VRI (Video Remote Interpreting) Services Ease Language Barriers

I. Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) Services: The Basics

II. Educating Oregon Hospitals on the Value of VRI Services

III. Prineville

IV. Rogue Valley

I. Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) Services: The Basics

What does a sign language interpreter do?

Sign language/spoken English interpreters listen to another person's words, inflections and intent and simultaneously translate them into the visual language of signs.  Interpreters must also be able to comprehend the signs, inflections and intent of the deaf consumer and simultaneously speak them in English.  ORS 185.220 through 230.

What is the difference between video remote interpreting (VRI) and video relay service (VRS)?

Both VRI and VRS use interpreters and videophones or web cameras.  However, there are important differences between the two services. 

• On a VRI call, both the deaf (or hard-of-hearing or speech-impaired) person and hearing person are located in the same room and the sign language interpreter is located offsite. 
  
• With VRS, the deaf person and the hearing person are in different locations and are connected through the interpreter at a VRS call center.

VRI allows users who are in the same room together to communicate.

How does a VRI call work?

The deaf person and the hearing person are together in the same room with a videophone or web camera, and a television or computer screen. 

The video interpreter works from another location and also uses a videophone or web camera and television or computer screen to facilitate communication between the deaf person and the hearing person. 

The interpreter:

• Hears the voice of the hearing person through the microphone or telephone
  
• Translates the message into sign language into the camera, which the deaf person views on their screen
  

Then, when the deaf person signs to the camera, the interpreter:

• Views it from their screen
• Speaks the aural interpretation into a microphone or telephone for the hearing person

What are the benefits of using VRI services in the ER?

VRI is being used increasingly in ERs, where it is essential that deaf patients and caregivers be able to communicate quickly with medical providers, and there is no time to wait for a live interpreter to arrive onsite.  

Hospitals with VRI capability can connect with a remote interpreter quickly and conduct triage and intake surveys with the deaf patient or caregiver.

Where else can VRI services be used?

Employees in office settings can use VRI services for brief interactions as well as regular meetings which would be difficult to schedule with an onsite interpreter.  Schools and businesses located in areas with limited numbers of interpreters can also benefit from increased access to professional interpreters through VRI while also saving on travel expense reimbursements.

II. Educating Oregon Hospitals on the Value of VRI Services

In 2010, DRO advocate Rosemary DiSiervi facilitated a number of meetings between the deaf community and hospitals across Oregon to improve services to the deaf through the use of video remote interpreting (VRI) services. VRI removes significant communication barriers and promotes effective communication with people who are deaf or who have a hearing or speech impairment.

Providence Medford Medical Center has already:

• Increased the number of sign language interpreters from two to four
• Provided updated listings of the interpreters to its clinics & all hospital departments

Providence is currently coordinating with its Oregon region facilities to explore VRI options, assessing internet accessibility and required equipment.

Staff from Sky Lakes Medical Center in Klamath Falls were familiar with VRI, but did not know how to go about setting up VRI services.  Rosemary put them in touch with Providence Medford Medical Center so that the two hospitals could share information about providing VRI services.

Rosemary gave a presentation on VRI to a committee of the Central Oregon Resources for Independent Living (CORIL).  The Vice President of the Mountain View Hospital Auxiliary in Madras (a group that raises funds to buy equipment for Mountain View Hospital and awards scholarships for medical education) shared that the Auxiliary has the funds to pay for a VRI cart for Mountain View Hospital.  And, the Warm Springs Vocational Rehab Program Director asked Rosemary to meet with the Elders who have deaf members in their families.

III. Prineville

DRO advocate Rosemary DiSiervi's outreach efforts about video remote interpreting (VRI) services spurred deaf community leader Kathleen Godat to meet with the CEO of Pioneer Memorial Hospital. He is responsible for three hospitals in that area (Prineville, Bend, Redmond) and is very interested in VRI technology for all three hospitals. Hospital staff are also receptive to implementing VRI across the entire system.

IV. Rogue Valley

DRO advocate Rosemary DiSiervi's outreach efforts across the state during the summer of 2010 about VRI services continue to bear fruit.

