Avantpage to Present at California Healthcare Interpreting Association Annual Conference

March 9, 2009

Avantpage Translations (www.avantpage.com) announces that Avantpage CEO Luis Miguel, PhD, is among the distinguished list of presenters at the California Healthcare Interpreting Association's (CHIA) Ninth Annual Educational Conference, Setting the Stage for Success: California Adopts the CHIA Standards. The two-day conference is scheduled for March 20 and 21, 2009, at the Crowne Plaza Cabana Hotel in Palo Alto and features two days of workshops, panel discussions, exhibits, professional networking, and site visits to Stanford Hospital.

Avantpage’s presentation, "Best Practices in Language Assistance Translation for California", will be at 1:00 P.M. on Saturday, March 21, 2009. Luis Miguel’s talk covers the successful elements of a translation strategy to ensure full regulatory compliance, minimize translation costs, plan efficient internal translation processes, and position your plan to gain market share with the minority populations of California and the U.S.

One cultural and linguistics specialist for a major California health care plan who heard Luis’ presentation at the recent California Association of Health Plans (CAHP) language assistance seminar had this to say: "[Luis’] presentation covers all the important aspects of the translating process. The enforcement of SB853 has made it evident that there is a need in the health care industry to educate people on cultural and linguistic issues ... [Luis] answered a lot of questions regarding the importance of a professionally translated document."

At Avantpage, we understand the challenges of implementing California's language assistance requirements. At our booth at the CHIA conference, we’ll have literature and experts on hand to answer your questions regarding our language assistance services, background, and experience, and our online translation management tools such as AvantFlow. And while at our booth, remember to leave your business card to enter our drawing for an iPod Shuffle!

Whether you’re an interpreter, interpreter services company, trainer, manager, or administrator, Avantpage’s presentation will help you learn more about successfully and efficiently implementing your program.

To register for the conference, or to read the full conference schedule, click on chiaonline.org/images/Downloads/2009_CHIA_Attendee_Registration_Packet.pdf. Registration fees vary based on membership status and conference options.

About Avantpage

Avantpage has more than 10 years of proven excellence in linguistic services and a complete translation solution for health plans. We offer language services such as translation, interpretation, localization, and multilingual desktop publishing designed to perform efficiently, consistently, and accurately. We believe that business is personal and our consultative style ensures that it is. Because we value what you do, we promise excellence and deliver it, too!

Find out more about the Avantpage Advantage (www.avantpage.com/the-reasons-to-switch-to-avantpage-for-language-translation-services.html). And join our Healthcare Language Assistance group on LinkedIn. (www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1030707)

About CHIA

The California Healthcare Interpreting Association (www.chiaonline.org) is a 501(c)(3) public charity dedicated to improving the quality and availability of language services in the delivery of healthcare. The organization was founded as the California Healthcare Interpreters Association in 1996 by group of interpreters and program managers. The name was changed in 2003 to Interpreting to better reflect CHIA’s mission of serving the public interest and interests of LEP patients, rather than serving as a strictly professional association of interpreters.

CHIA’s diverse membership includes interpreters, physicians, and other health care providers, hospitals, interpreting agencies and language-service companies, educators, and government policymakers. CHIA’s mission is "Health care interpreters and providers working together to overcome linguistic and cultural barriers to high-quality care."