Health Employees Trust Machine Translation and Risk

Employees in public health institutions in the UK apply to the translation of makine when they can not communicate with patients due to language differences. Especially Google Translate has become the most widely used tool in this regard. However, a new research began to reveal that these practices host serious risks until they can jeopardize patient safety.

The researchers examined the level of awareness of employees in the use of machine translation in the health sector:

• Health staff did not know most of the limitations of machine translation Tags
• Abbreviations and medical terminology are incorrectly transmitted to translation
• The translation tools used with “I just have to translate” mentality lead to errors in patient descriptions
• Directly threatens patient safety to rely on technology without knowledge in high risk environments

Medical translations create the basis of decisions that save life. The wrong translation of a drug can turn into fatal results for patients with improper transfer of a symptom or incorrect interpretation of medical jargo. While machine translation is successful in general purpose text conversion works, non-controlled use may be dangerous in critical areas such as health.

This study highlights the urgent necessity of training the staff about the capabilities and limitations of the machine translation of healthcare institutions. Technology must be a supporting tool, not the main source.