Safer healthcare with a digital medical translation tool
Posted on juni 14, 2022
Not being able to understand each other can have devastating consequences in healthcare. Language barriers make already vulnerable patients more insecure and their explanation of symptoms as well as the doctors’ treatment instructions can be misunderstood. Care to Translate is a digital medical translator that strengthens patient safety, increases efficiency, and reduces costs.
Care to Translate helps healthcare professionals and patients communicate in over 40 languages. The translations are verified by native speakers with medical expertise, and available in both text and audio, 24/7, on your smart device.
– The quick access to accurate translation of medical terms or expressions can be crucial when the doctor takes the anamnesis of an emergency case or informs a patient of a complication says Maja Magnusson, Co-founder and COO of Care to Translate.
– Just to be able to introduce yourself properly and explain the examination could calm the patient and create a trust that you need for the continued doctor-patient relation, says Maja Magnusson.
During his first year of the medical program at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Linus Kullänger, the founder-to-be of Care to Translate was placed at a health center in a migrant-dense area. Shocked by the language confusion, he and his classmates initiated a highly appreciated language course for healthcare professionals, but soon realized it wasn’t enough. In the spring of 2017, they launched the first translation app, supported by The Swedish Medical Association’s Student Association, and the success was immediate with 1,500 downloads in two days. In 2018 the first version of the current app was released.
Care to Translate was founded as a nonprofit organization and still helps several other nonprofit organizations with medical translations, free of charge: Doctors in the World, Medical Volunteers International, Sea-Eye and IFMSA-Sweden. A basic version of the app is cost free to download for patients, and there are three premium versions for paying customers, depending on the number of users and clinics and extent of support, analytics, and customization. So far 560 000 users have communicated with help from Care to Translate.
– Since the war in Ukraine, we also offer the full version of the app for free to clinics and organizations helping Ukrainian refugees. We are a small company, but we are happy to be able to do something to help people in this horrible situation, says Maja Magnusson. 7000 translations have already been performed to or from Ukrainian, the newest language in our app.
Care to Translate at HIMSS
Care to Translate is a member of the HealthTech Nordic network and is selected to present at their pavilion 410 at the HIMSS conference in Helsinki 14-16 June. You can also meet them 15 June 1.30-2.30 pm in conference room 207.
Contact: Maja Magnusson, Co-founder and COO maja.magnusson@caretotranslate.com