.svg){kind=logo}
Better Patient Outcomes with Epic Language Access Integration
Learn how to improve health outcomes and ensure compliance for individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) with direct language access integration to the Epic Electronic Health Record (EHR) system.
Case Study: Multilingual Retail Marketing
New AI Content Creation Solutions for a Sports and Apparel Giant
Human Expertise Blended With Powerful AI
Lionbridge Aurora AI™ is an AI-first global content platform that increases your multilingual content creation and expands your audience with culturally relevant, hyper-personalized content.
- RESOURCES
Federal mandates require language access in healthcare settings, but their implementation can be challenging. Health systems face numerous obstacles, including a lack of staff awareness, disconnected systems and workflows, and spotty interpreter availability. When these barriers occur, patient care suffers.
But successful language access through seamless interpretation services is within reach, especially when health systems integrate language services directly into patients’ Epic Electronic Health Records (EHRs). During our webinar, “Better Patient Outcomes with Epic Language Access Integration,” industry leaders discussed how Epic integration streamlines access to healthcare interpreters, improves compliance, and makes language services a seamless part of the patient journey.
Want to watch the webinar in full? Click the button below to access the on-demand recording.
The panelists, Jinny Bromberg, President and Founder of Bromberg and Associates; Danielle Gregor, CEO and Owner of Sign Language Interpreting Professionals; Vanessa Hartman, Senior Healthcare Transformation Executive; Virginia Hinders, Lionbridge Director of Product Management; and, moderator Belinda Hilbert, Lionbridge Healthcare Sales Director, each brought their unique expertise and perspective to the conversation, representing leadership in language services, healthcare operations, product management, and compliance. Despite their varied backgrounds, they shared a core belief that clear, accessible communication is fundamental to quality patient care and that every individual deserves to understand their provider, be understood, and be empowered throughout their healthcare journey.
Why Does Language Access Matter in Healthcare?
“Communication is the foundation for healthcare. So, when it breaks down, every other part of the care delivery system becomes more difficult.”
—Danielle Gregor, CEO and Owner, Sign Language Interpreting Professionals
Language access is essential for creating a safe, equitable, and patient-centered healthcare environment. When patients can communicate in their preferred language, they are better equipped to share their medical history, understand instructions, and actively engage in their care decisions.
Federal laws, such as Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Section 1557 under the Affordable Care Act, require healthcare organizations to provide meaningful language access for individuals with Limited English Proficiency (LEP), ensuring timely and effective communication. Recent updates, including telehealth guidance in the Supporting Patient Education and Knowledge (SPEAK) Act of 2025 and Joint Commission standards, further underscore language access as a critical patient safety and quality measure.
By making language access a central part of the patient experience and by staying aligned with evolving regulations and standards, health systems can build trust, improve satisfaction, and support positive outcomes across diverse populations.
What Are Common Barriers To Effective Language Access?
“Language access is frequently siloed across departments, so no one owns it end to end until a complaint, audit, or adverse event forces action. And then sometimes it’s too late.”
—Jinny Bromberg, President and Founder of Bromberg and Associates
One of the most persistent challenges to delivering effective language access is fragmented workflows and disconnected systems. Responsibility for language services is often distributed across departments or remains unclear until an issue arises. This siloed approach leads to inconsistent practices and leaves staff uncertain about how to secure qualified healthcare interpreters or support for patients with language needs.
Interpreter availability can also be unreliable, with coverage gaps or limited access to on-demand services, especially for less common languages or modalities such as American Sign Language (ASL). Staff awareness and training are often inadequate, leading to missed opportunities to document patient preferences or provide language assistance. Hardware limitations, including outdated technology or limited access to video interpretation, further complicate the process and can delay care.
Budget constraints add another layer of complexity. Language access is sometimes viewed as a checkbox or an unfunded mandate rather than a core safety and service function, with costs managed at the department level rather than centrally, making it challenging for providers to approve or sustain services.
Without a standardized, integrated approach, these barriers collectively impact patient experience, safety, and satisfaction.
How Can Epic Interpretation Integration Promote Seamless Language Access?
Epic interpretation integration streamlines connectivity to language services by enabling clinicians and care teams to launch interpreter sessions directly from the patient record. No carts or complex menus are involved.
LionbridgeLink™ is our on-demand interpretation solution that lets clinicians and care teams connect with qualified interpreters directly through their app of choice, including Epic, without leaving their workflow. This streamlined approach eliminates manual steps and delivers immediate language support for patients and staff, making interpretation easy, fast, and accessible whenever it’s needed.
Lionbridge offers 24/7/365 on-demand interpretation via built-in audio and video on an EHR workstation-on-wheels, available in most exam rooms. It provides access to over 380 languages for audio interpretation and 11 for video interpretation, with additional languages continually added. If the requested language isn’t available via video, the integration seamlessly transitions to audio within the same call, so no additional steps are required.
Automatic documentation is supported, helping organizations efficiently meet requirements and accurately track interpreter sessions to support patient safety and regulatory compliance.
By centralizing language access in Epic, the entire healthcare team gains standardized workflows and greater visibility into patient preferences, improving communication, reducing delays, and promoting consistent care across departments. This seamless access empowers staff to focus on clinical care rather than logistics, while patients receive timely language support at every stage of their healthcare journey.
"Lionbridge transforms language access from a manual process into a seamless part of your clinical workflow by launching an interpreter directly from within Epic, with no hunting for a number, no phone number dial-out, and no [Interactive Voice Response] IVR menus to navigate." —Virginia Hinders, Lionbridge Director of Product Management
Intrigued? View the demo of LionbridgeLink, our on-demand interpretation solution that connects to interpreters directly through your app of choice, including Epic.
