Dear - International Medical Interpreters Association



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May 6, 2014

To Whom It May Concern:

The International Medical Interpreters Association is an umbrella non-profit organization that promotes all initiatives in the field of medical and healthcare interpreting. We were instrumental in developing the first national certification for medical interpreters through the National Board of Certification for Medical Interpreters in 2009. After the launch of this certification, the Commission for the Certification of Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI) launched another national certification in 2010.

Since then, the IMIA has promoted all certifications for our professionals, including the national certification by the Registry for Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) and CCHI’s. The IMIA grants all newly certified interpreters (CHI, CMI, RID) a free membership to the IMIA as a show of recognition for their efforts in professionalizing the field. The IMIA also includes information about all three certifications in order to give our professionals the ability to select which certification works best for us. Of the three certifications, two (CCHI and NB) are NCCA accredited.

The IMIA writes this letter to alert the NCCA that some interpreters are claiming to be certified by CCHI because they were given a credential called the AHI credential, which stands for Associate Healthcare Interpreter. CCHI gives to all who pass the written exam for a language that CCHI has no oral exam to this date. The NB and RID only grant credentials to individuals who have passed both the written and oral exams.

Oral competency in medical interpreting is a critical requirement for medical interpreters to reliably perform their duties. The role of the Medical Interpreter is to interpret orally the healthcare provider’s message to the limited English or Non English speaking patient and vice versa. Therefore this skill must be tested and proved before a Medical Interpreter receives national credential by a certifying entity.

The IMIA has proof of this claim via the CCHI website which explains clearly that it grants a credential to those who have only passed a written exam. Since IMIA offers free new and renewing memberships for fully certified medical interpreters, some individuals partially certified by CCHI with the AHI credential are mistakenly applying for this benefit and listing themselves as certified on our registry. We have to correct it and let them know that they are not certified just because they have a credential from a certifying entity.

This AHI credential without competency is creating confusion in the field, where hospitals are under the assumption that a credentialed individual by an NCCA accredited certifying agency is competent, when the AHIs have not proven their competency. This is a patient safety issue. We request that you examine this issue of NCCA certified agencies awarding credentials on the basis of limited testing. While we understand that CCHI did not accredit this particular AHI credential, as it is not certification, does NCCA have any rules or guidelines about the provision of an NCCA accredited certifying entity to offer a credential to individuals?

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

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Izabel Arocha, M.Ed

IMIA Executive Director

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