but also within our internal teams. As of 2023, our workforce comprises 40% Latino/Hispanic employees, and 60% of our leadership positions are held by women. We take pride in being a minority-owned and small business, actively contributing to the economic empowerment of underrepresented communities. Here are just a few ways that working with diverse suppliers can help your organization grow to its fullest potential:

Every year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) release a series of star ratings that patients can use to evaluate the quality of the services that a Medicare Advantage health plan offers.  As a health insurance provider, it’s important to make sure your CMS star rating is in tip top condition. CMS star ratings help patients identify high-quality Medicare health plans, with a five-star rating indicating excellence. If your rating falls below this threshold, not only will patients be less likely to select your plans, but you could face penalties and fines from the CMS.  The CMS calculates its star ratings on a scale of 1 to 5 based on the following factors:  If your CMS star ratings slip or you’re simply looking for new ways to improve your services, it might be a good idea to look into improving your language access plan. Patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) make up a significant proportion of Medicare recipients, and as such, it’s important to make sure you’re serving them effectively if you want to boost your star rating. By offering a diverse range of language access services for LEP patients, you can improve their overall experience with your organization, thereby increasing your CMS star ratings.  Although language access is not factored directly into your CMS star rankings, improving language access can help you perform better on the other measures that the CMS uses to calculate your star rankings. In this blog post, we’ll take a look at how your agency can improve its language access services and, in turn, boost your CMS star rating.  Nearly 10% of the United States’ population has LEP, meaning that they are unable to effectively understand or communicate in English. Research suggests that immigrants — particularly those with LEP — are more likely than their U.S.-born counterparts to be enrolled in Medicare services.   And given that the number of older individuals with LEP is projected to grow significantly over the course of the next 40 years (by 2060, experts predict the number of older LEP immigrants will grow to 22 million, up by 15 million from 2018), it’s important to make sure that you’re able to serve this population just as well as you’re able to serve English speakers.   Patients — regardless of the language that they speak — need to be able to understand their health status and communicate effectively with their healthcare providers and insurance agencies. By offering language access services that improve your organization’s transparency, outreach, and communication with consumers, you can contribute to improved health outcomes for the country’s growing population of individuals with LEP.  Effective CMS Marketing for Multilingual Healthcare Materials A Guide to Finding a Medicare Translation Agency Fast Print & Mail Translations for Health Plans While the CMS won’t take your language access measures into account when developing star ratings, high-quality language access is likely to improve your performance on the measures that they do factor into their star ratings.  In recent years, CMS star ratings have been on a downward trend — more and more providers are performing worse than they have in past years. And that could be because many of them aren’t well-prepared to meet the needs of their patients with LEP.   Let’s take a look at the different factors that go into your CMS star ratings, and how improving language access can help you improve your score on each.  The CMS looks at the mortality rates of patients enrolled in a specific plan when determining their star rankings — the lower your mortality rate, the higher your star rating will be. LEP appears to be a factor that can increase mortality rates — according to a report published in 2016, LEP “was associated with a 31% increased odds of mortality” among patients with sepsis, even after accounting for illness severity, comorbidities and other factors.  While it depends on the type of healthcare issue patients face, making sure they are well-informed about their plan and comfortable seeking out the treatment they need, you can lower the overall mortality rate of your plan. In the case of LEP patients, translating important medical information and offering interpretation services as needed will empower patients to make informed choices about their healthcare.   