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Like many executives at hospitals and healthcare centers, you know that translation plays an important part in providing quality healthcare. But many organizations question how to get started with translation and also ensure compliance with Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care Standards (CLAS). As a specialized, highly qualified healthcare translation provider, Avantpage has the answers needed to communicate more effectively with a Limited English Profi cient (LEP) audience. The key to creating a trusted, safe healthcare experience is translating materials into the core languages that LEP clientele speak and understand. This includes signage, fl yers, surveys, patient education documents, consent and intake forms, booklets, registration forms, and more. Patients will be better equipped to understand medical information and instructions, navigate a healthcare facility with confi dence, and make informed, educated choices regarding their healthcare. Many LEP patients speak some English, but are more comfortable reading signs, forms, and other information in their own languages. While some healthcare organizations think they don’t have extra resources to spend on translation, the truth is that they don’t have the luxury of choosing to forgo translation of critical documents. Language access is mandated by federal laws and regulatory agencies. Not only is it the law, it makes sound business sense, too. Translating critical documents and instructions into threshold languages: Translation done poorly puts a company at risk. At best, an organization might end up with inaccurate translations, which will cause embarrassment and damage to a good reputation. At worst, misinformation exposes an organization to malpractice suits, other legal claims, medical errors, and non-compliance rulings. At Avantpage, we’re fully versed in and adhere to CLAS Standards, which provide a framework for all healthcare organizations to best serve their increasingly diverse communities, and our highly qualifi ed translation teams are trained specialists in managed care threshold languages. For more information on how to create a comprehensive, cost-effective translation program, contact us today.

An MBE (Minority-owned Business Enterprise) is defined as a for-profit business which is owned, operated and controlled by minority group members who are Asian, Black, Hispanic or Native American. At least 51% of the business must be owned by a minority to qualify or, if the business is publicly-owned, at least 51% of the stock must be owned by one or more members of a minority. The management and day-to-day operations of the business must be controlled by minority group members as well. Avantpage, providing translation services since 1996, with owner and CEO Luis Miguel at the helm, is certified as an MBE by The National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC).  The council helps its corporate members (including IBM, Microsoft, Marriot, AT&T, AFLAC, Kraft Foods, Lockheed Martin, MetLife and many more) connect with the more than 17,000 minority-owned suppliers in its database. Seventeen states and 25 cities also accept NMSDC certification for programs designed to help minorities win public-sector contracts. Many federal and state agencies are committed to working with minority owned businesses and have programs in place to ensure that a certain amount of contracts and projects are awarded to these businesses. Corporations are also interested in working with and supporting MBEs, and make it a point to seek out contractors, vendors and suppliers who fit the criteria.  Working with minority owned businesses has proven to be a win-win situation for many of America’s largest organizations:  they are able to build good will and garner positive support throughout many minority communities; they gain the respect and trust of minority consumers; they work with minority suppliers committed to delivering exceptional products and services; and they are recognized for supporting diversity through their actions. As a leading player in the translation industry, Avantpage is accustomed to addressing minority concerns in regard to language barriers. Our staff is sensitive to the communication issues and cultural differences that LEP individuals experience, and our goal is to deliver accurate, high-quality translation that is also culturally sensitive and audience-appropriate. Contact us today at [email protected] to learn more about how our MBE certification informs all aspects of our service, and can help you create a comprehensive, affordable translation strategy. You’ll be able to communicate more effectively with your clients, increase your market share, and secure new business.

Healthcare reform is one of today’s hot button medical topics –– from the water cooler to the boardroom, everyone’s talking about it, and everyone has a different idea of what’s in store. Let’s take a quick look at what’s going on as the 2014 deadline for implementation draws closer … First of all, healthcare reform (President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) was established to address the health insurance needs of Americans as health care and medical costs continue to rise astronomically in this country. For a typical American family, the average premium is almost $14,000 dollars a year…and growing. Premiums have doubled over the last nine years, and indications are that they will continue to rise. As a result, many Americans do without health care, and that is no longer acceptable. Everyone deserves healthcare, and health care reform will make sure everyone gets it. In 2014, major changes to health care under the ACA include: expansion of Medicaid; health insurance tax credits for those who are eligible; the implementation of state-run Health Exchanges; and the mandate that everyone be required to buy health insurance, or pay a penalty. Also in accordance with the ACA, Insurers will no longer be able to exclude those who have pre-existing conditions, or charge sick people more for coverage. By 2019, it is estimated that 32 million Americans who are currently without health insurance will have it.  How will America pay for all this expanded health care coverage? Over the next 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office has surmised that 938 billion dollars will be spent on health care reform.  The money will come from various sources:  savings from health care providers and insurers through Medicare; higher Medicare taxes for those who earn more; new taxes on insurers and businesses; cutting wasteful spending throughout the healthcare industry. Whether you support reform, would rather keep to the status quo, or fall somewhere in between, one thing is certain – this is the biggest overhaul of our nation’s health care system since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. To view an entertaining short video on this subject, please visit http://healthreform.kff.org/the-animation.aspx  Written and produced by the Kaiser Family Foundation, it is available to watch in English and Spanish.