How Is Interpreter Usage Tracked and Documented in Epic?
Our Epic interpretation integration offers flexible options for tracking and documenting interpreter use, helping healthcare organizations meet compliance requirements and support patient safety.
Interpretation encounters can be automatically logged in the patient’s health record, ensuring documentation from registration through each appointment. Organizations can customize Epic to include fields for language needs and interpretation services, either during registration or as separate appointments, making it easy to capture and report usage.
Epic’s reporting tools help teams monitor interpreter access and generate compliance reports, with workflows tailored to each organization’s needs. During LionbridgeLink onboarding, our team collaborates with your IT and administrative teams to configure automatic writeback and documentation features to meet your requirements.
By standardizing interpreter tracking and documentation in Epic, healthcare systems improve efficiency, reduce charting delays, and ensure consistent access to language services is provided and recorded throughout the patient journey.
What Security and Safeguards Are in Place To Protect Patient Privacy?
Epic’s integration with Lionbridge ensures that interpreter sessions meet Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standards and remain compliant throughout the process. Both Epic and Lionbridge’s systems operate within strict patient privacy and organizational compliance frameworks, protecting sensitive health information during interpretation sessions.
Lionbridge does not record any interpretation sessions, so no Protected Health Information (PHI) is stored or captured during the conversation, further safeguarding patient privacy.
For organizations with specific geographic requirements, access to interpretation may be restricted by location to support GDPR compliance. Additionally, interpreter training is emphasized to ensure that interpreters understand and comply with privacy regulations, such as HIPAA and GDPR, thereby addressing the human element of data protection.
Together, these technical and procedural safeguards help healthcare organizations provide secure, compliant language access in every patient interaction.
What Are the Key Webinar Takeaways?
This webinar explored how integrated Epic interpretation services streamline language access for healthcare organizations, enhancing communication in both in-person and telehealth encounters.
Here are the key points:
Epic interpretation integration allows healthcare teams to launch interpreter services directly from the patient record, making access faster and easier by eliminating manual steps like dialing phone numbers and navigating Interactive Voice Response (IVR) menus.
Lionbridge supports on-demand interpretation from the patient record in Epic in over 380 languages for audio and 11 languages for video. If a video language is unavailable, the integration seamlessly transitions to audio within the same call.
Interpreter service usage can be tracked and documented within Epic, with options that vary based on each organization's system configuration. Achieve customized reporting through collaboration between IT and onboarding teams.
Integration is suitable for any healthcare organization using Epic, whether for in-person care or telehealth. Lionbridge’s onboarding team can tailor deployment to each organization’s workflow.
Privacy and compliance are central to the integration, with HIPAA-compliant workflows and interpreter partners trained in privacy regulations.
A major challenge remains in shifting organizational culture so that language access is viewed as an essential part of care, not just a compliance requirement. The latter often leads to fragmentation and a lack of staff awareness.
Recently passed provisions of the Supporting Patient Education and Knowledge (SPEAK) Act of 2025 and updated Joint Commission standards guide best practices for telehealth language access and increase scrutiny of how language needs are identified and documented.
The use of AI in healthcare interpretation is emerging as a future direction.
Your Top Epic Language Access Integration Questions Answered
A: Integrating interpretation services into Epic enables healthcare teams to launch these services directly from the patient record, streamlining access for both in-person and telehealth encounters. By removing manual steps and streamlining access, Epic integration ensures efficient, compliant, and accessible language support for patients and staff.
A: Lionbridge provides audio interpretation in over 380 languages. Video interpretation is available in 11 languages, and we are continually adding more. If a requested language is not available via video, the integration seamlessly transitions to audio within the same call, so staff and patients don’t need to take any additional steps.
A: You can track interpreter service usage with various Epic features, which may vary across healthcare institutions based on system configuration. You can document language access during registration, as a separate appointment, or via free-form fields for providers. Some Epic instances offer automatic reporting tools, though customization is often required. IT team and onboarding specialists must collaborate to set up reporting that meets your organization's needs.
A: Yes, the Epic integration is HIPAA-compliant. Both the Epic Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Lionbridge’s platform comply with privacy regulations. Lionbridge does not record interpretation sessions, so the call never captures PHI. Interpreter partners train in HIPAA and, where applicable, GDPR compliance. We address any additional privacy or compliance requirements during the discovery phase, based on your organization's location.
A: Any healthcare organization using Epic as its Electronic Health Record (EHR) system can benefit from integration. It supports both in-person and telehealth use cases. Integration is suitable for organizations currently using Epic or planning a migration. Lionbridge’s onboarding team will customize the solution to your workflow and needs.
A: A major challenge is that many organizations still view language access as a compliance expense rather than a core component of patient care, leading to fragmented workflows and inconsistent practices across departments. This fragmentation often leaves language needs unmeasured or unaddressed, and staff awareness remains a significant barrier. The panel emphasized the need for a cultural shift, so language access is treated as essential and standardized throughout care delivery. Looking ahead, recently passed provisions of the SPEAK Act of 2025 will provide clear guidance on telehealth language access, including best practices for interpreter use, multilingual instructions, and translated patient communications. The updated 2026 Joint Commission standards will increase scrutiny of how language needs are identified and documented. The use of AI in healthcare interpretation is also an emerging area for future development.
If you’re interested in exploring other Lionbridge webinar topics, visit the Lionbridge webinars page for a library of recordings.
Get in touch
Serious about your language access initiatives? For a limited time only, Lionbridge is offering a substantial number of free interpretation minutes to pilot our Epic interpretation services. Reach out today for details about this offer.