This measure looks at the rate of serious complications patients can potentially face when seeking treatment, such as surgery site infections or catheter-induced urinary tract infections. Language access may not directly impact this measure, but you should be able to effectively communicate the level of risk patients might face. Additionally, making sure interpreters are available and present either in person or remotely can ensure patients are knowledgeable about the health procedures they’re undergoing, allowing them to make decisions accordingly.  If patients frequently have to return to the hospital after surgeries or health emergencies like heart attacks and stroke, your CMS star rating will go down. Patients with LEP have been shown to have particularly high readmission rates when compared to patients who speak English.   If you’re looking to reduce readmission rates, it’s a good idea to look into whether or not your readmission rates are higher for your LEP patients. If it is, working with a language service provider to improve your language access could be a good first step to improving this measure. In 2017, researchers found that access to interpreters had a significant impact on lowering the readmission rates for patients with LEP, from 17.8% to 13.4%.  CMS star ratings also take the patient reviews into account — if patients aren’t satisfied with the care they’re receiving, it could take your rating down a notch. While it’s true that language access can be a matter of life or death in certain situations, it’s also an important way to make patients feel more comfortable, regardless of the severity of their health situation. LEP patients who have access to high-quality language access services may be more likely to report a positive patient experience, which could give your rating a well-needed boost on this measure.  The longer it takes to give patients effective care, the lower your star rating is likely to be here. And wait times tend to be much longer for patients with LEP than for English-speaking patients: A 2022 study found that folks with LEP spend an average of 31.9 minutes in the waiting room, while English speakers wait just 21.8.  On this measure, interpreters can play a particularly important role — if patients with LEP regularly have to wait for a long time to receive interpreting services, it could delay their access to effective care, ultimately hurting your star rating. Work with a language service provider to make sure interpreting services are available on standby so that you can get them access to an interpreter as soon as possible.  Your CMS star ratings are an important way for patients to understand the quality of care they’re receiving. In order to avoid penalties and fines, it’s important to aim for a five-star rating; considering the unique needs of LEP patients, language access is likely to play an important role in reaching that perfect score.  If you’re looking to improve your language access services and boost your CMS star ratings, Avantpage is here to help. We know how important language access is for LEP patients and are proud to provide specialized translation, interpreting, and localization services for healthcare providers. Contact us today at [email protected] or (530) 750-2040. 

Whether you’re calling customer service to help you set up your new computer or simply want to get in touch with a local government agency, phone systems and call centers can be tricky enough even for native English speakers to navigate. Faulty voice recognition software and confusing instructions cause frustration for many of us, but they’re even more likely to cause problems for callers with limited English proficiency (LEP). For individuals with LEP, making a simple phone call to a government agency, medical institution, or any other organization can become a daunting task if the phone system isn’t set up with their needs in mind. Many organizations provide over-the-phone interpreting services — as they should — but inadvertently set up their phone systems with critical breakdown points for LEP users. When it comes to language access over the phone, interpreting isn’t enough: Your phone system also has to be as user-friendly as possible. With open enrollment season upon us healthcare organizations and insurance agencies are bound to receive heightened demand on their phone systems and call centers. That means it’s crucial to reflect upon ways they can improve the experience they provide for callers with LEP. Here, we’ll explore some especially common barriers that LEP patients encounter when contacting call centers for various organizations.
