Combining recent interpretation services acquisitions, AMN Healthcare will provide schools with interpretation in several languages, including American Sign Language (ASL).
AMN Healthcare has launched a service that will combine teletherapy for schools with video interpretation services, allowing therapy professionals to communicate with any student, parent, or guardian who may be limited English proficient (LEP), Deaf, or hard of hearing. Teletherapy helps school districts better facilitate the learning process for students with disability, as well as those who need language interpreters, while also addressing the shortages of therapy professionals, particularly in rural areas and other underserved communities.
The new Teletherapy service follows on the heels of the healthcare solutions provider’s acquisition of Stratus Video, a language services provider that focuses on video remote interpretation for hospitals and clinics, including phone interpretation, onsite interpretation, and telehealth interoperability.
“Qualified healthcare interpretation, which is mandated by federal and many state regulations, is a service that many healthcare organizations do not have the resources to provide for themselves,” AMN Healthcare CEO Susan R. Salka said of the purchase earlier this year. “This acquisition also helps further deliver on AMN’s commitment to help deliver quality, compassionate patient care, reduce complexity, increase efficiency and improve the patient and clinician experience. Quality medical interpretation services delivered through a secure communications platform also aligns with AMN commitment to equality and inclusion by supporting greater access to care for limited-English proficient patients, deaf and hard of hearing individuals along with their families.”
The new service combines AMN Healthcare’s latest advanced teletherapy platform and the nation’s top school therapists, psychiatrists, social workers, and other care providers with medically qualified interpreters. The company expects the service to enable virtual patient-provider encounters in multiple languages, including ASL.
“The burden on school districts to provide consistent, quality therapy is higher today than ever before. Schools must overcome significant barriers to reach all the children who need help,” said Kelly Rakowski, Group President and Chief Operating Officer, Strategic Talent Solutions, at AMN Healthcare. “By combining teletherapy services with live interpretation from medically qualified interpreters, AMN Healthcare is expanding access to care and helping to improve health equity throughout the country.”
