Language Line Services CEO to Address Topic of Language Access in Patient Advocacy at 2011 Texas Alliance for Patient Services (TAPS) Conference

MONTEREY, Calif., Aug. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Louis F. Provenzano, Jr., President & CEO of Language Line Services, the global leader in interpreting and translation services, will speak at the 35th Annual Conference on Patient Advocacy for The Texas Alliance for Patient Services (TAPS), during its "Festival of Cultures" reception on September 14, 2011, at the Hotel Derek in Houston, Texas.

"The conference is geared toward the 'Emerging Role of Healthcare Professionals in Patient Advocacy' and continues TAPS' work of cultivating the knowledge and skill-sets that foster diverse, patient-centered care environments," said Gerardo De Leon, TAPS President. "We're delighted to have an industry leader for language interpreting and cultural services as our Conference Partner and to help champion that cause along with us. Effective patient care starts with addressing language issues but must also focus on cultural differences. Topics on culture and its impact to patient care are interwoven throughout the conference and Festival of Cultures reception."

During the networking reception jointly hosted by TAPS and Language Line Services, Provenzano will address the critical role of language access in patient advocacy, the impact of demographic and cultural shifts in Texas and the new patient-centered care standards of The Joint Commission. The standards, which help hospitals and other organizations measure, assess and improve performance, take full effect in January 2012.

"The healthcare industry is evolving and expanded communication for patients and families in their native languages is a critical development which TAPS and Language Line Services are both helping drive," Provenzano said. "Spanish is the most requested spoken language in every major market in the country, but it's just one of more than 170 increasingly popular languages throughout the U.S. The state of Texas is seeing explosive growth in numerous languages, including Mandarin Chinese, Arabic and Vietnamese. Vietnamese ranks No. 2 in interpreting requests in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin."

Vietnamese interpreter requests in Houston have increased 46 percent over the past year. Mandarin, the third-most popular language by interpreter requests in Houston, has increased even more (55 percent). This data is drawn from Language Line Services' LanguageTrak® based on millions of interpreter requested calls each year.

About Language Line Services

Language Line Services, the global leader in telephone interpreting and language solutions, serves clients in healthcare, government, telecommunications, financial services, utilities, insurance and many other industries by quickly connecting them to their customers, patients and sales prospects in more than 170 spoken languages as well as American Sign Language (ASL) and Mexican Sign Language (LSM). Language Line Services is recognized as a trusted partner to thousands of public and private organizations throughout the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, providing easy access to one of the industry's fastest language interpreting services at highly competitive rates. For more information about Language Line Services' suite of telephone, on-site and video interpreting, document translation, interpreter assessment and training programs, call (800) 752-6096 or visit http://www.languageline.com

About TAPS

The Texas Alliance for Patient Services (TAPS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit association that provides professional development, networking opportunities, and resources to those who serve as patient advocates and in other patient service capacities. It is the only organization of its kind in Texas and is affiliated with the Texas Hospital Association (THA). TAPS is also affiliated and aligned with the Society for Healthcare Consumer Advocacy (SHCA), the association's counterpart national organization, a relationship that helps bring nationally recognized best practices to Texas and each of eight regions. For more information, visit http://www.taps-online.org  

Contact:

Trent Freeman
Olmstead Williams Communications
310.824.9000
[email protected]
http://www.olmsteadwilliams.com

This press release was issued through eReleases(R).  For more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Language Line Services