Your phone system can make or break an individual’s experience seeking out help from your agency. Here are some common troubles that people with LEP encounter when trying to contact healthcare providers and insurance agencies over the phone — and ways that you can help improve their experience and provide them the service they expect. Complex phone trees can be a major obstacle for anyone — and particularly so for patients with LEP. While simplifying your phone tree is ideal, it’s not always feasible for every organization. Still, there are ways to reduce breakdowns even if you can’t create a simpler phone tree. If callers have to listen to and select from several menu items, it’s a good idea to have separate phone numbers for different languages, making it more efficient for individuals to reach the right department without frustration. It’s critical for organizations to have clear methods for identifying the patient’s preferred language before calling an interpreter. After all, you certainly don’t want to misidentify a caller’s language and wind up with an interpreter that doesn’t speak their language. Self-identification is one common method that phone systems utilize — i.e., have menu items that read “For English, press one” and “Para español, marque dos,” et cetera., that connect speakers to employees or interpreters who will help them out in their preferred language. Additionally, artificial intelligence tools that can automatically recognize a speaker’s language using voice recognition are slowly but surely growing to be more competent, and could one day be useful to implement in your phone systems. If a caller does get connected to somebody that doesn’t speak their language, employees should be prepared to contact an interpreter and inform them that an interpreter will be on the line shortly. This information must be conveyed clearly and quickly — individuals with LEP may not stay on the line for long if they cannot effectively communicate with the other person on the line, so letting them know that help is on the way is key. A pre-recorded message saying “Please hold for an interpreter” in the caller’s primary language should be an effective way to keep the caller on the line while you wait for an interpreter to come on the line. Additionally, some agencies opt to create phonetic guides that employees can use to read the message to callers in a handful of different languages; this way, employees can convey the message on their own, without having to actually speak the language in question. One of the most common barriers for LEP patients is the lack of proper employee training — if employees are not properly trained, communication may be inefficient and callers will quickly grow frustrated or confused and hang up. Make sure to offer comprehensive training to your employees during the onboarding process, covering topics such as how to call interpreters and how to use your organization’s phone system to connect with them effectively. It’s important to keep the caller on the line at all times. Some set-ups require an employee to disconnect the call and then call the patient back — this is far from ideal, as it can confuse the caller and, depending on how long it takes to call them back, they may not pick up the second call. Additionally, LEP patients may not even be able to give your employees their phone number, considering the language barrier that required an interpreter in the first place. Make sure that your employees can seamlessly connect with the interpreter without hanging up and calling them again — this may simply be a matter of re-training your employees or implementing a more advanced phone system. If your organization uses bilingual messaging in voicemails, it’s important to include a notice in the target language at the beginning of the message. All too often, LEP patients have to listen to a long, drawn-out message in English — unsure of whether or not it will be followed by a translation in their language — before hearing the message in their language. While bilingual messaging is certainly important, be sure to present it in a logical manner. Before starting your English message, consider including a simple opening line in the target language that reads along the lines of “This is a bilingual message,” so callers know to expect a translation following the English message. This step eliminates confusion and ensures that the LEP patient knows to listen to the entire message before hanging up or leaving a message. This open enrollment season, take some time to consider ways in which your phone system and call center processes can be improved to create a smoother experience for callers with LEP. Here are some ways to eliminate common barriers LEP callers may face: At Avantpage, we’re proud to provide over-the-phone interpreting services to help your organization connect with clients who have LEP. Contact us today at [email protected] or (530) 750-2040 for more information.

Earlier this year, Avantpage teamed up with the Athena Group, a women- and minority-owned consulting firm focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), to host a virtual event on how to forge connections and build resilient, inclusive communities. This event brought together government stakeholders seeking to enhance their approach to language access and equity within their organizations. Attendees were eager to explore successful strategies and identify common challenges, and one overarching theme emerged: the challenge of creating programs and services that center the voices of diverse communities with limited English proficiency (LEP) from the very beginning of a project. If you missed our session with the Athena Group, fear not — in this blog post, we’ll dive into some of the key topics discussed at the event, namely common challenges and solutions to engaging diverse communities from the very get-go.
