Medical records translation doesn’t get nearly as much attention in global healthcare as it requires. Whether you’re running a hospital, managing a clinical trial across borders, or helping patients seek treatment abroad, the way you handle medical records in different languages can literally save or cost lives.
In fact, medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States, contributing to over 250,000 deaths annually. Now, imagine what happens if you throw in a language barrier? The risks skyrocket for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). According to a report in the Joint Commission’s Sentinel Event Database, 59 % of serious adverse events are a result of communication problems.
But these issues are limited to the United States alone. Globally, the translation services market is projected to hit $3.87 billion by 2034, and is largely driven by life sciences and medical needs.
Accurate translation is all about protecting patients, improving outcomes, and keeping your organization out of hot water. Here’s how you can get it right.
Why Accuracy Matters in Medical Records Translation?
Here’s what medical records hold: diagnoses, lab results, prescriptions, and surgical notes. Think about everything that could go wrong if just one thing is misunderstood. There’s no exaggeration here – poor translation can result in poor treatment and poor outcomes.
Here’s why it’s so important to translate medical documents:
- Patient Safety: According to a recent study, poor communication is the sole cause of patient-safety incidents in 1 in every 10 patients. This makes accuracy in communication, and above all translation, so important for the safety and well-being of patients. Healthcare providers are basically working with missing information here, resulting in misdiagnoses and inappropriate treatment plans.
- Clinical Impact: In a pediatric study carried out in 2003, interpreters made an average of 31 errors per medical encounter. And a staggering 63 % of the errors made had potential clinical consequences. These numbers are simply too alarming to let slide.
- Poor Outcomes for LEP Patients: LEP patients are likely to face higher readmission rates, unnecessary procedures, and are overall at a great risk of misdiagnosis. For patients who are suffering from terminal and life-threatening illnesses, this is dangerous. This puts LEP patients at a significant disadvantage – they may not receive timely treatment, may not understand their prognosis, or may not be able to make informed decisions about their care options.
These are risks no healthcare provider should be willing to take.
7 Tips for Translating Medical Records
1. Work with Professional Medical Translators
If you wouldn’t let a generalist treat a cardiac patient, why is a generalist handling your medical record translation? Medical translators must be fluent in clinical terminology, healthcare regulations, and the clinical impacts of what they’re translating.
2. Provide Clear and Accurate Source Documents
If your resource materials are messy, cryptic notes, smudged scans, or unexplained abbreviations, you’re inviting errors. Make sure to make it easy for your translators:
- Send clean, typed records
- Include patient history
- Define any abbreviations beforehand
A little effort up front will save hours of clarification and reduce the likelihood of costly mistakes.
3. Create and Maintain a Medical Glossary
Having a glossary means every translator working on medical records translation will use the same terms, every single time.
This means:
- No more guesswork
- Faster turnaround rates
- Fewer revisions
- Consistent regulatory submissions
4. Use a Robust Review and QA Process
Here’s the catch, though – even the best translators can make mistakes. This is where a solid quality assurance (QA) process can come in handy.
Here’s what having a robust QA process will look like:
- A professional translator handles the job at first
- Another medical linguist reviews it
- Lastly, a subject matter expert vets important clinical content
For high-risk medical records, adding an extra back translation step can make all the difference. Content is retranslated into the original language to check for consistency.
5. Localize for Regional Differences
Perfectly translated content can miss the mark if it’s not localized for your region. Localizing when you translate a medical document helps make sure:
- Drug names reflect the local formulary
- Measurement units are correct. For example, mg/dL as compared to mmol/L
- Terms match local healthcare systems. For example, GP in the UK is known as PCP in the United States.
6. Ensure Compliance with Regulatory Requirements
Different countries follow different rules. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and local ministries all expect precise, certified documentation. Missing even one formatting requirement or mistranslating an important phrase could delay drug approvals or even clinical trials. This could cost your company millions of dollars that could have been spent elsewhere.
7. Leverage Technology Wisely
Technology is great – until it’s not.
Tools such as CAT (Computer-Assisted Translation) software can seriously speed up the process, and terminology databases help avoid duplication. But if you rely solely on machine translation? That’s risky business.
For example, with Google Translate, 24%, 56% and 66% of Spanish, Chinese, and Russian translations contained at least one inaccuracy in patient-specific discharge instructions. Those are numbers that you can’t afford to mess around with.
Why Precision in Medical Records Translation Can’t Be Compromised
At the end of the day, hiring a medical translation agency isn’t about getting your paperwork in order. It’s about developing trust, safety, and getting the right care to the right people. No matter where they’re from or what language they speak.
When medical records translation goes wrong, it’s the patients who suffer most. But when they do go right? Patients get better care, providers can avoid liability, and medical organizations stay diligent, compliant, and competitive.
The stakes are high, but the path is clear. Build a solid workflow, use trained experts, and embrace the right tools. At EC Innovations, translation is never treated as an afterthought. We bring decades worth of experience, global reach, and medical knowledge to the table.
Looking to improve your medical records translation workflow with a medical translation agency? We’ve got you. Contact us today.