Avantpage and School Innovations & Advocacy have partnered together for the 9^th year in order to deliver SARC (School Accountability Report Card) documents that accommodate multiple languages and are fully compliant with state and federal laws regarding translation of materials. SARCs represent a school’s opportunity to highlight the year’s success stories, generate community support and goodwill, provide information to the public, build support for upcoming bond legislation, and promote a positive outlook for the coming year. When 15% or more students enrolled in a particular school speak a single primary language other than English, all notices, reports, statements or records, including SARCs, must be communicated in that primary language in addition to being written in English.  Parents or guardians of these students may respond in either English or their primary language. Schools are responsible for posting their SARCs online if they have a website, and must make hard copies available to parents if requested. The deadline to complete and publish SARCs is February 1, and Avantpage has been working closely with SI&A, handling translation assignments for a variety of SARC projects in languages including Spanish, Hmong, Mandarin, Vietnamese and Khmer. Avantpage’s goal is to ensure that SARCs are communicated in a clear, accurate, and culturally sensitive manner. Avantpage and SI&A have worked together on many projects over the years, and SI&A remains one of our most valued long-term clients. Dr. Luis Miguel, CEO of Avantpage, says, “Avantpage is privileged to work with SI&A on the translation of these important documents, which keep California public schools, parents, and the community connected.” Since 1996, Avantpage has offered accurate, high-quality LEP (Limited English Proficient) translations for industries including Education, Medical/Healthcare, Elections, Financial, Government, Medicare Marketing, and more.

The digital age is profoundly impacting society as we know it, but since we do translations best, let’s focus on the changes happening there! As consumerism’s voracity has sharpened, and people used to the exponential growth of technology start expecting faster turnaround times, corporations look for work that is cheaper, and faster. Machine translation has played a pivotal and controversial role in this trend, as well as translation glossaries and other extraordinary web/digital tools! Sensationalists and extremists on both sides wonder if the combination of the growing sophistication of non-human translation tools, and the increasing reluctance to hire translators who don’t use these tools to expedite their process will contribute to the end of the translation industry as we know it. We, at Avantpage, though, say ‘no!’ to those extremists. We’re reasonable and clear about our mission: to use our custom array of translation technology to its utmost potential without sacrificing the quality of the work. And the truth is for however much technology becomes able to do, there is never a full replacement for a human translator (especially ours!) using his or her unique sensibility and professionalism to do the job just right! We’re always giving you the product we know you’ll respond to and want to come back for, and we know how to keep the outflow of quality work streamlined with the optimal efficiency of machine/human collaboration! Have a wonderful 2013, translation!

At Avantpage, we often create Style Guides for our clients--whether they're for a healthcare, medical, Medicare marketing, election, or government industry. These language service style guides enable us to streamline and customize the translation process. Style Guides are manuals created to indicate linguistic and stylistic preferences for a specific client, and include an organization’s linguistic requirements, grammar, punctuation, acronyms, currency and numeric preferences, and more. Each guide we create is tailored to a client’s individual needs, preferences and requirements, and becomes a valuable reference tool for our translators. Style guides can include: Why Use Style Guides? When we work with our clients, style is one of those things that creates a good deal of back-and-forth effort, which can slow the translation process. Knowing in advance how to handle things like acronyms, grammatical preferences, punctuation, audience reading level/background, etc. allows us to work more quickly and accurately to tailor the translation pieces to individual client needs. Improved Efficiency, Consistency and Quality Style Guides encompass all of an organization’s written linguistic, tone and style preferences, providing a general framework and specifications for anyone who is involved in the translation projects. Style Guides ensure that every piece we translate for you matches your organization’s individual preferences and requirements. This results in improvement of translation quality and style consistency across all translation projects. Contact us today at [email protected] to learn more about how our resources can help you create a comprehensive, affordable translation strategy. You'll be able to communicate more effectively with your clients, increase your market share, and secure new business.