If your organization is looking for ways to better serve people with limited English proficiency, it’s important to seek input from individuals who actually have LEP. Asking for and actually incorporating feedback from diverse communities into your programs and services is critical to making sure that your organization can effectively serve these people. However, that can be a lot easier said than done. Here are some of the main challenges organizations face when it comes to trying to engage diverse communities, particularly those with LEP — and more importantly, solutions that you and your team can implement to get around those challenges. Rural communities often face barriers that communities in big cities and even the suburbs do not — research shows that people living in rural areas typically face a lack of important resources compared to their urban counterparts. And as the population of folks with LEP in rural areas grows, organizations need to be able to address the unique needs of people from diverse linguistic backgrounds living in rural areas. Building relationships with local organizations is key, as this helps bridge the gap between your organization and the community you’re targeting. By forming partnerships with local organizations that are knowledgeable about a given community in a rural area, your team can be more considerate of the needs of the rural communities that you serve. Community members with LEP are fairly unlikely to participate in — or even show up to — public meetings conducted entirely in English. After all, would you feel comfortable attending a town hall in a language you can’t understand without any accommodations made to help you do so? Make sure to offer language services like interpreting and translation at public gatherings with local communities, so individuals with LEP feel welcome and like their voice will be heard. Leading up to the event, make sure to clearly communicate what language access services will be available, so that prospective participants know what to expect. And beyond language services, it’s also important to make sure that the timing and location of your meeting are accessible as well, so that you’re able to reach as many community members as possible. Offering incentives for participation is also a good idea — by compensating participants for time otherwise spent, you lessen the burden of attending a meeting. Engaging with frontline communities can be challenging. Leveraging existing relationships with trusted community groups like nonprofits and community-based organizations (CBO) is a good strategy to invite under-connected populations such as communities of color, low-income individuals, youth, elderly communities, immigrant communities, those with disabilities, and young families. And if you don’t already have existing relationships with local CBOs, read our guide on partnering with CBOs and how they can be an especially helpful resource in your efforts to engage local communities. One reason people — particularly people with LEP — often feel disengaged or uninterested in an organization’s services is simply because they are presented using language that is challenging to understand. Oftentimes, organizations use complicated jargon that might make sense internally, but confuses their audience. Working with a skilled copywriter and a language service provider is crucial to ensuring that the language you use doesn’t overwhelm and alienate your audience. It may also be helpful to brainstorm different ways to present the information as well — infographics can be a really helpful way of simplifying and visualizing concepts without writing too much copy. Plus, they may also be easier and quicker to translate for audiences from different linguistic backgrounds, as they tend to be lighter on copy than, say, a blog post or a dense informational pamphlet. Low participation and attrition rates can also hinder your organization’s progress. To address this, you may want to consider providing hourly stipends for targeted engagement as a way to alleviate the costs of participation, which might include taking time off work, arranging childcare, and transportation. Alternatively, you could also consider providing meals or other items that could encourage people to show up. Additionally, try to be mindful of the information that you collect during registration, especially when working with immigrant communities. And as we’ve mentioned before, be sure to inform attendees about the availability of free-of-cost language services and accessibility — while it’s great to offer language access services, they won’t be very helpful in attracting participants if prospective participants are unaware of their offering. Acknowledging that past actions may have caused harm to the marginalized communities that you’re looking to serve is a crucial step in co-creation, as it allows community members to develop a sense of trust in your organization. Start with internal work, such as implicit/explicit bias training, assessing the team’s intercultural competence, and developing a community charter to begin paving the way for more respectful and equitable collaboration.
It can be hard to engage diverse communities and incorporate their perspectives into your work — but it’s absolutely critical for any organization to do so. Here are some recommendations for mitigating some of the challenges your organization might encounter when attempting to co-create with diverse communities like immigrants or people with LEP:
At Avantpage, we’re proud to work with organizations looking to better engage communities with LEP. We provide translation, interpreting, and localization services to help you connect with people from all linguistic backgrounds — contact us today at [email protected] or (530) 750-2040 to learn more.

