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Article http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2026.03.006

The Reconfiguration of Healthcare Access Through a Remote Medical Interpreting System

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Qin Liu^*, Juntao Deng

School of Foreign Languages, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430205, Hubei, China.

*Corresponding author: Qin Liu

Published: March 31,2026

Abstract

This paper examines how remote medical interpreting changes language access in multilingual and multicultural healthcare settings by addressing the structural limitations of traditional medical interpreting. Cross-linguistic communication is essential to diagnosis, treatment, care coordination, and informed decision-making, yet conventional interpreting services are often limited by shortages of qualified interpreters, uneven language coverage, temporal and spatial gaps in provision, and weak quality assurance mechanisms. These constraints reduce the continuity, responsiveness, and reliability of language support, especially for patients with limited English proficiency and in time-sensitive clinical contexts. This paper identifies three major organizational pathways through which remote medical interpreting platforms reshape service delivery. First, they promote resource integration by pooling interpreter capacity, standardizing workforce preparation, and connecting interpreter access more directly with clinical systems. Second, they extend interpreting services across time and space, enabling more flexible deployment in dispersed, urgent, and workflow-intensive care environments. Third, they strengthen quality governance through standardized admission procedures, process traceability, and feedback-based evaluation. Overall, remote medical interpreting shifts healthcare language support from ad hoc assistance toward more organized, routinized, and institutionalized provision, while raising ongoing questions about equity, data governance, and the changing boundary between human expertise and technological support.

Keywords

Remote Medical Interpreting; Healthcare Access; Language Services

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How to cite this paper

The Reconfiguration of Healthcare Access Through a Remote Medical Interpreting System

How to cite this paper: Qin Liu, Juntao Deng. (2026) The Reconfiguration of Healthcare Access Through a Remote Medical Interpreting System. Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Science, 10(3), 281-285.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.26855/jhass.2026.03.006