Why do you need to have your healthcare interpreters certified?

Why do you need to have
your interpreters certified?
March 14, 2014
Natalya Mytareva, M.A., AHI™, CCHI Managing Director
Guests:
Scott Crystal, Vice President, American Translation Partners, Inc
Kevin Cunningham, Sales Executive, Certified Languages International
Syan Ruiz, CHI™, Quality Assurance Liaison, Lionbridge Technologies, Inc.
www.cchicertification.org

A National, Valid, Credible,
Vendor-Neutral Certification Program
 National – A portable credential that follows the Interpreter
throughout their career
 Valid – The single most important concept – the certification test
measures what it intends to measure
 Credible – Created by Interpreters, for Interpreters and the public
good
 Vendor-Neutral – Developed from the ground up and not reliant on
any existing certification, training, testing or assessment developed
or licensed by other organizations. No individual, organization,
vendor or entity has any financial or other stake in the program's
administration

CCHI Commissioners
Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, MA, University of WI Hospital & Clinics
Wayne Boatwright, MHA, Meridian Health
Frederick Bw’Ombongi, MHA, Spectrum Health, AHI™
Kathleen K. Diamond, MA, Association of Language Companies
Gabriela Flores, MBM, Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics
Jonathan Levy, MA, Consultant and interpreter trainer
Alejandro Maldonado, BA, MN Dept. of Human Services, CHI™
Maria Michalczyk, RN, MA, Coram Specialty Infusion Services
Elizabeth Nguyen, MA, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, AHI™
Virginia Pérez-Santallá, C.T., American Translators Association
Karin Ruschke, MA, International Language Services, AHI™
Mara Youdelman, JD, LLM, National Health Law Program
CCHI Managing Director: Natalya Mytareva, MA, AHI™

Accomplishments
By Interpreters, for Interpreters and the Public
Good
 13 Commissioners
 20 Advisors and 1 Managing Director
 50 Supporters
 2,479 Job Task Analysis Participants
 115 Test Development Subject Matter Experts
 1,275 AHI™ and CHI™ Credentials Awarded
 47 Continuing Education programs accredited with
CEAP

Why is certification important?
What’s in it for an LSP?
 Scott Crystal, Vice President, American
Translation Partners, Inc
 Kevin Cunningham, Sales Executive, Certified
Languages International

Hospitals and healthcare
providers
demand assurance of competency of your
interpreters
 DHHS Guidance: “Recipients should be aware that
competency requires more than self-identification
as bilingual.”
 CLAS Standard 7: “Ensure the competence of
individuals providing language assistance…”
 The Joint Commission standards: “HR.01.06.01
Staff are competent to perform their
responsibilities.”
(Audience poll) www.cchicertification.org

CCHI Certification Offers
 Consistency in assessing professional
competencies of interpreters
 Validity of the assessment tool verified by a
third-party – the National Commission for
Certifying Agencies (of Institute for
Credentialing Excellence)
 Workforce development by requiring
interpreters to complete continuing education
as a credential renewal requirement

CCHI Certification
is available to
 Interpreters of all languages
 Interpreters working in all modalities:
 Face-to-face
 Telephonic
 Video
 Interpreters in any state
 Staff, contractor or volunteer interpreters

CCHI’s 3-step competency
assurance process
1. Rigorous application process establishing
prerequisite requirements are met
2. Taking and passing CCHI’s certification exams
3. Credential maintenance requirements – to
renew every 4 years:
 Continuing Education Requirements
 Work Experience Requirements

Who is CCHI Certification for?
An Entry-Level Interpreter:
A person who is able to perform the functions
of a healthcare interpreter competently and
independently in a healthcare setting with the
knowledge, skill and ability required to relay
messages accurately from a source language to
a target language in a culturally competent
manner and in accordance with established
ethical standards.