A few years before Avantpage was founded, our CEO Luis Miguel’s friend had a bit of a health scare.  This friend, a native Spanish speaker with limited English proficiency (LEP), went to the doctor one day to check up on a health concern he’d had. Though he often brought his daughter to doctor’s appointments to interpret for him, he decided not to this time around, in case it was something serious. But when he left the doctor’s office, he wasn’t sure what to make of the experience — he knew he had a growth in his chest, but he had no idea if it was malignant or not. So he asked Luis Miguel to help him out. Luckily, it was just a cyst, and not a tumor, as he had feared. It was this experience, among others, that inspired Luis Miguel to found Avantpage nearly three decades ago. Luis’s friend’s experience was lucky, but not entirely unique — millions of patients across the United States have LEP, making a routine trip to the doctor’s office a fairly complicated excursion. As we celebrate Avantpage’s 27th birthday on Oct. 31, we think it’s worthwhile to understand what it means to be an LEP patient navigating the all-too-complex healthcare system in the United States. In this blog post, we’ll explore the LEP meaning through the experience of LEP patients, while also providing a few key tips for healthcare providers to keep in mind as they attempt to support individuals with LEP.  As defined by the United States government, an individual with LEP “does not speak English as their primary language and has a limited ability to read, speak, write, or understand English.” Nearly 10% of the country’s population fits into this category — as of 2021, there were 25.7 million residents of the US above the age of five years old with LEP. LEP means an individual can have a major obstacle for individuals seeking out healthcare, whether that’s navigating the complex health insurance market or calling an ambulance during an emergency. Individuals with LEP struggle to comprehend complex medical terminology and effectively communicate their healthcare needs with providers. Healthcare is complex enough as it is. Most of the documents and information you’ll encounter in a healthcare setting — things like the instructions on your prescriptions, or informational pamphlets you receive at the doctor’s office — require a 7th- or 8th-grade reading level to fully understand. 88% of adults (English speakers included) in this country have inadequate health literacy levels. So if it’s hard for English speakers, it’s even harder for LEP patients. It’s important for healthcare providers to be thoughtful in their approach to language access, so that patients who don’t speak English are able to understand their health and take an active role in their care. Misunderstandings in healthcare settings can have dire consequences. A misdiagnosis due to language barriers, a failure to follow prescribed treatments, or misunderstanding post-treatment instructions can all lead to compromised health outcomes. It’s important to provide a little extra support to LEP patients to lower the chances of such misunderstandings taking place. The first step toward fully supporting and caring for LEP patients is to devise a language access plan and put it into action. Working with interpreters, translators, and language service providers is a good way to ensure that your patient-facing communications are accessible in languages other than English. It’s also important for healthcare organizations to invest in training their front-line staff so that they’re prepared to work with LEP patients and have adequate cross-cultural communication skills. Here’s a checklist of things front-line staff need to keep in mind when working with LEP patients: A patient’s English skills should never be a barrier to quality healthcare. At Avantpage, we believe it’s absolutely critical to provide an extra layer of support for LEP patients — here’s how you can train your front-line staff to work with individuals with LEP and ease their journey in navigating the healthcare system: At Avantpage, we’re proud to have spent the last 27 years helping LEP patients navigate the healthcare system. If you’re looking to improve the health outcomes of LEP patients in your organization, Avantpage is here to help with translation, interpreting, localization services and more. Contact us today at [email protected] or (530) 750-2040 for more details. 

