Video Remote Interpretation, or VRI, is now available in addition to staff interpreters at Bothwell Regional Health Center and OB/GYN Associates in Sedalia. In the past, when face-to-face interpreters for patients with limited English profiency were unavailable, interpretation services would have to be provided by telephone. Now, the VRI tool uses a camera, speakers and antennae on a cart to connect patients to interpreters with the click of an icon.
“It is similar to Skype, but it is much better quality,” said Ruth Cuevas, Bothwell’s coordinator of Interpretive Services.“The camera can be positioned so the patient and the interpreter can see and hear each other. It works if the patient is lying down or sitting up.”
