From Cost Center to Care Essential with Tatiana Cestari

Dieter Runge and guest Tatiana Cestari, PhD, CH I Spanish, explore the journey of language access in healthcare, moving from a perceived cost center to an essential element of quality care. Tatiana shares her expertise and real-life stories, revealing how professional interpreters improve patient outcomes, why data and advocacy matter, and how technology and compliance shape the future of language services.
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Episode Summary

Tatiana González-Cestari, PhD, CHI-Spanish has 23 years of combined experience as a pharmacist, pharmacologist, researcher, professor, leader, and remote interpreter. Tatiana is passionate about quality, research, innovation, compliance, and cultural sensitivity. She serves as the Director of Language Service Advocacy at Equiti where she focuses on hospitals’ language access best practices and impact on quality, compliance, and financial metrics. Tatiana is part of the NCIHC Policy, Education and Research committee; the SAFE AI Taskforce; and co-author of The Remote Interpreter textbook. Tatiana has mentored, developed training, presented at national and international events, published peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed articles, and lectured at various universities. Tatiana obtained her pharmacy degree and her Ph.D. in pharmacology from Universidad Central de Venezuela.

Highlights

  • 0:00 – Introduction
  • 9:50 – Misconceptions about language services
  • 12:49 – Examples of language barriers impacting patient care
  • 23:09 – LSPs working with healthcare professionals
  • 29:44 – Advocacy for language services in healthcare 40:66 – The evolving regulatory environment
  • 48:03 – Future of language services and advocacy

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