It should come as no surprise that strong health literacy is associated with more positive health outcomes.  Health literacy — that is, an individual’s ability to understand and utilize information on health and medical care — is an important part of being able to advocate for yourself in a healthcare setting, whether that’s at the emergency room or a routine check-up. In one 2022 study, researchers found that hospital patients with poor health literacy were more likely to revisit the hospital 90 days after discharge than patients with adequate health literacy. But developing a strong sense of health literacy can be difficult — especially since a good deal of medical literature and information is presented in complex, inaccessible language. Even more challenging is developing a strong sense of health literacy when you have visual impairments that make it difficult to read this information in the first place. On its own, then, accessible language isn’t enough — healthcare providers also need to ensure blind and low-vision patients have access to health information in alternative formats like braille, audio recordings, and large print. In providing a breadth of information in various accessible formats, healthcare providers can promote improved health outcomes for all of their patients. The beginning of October marks National Disability Employment Awareness Month, a time to highlight the importance of making healthcare information and services accessible to all individuals, regardless of their abilities. In this blog post, we’ll explore the crucial role of health literacy in achieving positive health outcomes and explore ways to improve health literacy using accessible language and alternative formats. The vast majority of people in the US have limited health literacy — according to Pfizer, just 12% of people in the nation are proficient when it comes to their health literacy. Health literacy isn’t necessarily about being able to understand medical jargon or decipher dense medical texts — after all, regular patients can’t be expected to understand health and medicine at the same level as trained doctors, nurses, or pharmacists. Health literacy, then, is more about being able to parse through the information a doctor or healthcare provider gives you in a way that allows you to make informed decisions about your well-being. Individuals who are health literate are better prepared to navigate the healthcare system and can play a more active role in their medical care. People with limited health literacy often struggle to fully understand their health conditions. They may also struggle with figuring out how to properly apply their medications and maintain good health overall. Consequently, they may experience poorer overall health, higher healthcare costs, and an increased likelihood of rehospitalization and mortality. On the other hand, individuals with better health literacy are more likely to experience improved health outcomes. They can better comprehend basic health information, communicate effectively with healthcare providers, and make informed decisions about their care. As such, it’s in everyone’s best interest to close the gaps in health literacy. With a more health literate population, hospitals can reduce readmission rates, in turn lowering the amount of stress placed on our healthcare system and improving health outcomes for society as a whole. One of the first steps to closing gaps in health literacy is to ensure that patient-facing documents and other materials are provided in accessible language. That means language that’s welcoming and easy to understand. While there’s a time and place for medical jargon, it’s important that complex topics are presented in a way that’s actually meaningful to the patient. If you’re looking to provide patients with information that can boost their health literacy, you may want to look at some of your pre-existing materials — flyers, brochures, webpages, etc. may benefit from a complete rehaul to clean things up. It’s important for every step of the patient journey to be as accessible and understandable as possible — from scheduling appointments online to informational pamphlets about a specific health condition. Read our guide on plain language to learn more about how you can present information to patients in an easily understandable fashion that sheds light on their health condition. Here are just a few of the benefits of using accessible language with your patients: However, we shouldn’t stop at accessible language. Some groups face unique barriers when it comes to health literacy. For example, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have noted that individuals with visual impairments may struggle more in honing their health literacy skills due to the fact that they’re less able to access certain visual cues that can aid them in deciphering relevant medical texts. As such, it’s important to refine this approach by making sure that relevant materials are accessible in alternative formats for people with visual impairments. Here are a few examples of alternative formats that can be used to ensure that people of diverse abilities are able to access your content: Once you’ve written your materials in accessible language, it’s time to work with an alternative format service provider to make sure that your content is accessible for every patient. By providing patients with accessible information in various alternative formats, you can help elevate your patients’ health literacy and improve outcomes for all. As we recognize National Disability Employment Awareness Month this year, we encourage healthcare providers to take the following steps to promote health literacy: At Avantpage, we’re committed to supporting healthcare organizations in their journey toward improved accessibility. We offer a comprehensive range of alternative format services, including audio, braille, and large print, to ensure that healthcare information is accessible to all — if you’re looking to boost health literacy among your patients, contact us today at [email protected] or (530) 750-2040.

Public libraries are a lot more than just book repositories. Historically, public libraries in the United States have served as safe havens for community members from all walks of life. Beyond providing us with a wealth of free literature and knowledge, they also host programming, events, and resources that aim to promote a sense of equity within the community. Typically offered at little or no cost, these unique library programs serve to democratize human knowledge and make it more accessible than ever. Libraries play a particularly crucial role in fostering linguistic diversity and equity within their community by addressing the unique needs of minority populations. Libraries across the country may offer unique library programming like English as a second language (ESL) instruction for members of the community looking to sharpen their English skills, as well as programming and events hosted in different languages spoken prominently throughout their locale. And that’s not to mention that libraries also offer a huge collection of books, talking books, movies, and other media in several different languages spoken throughout their local community. In this blog post, we’ll examine the work that five public library systems are doing to promote a sense of equity in their local communities, taking a particularly close look at their work for community members with limited English proficiency (LEP).
