Russell Medical Center

Russell Medical Center is committed to providing the best quality of patient care possible. Since March of 2000, Russell Medical Center has been providing quality translation services to patients using CyraCom. "This is just another example of the quality of care that the Russell Medical Center staff is providing our patients," Frank Harris, CEO/President of Russell Medical Center. CyraCom is a company that specializes in transparent language services to the healthcare industry. By using a dual-handset telephone, a medical professional is able to talk to the translator, then the translator translates the information to the patient, whom is holding the other handset. Russell Medical Center has three of these dual-handset telephones: one in registration at the Emergency Room, one in the Emergency Room, and one that floats around to wherever needed; all three are portable. CyraCom offers more than 150 languages. Russell Medical Center has thus far used Korean, Vietnamese, and Spanish. Though these telephones do not replace Russell Medical Center's Volunteer Translators, they are available for use 24 hours a day, seven days a week. On average, you can connect to an interpreter in less than 45 seconds. Once connected to an interpreter, medical professionals can give discharge instruction, collect registration information, and even translate surgical information. "It is vital to have a patients previous history and allergies before admitting them to a hospital," said Doctor Kimber Wickersham, Director of Social Services at Russell Medical Center. CyraCom has been providing these services, nationwide, to the healthcare industry since 1995. They improve communication at healthcare facilities by evading the language barrier and allowing healthcare providers to go from diagnosis to treatment more proficiently. Also, the amount of errors that may appear in translating is reduced. CyraCom uses trained interpreters. "This Helps us ensure a higher quality of care. With this phone we can be assured that the communication between us and the patient is correct and the discharge instruction are clear," Doctor Kimber Wickersham, Director of Social Services.