Recently, Altamed Health Services has been creating youtube videos to educate their patient populations and demographics about caring for individuals’ health responsibly. Part of this series included a telenovela style web-series, entitled “Sin Vergüenza” or “Without Shame,” focusing on issues of homosexuality, safe sex, HIV testing, and more. We’re really happy to have served Altamed by translating the script to this series (see English trailer here), and we’re inspired by their multifaceted, creative commitment to bettering the world through health. It’s always a joy to modulate the nuance of our work to fit the style of the original document and cater to the target audience, and we’re always staying on point to deliver the messages and themes as precisely as possible! Though we specialize in Healthcare translations, this is an example of blending that expertise with our expertise for dramatic script translations, and we get how all of our expertise can co-mingle to serve a greater whole in all our fields of work! Your language is our betterment, and we’re always eager to hear about what kinds of translations you want for your business or projects!

The BBC just posted a piece on all the languages one can discover in New York, but conversely all the ones that become extinct there! With a rich historical upbringing, NY was originally home to the indigenous Lenape people, then settled by the Dutch, then the English, and now is a hub to a myriad of diverse migrants! You may be amazed as an English-speaking American, at how many cultures and languages are just under your nose in the communities in which you live! In NY, it’s as simple as choosing a destination by subway, and then listening to the predominant non-English conversations on the train, or spying the prominent translated safety signs along your way! The reason languages die, according to anthropologists, is because of what’s called “language shift,” where a group of people consensually decide to change tongues, or simply must because of circumstantial pressure (such as being conquered). With over 6,000 languages in existence across the globe, and half of these on the verge of evaporation, it’s our duty as a language service business to know what’s going on in the world of languages, and promote awareness by offering expertise in these languages, as well as quality standards! Let us know what you think here at our blog!

Covered California–– California’s new Health Benefit Exchange –– represents a unique opportunity for health plan providers to increase market share and gain new customers … but timing will prove critical. When Covered California goes into effect (January 2014, with pre-enrollment beginning October 2013), thousands of consumers and small businesses will be newly eligible to purchase health insurance. This pool of newly eligible consumers will be largely LEP (Limited English Proficient), which means that health plan providers must have a solid translation strategy in place before Covered California goes “live.” What do these LEP customers want as they shop for coverage through Covered California? They need to understand benefits information; compare plan offerings; and make educated choices regarding costs, benefit options, quality, value and more. Click here to read our Special Report: "Covered California - Claiming Your Share of the Health Benefit Exchange" - which explains the Health Benefit Exchange, how providers should plan to stay ahead of the game, and the five steps health plans can take now to get started. At Avantpage, we specialize in translation for the healthcare industry and work closely with a variety of healthcare organizations, including CalOptima, Delta Dental, Alameda Alliance for Health, MESVision, California Department of Public Health, EyeMed Vision Care and more. Contact us today to create a comprehensive, affordable translation strategy that will help you communicate more effectively with your clients, increase your market share, and secure new business.

Thanksgiving is always a fantastic opportunity to spend time with friends and family, we as a business are thankful for that! The language industry this year has had a lot of exciting new developments, so we wanted to point out our favorite trends and let you in on our gratitude list! We at Avantpage are thankful for you! Make your voice heard with us by leaving a comment on our blog! May the good energy of turkey dinners be with you!

On November 11th earlier this month, Rolling Stone Magazine introduced its first Spanish language section into its pages focusing on Latino music and culture!¹ The back of the issue is a secondary cover featuring the crossover rapper Pitbull.
According to the publisher, 17% of the magazine’s readership are Latinos, making the new feature not only more accessible to Latino Americans, but also more resonant with the cultural and artistic crossovers we’re experiencing between Latin America and the U.S.!
It’s great for us at Avantpage to see these changes in a major magazine read by the mainstream, since it acknowledges not only the growing presence of Latinos in the U.S., but also the growing influence that presence is having on our nation, both artistically and culturally.
The truth is America is an extremely diverse place, with the example of rapper Pitbull being raised by Cuban parents in Miami, FL, and bringing not only his language but his culture into the American music scene.
Knowing other languages is a proven health benefit to the brain,² so it’s wonderful to see moments when the media or mainstream makes room for different languages in their output, not diluting their English content in doing so, but diversifying their message and making their subject matter broader, their content more flavorful!

Translation is harder than it sounds! As a translator, besides just knowing the target and original languages fluently, you should also be familiar with the particular jargon of the field or industry you are translating for, as well as the nuances of wording and cultural influences that your target reader will best respond to! In the case of healthcare, there are several things we keep in mind: We specialize in healthcare, and have served top clients in the industry for years, that’s why we’re confident about our work in translating valuable health information within the industry. Please visit our best practices on health translation to learn more about our process, our visit our blog entry on Covered California to learn more about the healthcare work we’re gearing up for. As always, we love to hear your feedback here on our blog!