By: Ashley Tulio, Communication Specialist
In this day and age, technology seems to be advancing every minute. Our cellphones, for example, are as powerful and capable as desktop computers, and watches now know how many calories we burned and our heart rate at any given time. Above all, medical technology is growing exponentially to improve the healthcare industry and overall people’s well-being. Medical professionals constantly are exploring new ways to deliver health care remotely and give patients more flexibility. This is where healthcare interpretation plays a significant role in increasing overall access to medical information and services.
Wearable Medical Devices
Wearable medical devices are becoming increasingly popular. The global wearable medical device market is also expected to grow next year and will be valued at around 27.2 million USD, a vast increase from 7.8 million USD in 2017. With fitness trackers and smartwatches becoming more common and widely accepted, wearing a medical device no longer seems to be something out of the ordinary. There are various types of medical tracking devices to help people track their well-being, including:
- Exercise and calorie trackers – are ubiquitous as they are used in Fitbit-type gadgets and other fitness devices.
- Heart rate sensors – are the most common of all devices as they are installed in most smartwatches and wearable fitness devices.
- Sweat metres – help monitor the person’s blood sugar levels.
- Oximeters – monitors the amount of oxygen carried in the blood.
These devices have enormous growth opportunities as they empower people to have more control over their health. People now more than ever want access to information, and such devices allow them to monitor themselves and their well-being regularly. As a result, they feel a sense of ownership and responsibility to track and improve their health.
Telemedicine
Telemedicine is defined as the practice of medicine using technology to deliver care at a distance. Telecommunication and information technologies are used to provide remote clinical services to patients, such as digital imaging, video consultations, and remote medical diagnosis. There are different types of telemedicine services:
- Interactive Medicine: this allows patients and physicians to communicate in real-time, which can be conducted through phone consultations and video conferences.
- Store and Forward: this allows providers to share patient information with a practitioner in another location.
- Remote Patient Monitoring: this permits providers to monitor their patients in their own homes, allowing medical devices to gather and share information with providers to make any adjustments needed.
Telemedicine benefits all parties as patients now have increased access to health care services without having to leave their homes through medical streaming devices. In addition, safety increases as the spread of diseases are reduced since one does not have to wait in crowded rooms. Transportation costs and times also decrease as video consultation increases!
Remote Interpreting
Remote work and video conferencing have become the norm, which resulted in video interpretation services increasing exponentially. Before COVID-19, few translation agencies offered online video interpreting, but with people becoming more accustomed to the format, they started to provide it as an alternative to in-person translation. This is beneficial to both translators and their clients. Translators can save time by eliminating the commute and have the ability to work from home and take on a lot more clients. It also eliminated the need for advanced scheduling, which saves time for clients as they no longer have to wait weeks for their appointments, which is extremely useful since these meetings concern their health. Clients can also attend such meetings from the comfort of their homes. Video interpreting has proven itself as a cost-effective solution for multilingual interpretation, allowing people to request professional translation services and receive help within minutes. Since video interpreting has been introduced within translation agencies, there has been a 65% increase among medical clients asking for such services. In addition, an increasing number of companies in the language industry are conducting their businesses online meetings, and this rise in popularity of the remote interpretation service seems to be an extension of that.
MCIS’ Interpretation Services
MCIS interpretation services include telephone interpretation, face-to-face, message relay, conference interpretation, remote simultaneous interpretation, and video interpretation with live intake 24/7/365! To learn more about interpretation services that MCIS offers, quality control measures to ensure consistent and reliable interpretation, or to request a service, click here!
To read more blogs about the healthcare industry please see some of our other ones below:
Is Telehealth the Knight in Shining Armour for the World Health Industry?
The Importance of Language Services within the Healthcare Industry
References:
https://www.execlangser.com/blog/How-Technology-Changes-the-Game-for-Medical-Interpreting_AE4.html
https://vsee.com/what-is-telemedicine/
https://www.dr-bill.ca/blog/technology/the-importance-of-new-technology-in-the-healthcare-industry
https://www.aafp.org/news/media-center/kits/telemedicine-and-telehealth.html