ISI launches initiative to create translation glossary for healthcare providers

Phrases like "Grandfathered Health Plan" or "Biosimilar Biological Products" are hard enough to understand in English, let alone trying to accurately translate those concepts into Spanish, Chinese or any other of the dozens of languages in which healthcare providers must communicate.

“We're already getting a lot of inquiries about the new healthcare jargon, so we wanted to create a resource for healthcare providers and individuals”

Accurate translation of new jargon is just one of the many hurdles facing healthcare companies as they try to educate their customers about the new healthcare legislation - the Affordable Care Act. And that's why ISI Translation Services (www.ISITrans.com) today is launching an initiative to create a translation glossary for those buzz words that are particularly idiomatic.

The Los Angeles-based company made the announcement while attending DiversityRx - the National Conference Series on Quality Healthcare for Culturally Diverse Populations - held in Baltimore through Thursday.

ISI will begin with Spanish and Chinese translations of phrases and concepts like Grandfathered Health Plan, Rider-Free Penalty, Medical Loss Ratio, EOBs, EOCs and more. Anyone is invited to submit words or phrases that need translating to [email protected].

ISI provides language services to a wide range of industries and organizations, specializing in healthcare, life sciences, pharmaceutical and financial services. The company translates healthcare materials into roughly 100 different languages on a regular basis. Since founding the company in 1982, language specialist George Rimalower has experienced this rash of new buzz words before.

"This is reminiscent of the late '90s boom in technology buzz words," said Rimalower. "The new healthcare legislation has introduced a lot of new jargon that makes little sense in English. So you can imagine how challenging it can be for non-linguists to make it understandable for a customer or a patient whose primary language is something else."

Some of the first buzz words on the list:

• Grandfathered Healthplan
• Donut Hole, Medicare Prescription Drug
• Biosimilar Biological Products
• Value-Based Purchasing
• COBRA
• Medical Loss Ratio
• Rescission
• Insurance Co-Op
• High Risk Pool Plan
• HIPAA Eligible Individual
• Rider-free penalty
• Lifetime Dollar Limits
• ERISA
• "PPACA"
• Coverage Gap

"We're already getting a lot of inquiries about the new healthcare jargon, so we wanted to create a resource for healthcare providers and individuals," said Rimalower.