Thanks to DRO's joint advocacy with Deaf Services of Southern Oregon (DSSO) promoting VRI services, a patient and his wife learn of and use VRI for the first time, with great results.

A couple went to Rogue Valley Medical Center (RVMC) in December 2010 and asked for an ASL (American Sign Language) interpreter.  The staff said not to worry and brought out a 15-inch laptop. 

That was when the couple found out about VRI. 

The patient's wife said that the interpreter was very skilled and easily understood both her and her husband.  The laptop screen was clear, with great color.

Bill Drobkiewicz of Deaf Services of Southern Oregon (DSSO) is the lead facilitator of the organization's VRI (Video Remote Interpreting) Committee, which has been working on getting Rogue Valley-area hospitals, doctors, dentists, and medical clinics to provide improved interpreting services with VRI this past year.  DRO Advocate Rosemary DiSiervi serves as the VRI Committee's advisor.

Bridging language barriers in healthcare | kdrv.com
By Bryan Navarro | April 12, 2011

MEDFORD, Ore. -- Communication is getting a new face for non-English speaking patients at RVMC.

Six video remote interpreters, or V-R-I'S, allow patients who speak Spanish or sign language to communicate with hospital staff.

The hospital has six V-R-I machines, helping fill the job of two human interpreters.

Officials say it takes no more than 30 seconds to get in contact with an interpreter.

Officials say the number of Hispanic residents in Jackson County has doubled in the past decade and interpreters help to meet the need of a growing number of patients.

Each month, 200 patients, for a total of about 2,000 minutes, use the V-R-I machines.

V-R-I has been in use at RVMC since early November.

And was used when the first baby of 2011 was born at RVMC, to a Spanish-speaking family.

Source available here. 

Rogue Valley deaf community says new technology can help them communicate | Deaf community in Rogue Valley promotes video remote interpreting technology to ease communication | Mail Tribune
By Vera Westbrook | August 30, 2010

The Rogue Valley's deaf community hopes to persuade businesses and public agencies to take advantage of new technology that can help them communicate more effectively.

Called video remote interpreting, the technology helps deaf and partially deaf people and those with speech impediments to talk with others without waiting for an interpreter to come in person.

Nine people belonging to Deaf Services of Southern Oregon have formed a committee to spread the word about the new technology to businesses, health professionals, hospitals and police departments.

Roquel Wilson, a longtime advocate for the deaf in the Rogue Valley, said cities such as Roseburg, Florence and Bend already are using the technology. Jackson County Circuit Court is the only place using it locally, said Wilson, who is deaf.

The technology allows a certified American Sign Language interpreter to appear on a viewing screen (such as a television or computer monitor) similar to a video conference call. It requires the business or public agency to spend several hundred dollars on equipment and costs $2 per minute.

Wilson said out of 132 certified sign language interpreters in Oregon, only four live in the Rogue Valley to provide services to some 500 deaf and partially deaf people in the area.

Trying to schedule an interpreter can be difficult at any time, let alone in an emergency, committee members said. Video remote interpreting companies, which hire interpreters throughout the country, can provide someone immediately 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Committee member Bob Schultz said he doesn't like discussing personal information at a doctor's office in the presence of a live, local interpreter.

"We know the four interpreters," Schultz said. "If a live interpreter is in the room, I don't feel comfortable with a doctor." He prefers discussing personal information with someone he doesn't know on a screen.

"If they're on a screen, it feels less personal," he said.

Providence Medford Medical Center is looking into providing the video remote service, a spokeswoman said.

Video technology also is available on telephones, replacing the outdated TTY/TDD text devices. It's known as a video relay service, and it's free for those with communication disabilities. It is funded by the Interstate Telecommunications Relay Fund created by the Federal Communications Commission.

Wilson said hearing people are unfamiliar with the system and sometimes hang up because of the delay in connecting with an interpreter or because interpreters identify themselves with a four-digit number that people mistake for a telemarketer.

Video relay service interpreters talk with the hearing person, then communicate to the deaf party via sign language using a video camera and the Internet.

For more information about video remote interpreting, contact Deaf Services of Southern Oregon via its website, www.dsso.org.

Vera Westbrook is a reporting intern for the Mail Tribune and can be reached at intern1@mailtribune.com.

Source available here.