Credentials Offered
 Associate Healthcare Interpreter™ (AHI™)
 Core knowledge credential available to all
interpreters EXCEPT Spanish-, Arabic- and
Mandarin-speaking interpreters
 Certified Healthcare Interpreter™ (CHI™)
 Language-specific credential, currently available to
Spanish-, Arabic - and Mandarin-speaking
interpreters

AHI™ Credential
is the core certification and a professional entry
point for healthcare interpreters regardless of
the language(s) in which they interpret.
It is a multiple-choice, computer-based test in
English which focuses on the role of the
healthcare interpreter and measures the
interpreter’s knowledge, abilities and skills
related to the following areas:

Knowledge
of medical
terminology
Effective
interaction/communication
skills with other healthcare
professionals, patients, and
their families
Ability to prepare for and
manage an interpreted
encounter
Cultural responsiveness
Critical thinking & decision-making
abilities

Value of the AHI™ Credential
 Measures the core professional knowledge
that distinguishes a healthcare interpreter
from a bilingual
 Measures critical thinking and ethical
decision-making abilities that are vital for
protecting your company’s reputation and
reducing your liability.
 Available to interpreters of all languages

CHI™ Credential
 Language-specific certification, currently
available in Spanish, Arabic and Mandarin
 Certificants pass two exams:
 AHI™ multiple-choice examination +
 computer-based oral performance,
language-specific (CHI™) examination

CHI™ oral performance
exam measures
Language
skills (being
bilingual)
Consecutive
Interpreting
skills
Sight
Translation
& Written
Translation
skills
Simultaneous
Interpreting
skills

Why are Simultaneous
Interpreting Skills Important?
Emotionally
charged
situations
Emergency
Dept
Mental health
encounters

2014 Testing Windows for CHI™:
 April 23 - May 14, 2014
 July 21 - August 9, 2014
 October 20 - November 8, 2014

Fees
Application: $35
AHI™ exam: $175
CHI™ exam: $275
 Volume discounts are available for organizations
purchasing 10 or more exams
Contact us at billing@CCHIcertification.org for
specifics regarding volume discounts

Certification as Workforce
Development Solution
Audience Poll
 You can save your training $$
 If you have contractors – you can comply with
the IRS requirement better:
“If the business provides the worker with training on how
to do the job, this indicates that the business wants the
job done in a particular way. This is strong evidence that
the worker is an employee. Periodic or on-going training
about procedures and methods is even stronger evidence
of an employer-employee relationship. However,
independent contractors ordinarily use their own
methods.” (http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-
Employed/Behavioral-Control)

Credential Maintenance
 AHI™ and CHI™ credentials are valid for 4
years
 Maintenance Requirements
32 hours total Continuing Education = 16 hours
(classroom or contact) in years 1 & 2, 16 hours in
years 3 & 4
40 hours of work experience = 20 hours in years 1
& 2, 20 hours in years 3 & 4
Renewal fees: 2 installments of $150 at year 2 and
4 (or $300 total at year 4)

Do you want to invest in a long-term
solution to reducing risk & liability?
If yes – CCHI certification is for you!
We can
 Offer you discounts for certification exams of your
interpreters
 Explain our application & certification process to
your interpreters
 Accredit your training programs (especially online
and language-specific ones) and market them as
CE to certified interpreters (see www.ceapcchi.org
for info)

Interpreter Registry and
Credential Verification

Interpreter Registry

Credential Verification

Why do you support CCHI?
Syan Ruiz, Quality Assurance Liaison,
Lionbridge Technologies, Inc.

Our Success Stories
Examples of LSPs that either adopted a policy of
requiring CCHI certification as employment
requirement or reimburse the cost of interpreter
certification:
 American Translation Partners, Inc
 Children’s Hospital of Chicago
 Cleveland Clinic (OH)
 Rush U Medical Center (Chicago)
 Spectrum Health (Grand Rapids, MI)
 St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital Center (NYC)

How can you support
certification of interpreters?
 Sponsor your interpreters’ training – they need to have 40
hours of HC interpreting training before they apply for
certification
 Sponsor your interpreters’ language-specific training to help
them pass the CHI™ oral exams in Spanish, Arabic and
Mandarin
 Encourage your interpreters to subscribe to CCHI Newsletter
to get professional updates (website tab “Stay
Informed/Subscribe”)
 Invite CCHI to speak to your interpreters about certification
 Make certification (AHI™ or CHI™) a preferred or required
qualification for new hires
 Reimburse all or a portion of certification costs to your
interpreters or purchase the CCHI exams for a group at a
discounted rate

managing.director@cchicertification.org
Like us on www.facebook.com/CCHIcertification
Follow us on Twitter @CCHIcertify
Join us on LinkedIn – “Certification Commission for
Healthcare Interpreters”

Why do you need to have your healthcare interpreters certified?

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