In an effort to meet the needs of Santa Barbara’s growing population of Spanish speakers, the Santa Barbara Public Library formed its Spanish Outreach Team back in January 2022. Prior to the launch of the Spanish Outreach Team, the library’s employees had noticed a higher demand for Spanish-language services, and made a concerted effort to hire more Spanish-speaking staff. But to make sure that Spanish speakers in the community were aware of the diverse range of services the library system offered, they decided it wasn’t enough to hire Spanish-speaking staff — they also needed to target the Spanish-speaking community in their outreach efforts. By doing so, the staff say they’ve made Spanish-language titles more accessible to Santa Barbarans with LEP, while also allowing them to tap into just as much knowledge as their English-speaking counterparts.
New York City is widely cited as the most linguistically diverse place in the world, with more than 800 different languages represented among the city’s residents. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the city’s public library system is embracing the city’s linguistic diversity and promoting equity through multilingual services. New York residents with LEP can enroll in free English courses at the library, while learners of other languages can also take classes and participate in conversation groups as well. Members of the library also have free access to Mango Languages, allowing them to sharpen up their language skills from their own homes. Meanwhile, the library system also has a comprehensive outreach strategy that involves translating marketing materials and information on the library’s services into several languages spoken throughout the community. The library also has a huge slate of events planned for Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month this month, including bilingual storytimes for Spanish-speaking children. And every April, the library system hosts an annual World Literatures Festival, celebrating books and authors from all across the world.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 led to one of the largest refugee crises in Europe’s history. While most resettled in various locales throughout Europe, more than a quarter million found themselves displaced in the United States. To promote cultural awareness among residents of their local community, Kansas University and the nearby Lawrence Public Library partnered up earlier this year to host a series of panels and events on Ukrainian culture, history, and the ongoing war in the country. And this past spring, the library also offered Ukrainian courses for members of the community interested in familiarizing themselves with the national language of Ukraine.
Much like the city of Santa Barbara, Washoe County, Nevada has also seen a pretty big surge in the local Hispanic and Latino population over the last few years. With that rising population, the local library system has seen demand for Spanish-language services increase significantly. So, the Washoe County Library began hosting bilingual story time events, in which a reader shares a story to children in both English and Spanish. The team behind this effort believes that reading to children in both Spanish and English allows Spanish-speaking children to hear the language outside the home and “normalize” using it outside of their household. Over time, the library system has begun offering a wide range of programming and resources for Spanish speakers and folks from other linguistic backgrounds, including ESL courses and a Spanish-language research database.
As we’ve discussed above, bilingual story time events are a good opportunity for children from diverse linguistic backgrounds to practice their native language with people outside of their household. That’s why the Sno-Isle Library system in the state of Washington is planning on expanding its story time program to offer these events in Spanish, Russian, and Korean, among a handful of others. The library system recently received a $100,000 grant from the Gates Foundation, which it’s partly using to improve its outreach strategy. By working with speakers of different languages, the library system is hoping to make its resources and services more accessible to populations with LEP, allowing them to tap into the wealth of knowledge available through the library system.
Libraries hold great potential for promoting linguistic diversity and equity — from language courses, to multilingual story hours, to collecting multimedia in several different languages, libraries have the ability to empower individuals from all sorts of linguistic backgrounds. If you work for a library and would like to improve your multilingual programming, resources, and outreach to LEP communities, Avantpage is happy to help. We offer translation, localization, and interpreting services that can boost your multilingual, multicultural outreach efforts. Contact us today at [email protected] or (530) 750-2040 for more information.

