Healthcare translation differs from other translation types. A translator doesn’t only need to be proficient in both original and source languages but also should have an in-depth knowledge of the medical field. Therefore, choosing the right healthcare translation provider matters a lot. Otherwise, your healthcare translations can have poor quality and leave detrimental effects on your business as well as the lives of many people.

In the spirit of helping you find the right linguistic services provider in the medical field, here are some important tips that you may find useful.

Do thorough research to find the best option

This is an obvious first action. You must actively look out for linguistic agencies and service providers who best meet your requirements. To do so, you can simply head over to Google and search the keywords such as “healthcare translation services”. Or you can ask your friends and acquaintances to give you recommendations based on their previous similar experiences. Another great way is to have a look at reviews and rankings of different language service providers (LSPs).

When it comes to shortlisting the best translation provider, here’s what you need to consider to make the right decision.

1. Check out their experience and expertise. Companies that have been in the translation industry for quite a few years are always preferable to work with. However, you can’t just rule out emerging players on the basis of their limited years of experience. If the new and emerging companies can show you their proven track record, then there is no reason to ignore them. See which clients the company has been serving. If you can find out a list of their previous clients, you can contact them for feedback, comments, or suggestions. It’s also important to ensure that the partner you choose should have translators with education and background in the healthcare industry.
2. Know what process companies follow to produce medical translations. A company that follows a series of systematic steps and has a rigorous quality control mechanism is your best bet.
3. Check the average translation turnaround time each company has. Since your medical translation could be urgent, you can opt for an LSP who delivers fast yet quality outcomes.
4. Pricing is also an excellent deciding factor. Most companies are usually willing to offer free and instant price quotes. Thus, you can get an idea of the cost of your translation project.

Invite companies to submit bids on your translation project

First of all, you need to announce your project and describe what translation services you need. For instance, you may need healthcare video translations to train your medical staff and nurses on the latest technologies and developments. Therefore, you will create a bid for video translation services. After bid creation, the companies interested in your project would submit their proposals. So, instead of doing research on your own, now the companies themselves are pitching their services and telling you what benefits they offer.

But how to announce your healthcare translation project? Well, you can do it on social media platforms as well as on various job boards such as Translators Base. Many translation companies and freelance professionals often visit job sites to find potential clients. When you post your job, they will send their bids to you. Remember you will attract the best LSPs if you present your translation project in an appropriate and professional manner.

Only trust the credible references

Let’s say you ask your friends or colleagues for recommendations. It’s your responsibility to ensure whether they are credible to speak on this matter or not. If they have never tried to avail the kind of service you’re looking to hire, how can you ask them for referrals? This, however, doesn’t mean you should only rely on referrals from people who have worked with a medical translation company. It’s not necessary that they must have contracted an LST for medical translations. But they can be acquainted with language service companies for other translation needs as well.

Say you’re using review sites as your reference to find the best healthcare translation partner. Then you’ll have to ensure that those websites are not created for the purpose of promoting a certain company or group of companies. If a review website is appearing in the top search results, this does not always indicate that the website is credible. Similarly, if the website has a good design and there are no intrusive ads on it, still it can’t equate to credibility. What in the world then is a credible review website? It should be a long-running website that has numerous active visitors and provides information that’s verifiable.

In case you’re in doubt about what a particular review website is presenting, you can still navigate through it. Compare the content it provides with content available on similar review websites. You can also try verifying the fact it provides by asking competitors or previous customers for corroboration.

Expect a dedicated team

Your assigned team should only focus on your project so it gets completed within time and with the highest quality. If you work with revolving project managers and translators then you would have to rival other clients to seek the attention of your PM or translators. Similarly, when they go to address other clients’ concerns, then they will become unavailable to you. This is the last thing someone would want. Therefore, always make sure that the team assigned to you will be working on your tasks specifically and will respond to your concerns promptly.

Healthcare translations are sensitive in nature and require a high level of contextual accuracy and precision. For this reason, you can’t afford to hire any cheap service provider who is unable to provide you with the attention as well as responsiveness you deserve and should be getting.