medical translation services

Medical Translation Services for Expatriates

Last Updated: May 28, 2022By

In this era of globalization, the world has become so small. This has given the great privilege to patients that are suffering from lethal diseases. In past, people used to die if there is no proper treatment given in their country. But now they can easily travel to foreign countries to get state-of-the-art medical services.  The biggest problem patients faced when they are for treatment in foreign countries is communication. Here they require the assistance of medical translation services. For instance, if you are going to China from India then you require a Chinese translation service for a seamless experience.

Medical Translation Services and its Significance

Medical translation services hold great importance in today’s world. It not only involves the translation of content related to general medical information, medical devices, and documentation on new medicines. The patients need such translation services to tell the doctor about their ailments and medical history in the language that they understand. On the other hand, doctors need translation services to understand the medical condition of the patient so that they can diagnose the disease easily and give the patient proper medical treatment.

Translation of Medical Terms

Just like other fields, the medical and healthcare industry has its own set of medical terminologies. They cannot be understood by the layman. Only the people that are working in the medical field can understand the medical terminologies. They need to have a proper understanding of medical terms, medical billers, and medical coders. This is because they are dealing with human lives. Any error in human lives can put the lives of people at stake.

Translation of medical terminology requires expertise and specialization. In the translation process, you will find that there are no medical equivalents in other languages. This can be a challenge for medical translators. To overcome this problem, medical translators must know the target market. Pharmacists and doctors are more familiar with medical terms, while the general public is not familiar with technical terms.

Medical Translation and Localization in China

Many people from around the world want to do business with China. What if, you are in China and get ill. Worry not. You can find health care services widely available in China. Clinics are found in every village. However, in many areas, the local facilities are very basic and expatriates don’t go for these basic facilities. To your surprise, there are some clinics in rural areas that don’t take responsibility for treating foreigners.

At present, China is not offering free medical facilities to all urban residents because people are asked by the government to go for health insurance. In most cities, basic medical care for expatriates is available. However, they lack in providing inadequate treatments. Furthermore, ambulances are also unavailable and those which are available are not equipped with medical equipment.

Foreign Hospitals in China

Many foreign-run hospitals and clinics with joint venture facilities are working in China and they are also very costly. They follow Western standards that are supervised by international staff.

As an expatriate, you must take information about these hospitals because the treatments in these hospitals will cost ten times more than in public hospitals. Thus, the expatriate needs to take the facility of health insurance.  The best part is that foreign hospitals accept insurance policies more easily than public hospitals. Foreign patients need to check whether they want to pay upfront or if they need to go for reimbursement.

Public Hospitals in China

The foreigners can take services of the clinics and public hospitals in China. The best part is that they have to pay the same prices for treatment as locals. But they just need to do little bargaining as compared to Western standards. The little difference comes that you might not get the treatment that you are used to in your home country.

Initially, public clinics will not take appointments. For this, you have to stand in line and pay a basic fee at the reception desk. The majority of hospitals in China do not accept medical insurance from foreigners. Therefore, in many cases, you need to pay cash to cover the expected treatment cost. Hospitals that are present in major cities don’t accept credit cards in many cases. Therefore, you need to ask for reimbursement from your insurance company.             

The quality of treatment at public hospitals varies according to location. The quality treatment is provided at city-level hospitals and then comes the smaller district-level clinics. While going for district-level clinics, you need to wait for shorter waiting times. If you require a quick check-up for a minor treatment then you can get it done in only 10-20 minutes. This same procedure takes lots of time in bigger hospitals.

In rural areas, only basic medical facilities are available. Moreover, the medical staff in these areas are also not trained properly. They have little medical equipment and proper medicines are also not available. This is why some rural clinics are reluctant to take responsibility for foreign patients.

VIP Wards

All the public hospitals in major Chinese cities have so-called VIP wards. Although the prices of these VIP wards are higher, they are still cost-effective in the western world. VIP wards are equipped with up-to-date medical technology and with doctors that are specialized in their medical domains. Many VIP wards also provide medical services to foreigners. For this reason, they have hired English-speaking doctors and nurses. The expatriates can still face problems due to differences in language because not all the people in the world can speak and understand English. Here the translation services can be a great help for them.

Wrapping Up

Whether you want to take treatment in foreign hospitals or public hospitals, you need to provide all your medical history to Chinese doctors in the language that they understand. Therefore, you need to hire a reliable translation agency that can provide you with accurate and precise chinese medical translation services.