At Avantpage, we pride ourselves on being a highly data-driven company. And we understand that our clients want to be able to access the same technology and insights into language data that we use internally — that’s why we developed our signature customer portal, AvantPortal. AvantPortal is a comprehensive platform that offers a wide range of features tailored specifically to our customers’ needs. From seamless service requests to streamlined invoice management, file organization, and communication between the client and Avantpage, the portal’s multifaceted capabilities empower clients to navigate translation projects with finesse. We’ve designed and developed our customer portal with your priorities in mind, ensuring that clients are able to tap into a wealth of insightful language data and more. This data can help you work smarter and faster, allowing you to reduce costs and get even more value out of our language services. In AvantPortal, you have access to a customized dashboard that includes all sorts of useful information at a glance, including translation criteria, current and past projects, quotes, contact information  — just to name a few. If you want to really get into the weeds, you can monitor the status of your entire project workflow to know exactly where you are on project delivery status, KPIs like project frequency, number of requests, timeliness, and more. We worked with our account manager Eduardo Diaz to help you come up with ways to leverage language data and make the most out of your experience with AvantPortal. In this blog post, we’ll shed some light on how clients like you can harness this resource to enhance your operational efficiency and strategic decision-making. So without further ado, here are five key things that Eduardo says clients should know about AvantPortal and how to make the most out of the platform to leverage your language data. AvantPortal is a powerful tool for clients, providing you with key data on translation projects and an easy way to contact key folks in our organization. Here are some tips to get the most out of AvantPortal. AvantPortal provides you with all sorts of spending data that you can use to your advantage when working on future projects with us. By evaluating year-to-date expenditures, clients can assess whether they align with projections or if you’re over-/ under-spending. You can also break down that spending data by language, team, and service to see where things are running most efficiently and where things can be improved. We encourage you to work closely with your account manager to find ways to decrease spending or delegate funding to other kinds of projects. And of course, the portal also allows you to swiftly check payment status and identify any outstanding invoices. Rush translations can run up your bill quite a bit, as they’re typically more costly than translation projects with a longer deadline. Thanks to AvantPortal, you can see which teams and individuals are requesting rush translations frequently so that you can educate them on the importance of preparing ahead of time. Data on rush translations — from who’s requesting them to when they’re being requested most frequently — plays a significant role in refining your operational efficacy (and ours!). In addition to using this data as an educational tool, we can also look at peaks and dips in rush translation demand throughout the year to streamline workflows and anticipate workload fluctuations. Data on translation memory (TM) usage is a goldmine for cost optimization. AvantPortal succinctly reveals the distribution of brand-new terms, fuzzy matches, and 100% matches. These insights can provide you with tangible evidence of savings derived from TM usage. And much like with spending data and rush translation data, you can also use AvantPortal to break down TM usage by language and identify areas for improvement. This in turn will improve your cost efficiency and optimize your savings. Understanding historical trends in service requests is an important part of efficient project management. We urge clients to delve into the peaks and troughs of project volume across months and quarters. This analysis will help you identify patterns of increased demand so you can prepare accordingly. Segmentation by departments, project types, and service categories enhances the precision of this analysis, facilitating more targeted decisions. Your account manager is here to help — AvantPortal makes it easy to get connected with them and take advantage of their wealth of knowledge. The account manager-client partnership thrives when clients provide feedback on how they want to visualize data, driving customized solutions that align with the organization’s unique needs. Our seasoned team of account managers possesses insider insights into industry trends and best practices that can guide you in finding the language data you’re looking for. But they won’t just help you find it — they’ll also help you figure out the best way to actually use it. At Avantpage, we’re proud to have an in-house tool as powerful as AvantPortal. This platform proves to be indispensable for data-driven clients who need insights into the translation project management process.To recap, here are five ways you can use AvantPortal to take your projects to the next level: From cost reduction through spendings analysis to process refinement via rush translation and Translation Memory data, AvantPortal equips clients with the tools they need to make informed decisions. Want to learn more about how you can use AvantPortal to leverage language data? Contact us today at [email protected] or (530) 750-2040.