Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions about CCHI Certification

What Do YOU Need to Know?

What is certification?
What does CCHI mean by vendor neutral?
What will CCHI certification involve?
Why is CCHI certification for healthcare interpreters being created now?
How will CCHI certification benefit healthcare interpreters?
How will CCHI certification benefit language companies?
When will CCHI’s credentialing examination be available?
Will there be a fee to take the credentialing examination?
How can someone prepare for and achieve CCHI Certification?
How can I get involved in the development of CCHI's certification program?

1. What is certification?
Established by Congress to develop standards for quality certification in the allied health fields, the Institute for Credentialing Excellence (formerly NOCA) says, “The certification of specialized skill-sets affirms a knowledge and experience base for practitioners in a particular field, their employers, and the public at large. Certification represents a declaration of a particular individual’s professional competence.” The Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI) is a member of the Institute for Credentialing Excellence. CCHI also has been established in compliance with the accreditation requirements set forth by NCCA, the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (the Institute for Credentialing Excellence’s accrediting body which evaluates certification organizations for compliance with the NCCA Standards).

In cooperation with the Institute for Credentialing Excellence, CCHI provides information about certification, what it means and how to not confuse it with certificate programs for training courses, licensure, or state regulations. For all who care to go deeper into the terminology of all credentialing concepts, we are pleased to provide you with this Institute for Credentialing Excellence Guide to Understanding Credentialing Concepts.

Competency-Based Certification – This is a voluntary process by which an organization grants recognition to an individual who has met certain predetermined qualifications or standards. Individuals meet program eligibility requirements and successfully complete a rigorous assessment of their knowledge and skills. Voluntary certification is evidence that quality standards have been met, but certifications are not licenses to work in a particular field. Many certification programs exist in areas where no regulatory requirements exist. Others, such as those in real estate, appraisal, and nursing, recognize competence in advanced or specialized areas not covered by state licensure. In some cases, certification programs fulfill some requirements for state licensure.

Certificate of Knowledge – This is a process by which an individual demonstrates a relatively narrow scope of specialized knowledge used in the performance of certain professional or occupational duties or tasks. Certificates of knowledge focus on specialty or subspecialty areas within a profession in which a professional certification may already exist and possession of the initial certificate is an eligibility requirement for the certification. Certificates of Completion are one example of learning for the sake of immediate application, regardless of whether or not this is part of a larger scope of learning, testing, continuing education and standards enforcement embodied in certification.

Certificate of Attendance or Participation – Individuals receive this certificate when they complete a course or series of courses. The organization providing the certificate does not require an assessment of knowledge or skill. This certificate does not attest to learning achieved and therefore, are generally considered fabrications attempting to achieve the same type of respect afforded to credentials. These certifications are not considered credentials because its recipients are not required to meet any professional or industry standards.

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2. What does CCHI mean by vendor-neutral?
CCHI’s mission is to develop and administer a national, valid, credible, vendor-neutral certification program for healthcare interpreters. You have likely noticed that we use this sentence in everything we publish. That is because healthcare interpreting is our core and our strength and we are driven by the desire to serve the current and future needs of healthcare interpreters. We believe these four adjectives define our approach, guide our process, and are the critical elements that differentiate CCHI interpreters and the stakeholders who are counting on us to provide a trained, qualified, and certified population of healthcare interpreters.

CCHI’s certification for healthcare interpreters is not branded to or licensed from any vendor of language services. We are developing our certification from the ground up and not relying on any commercially-oriented certification, training, testing or assessment developed by other organizations. CCHI’s certification program is being developed by CCHI which will retain sole ownership, as well as the ongoing responsibility for updating the program. CCHI is not derived from or related to a commercial owner/sponsor.

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3. What will CCHI certification involve?
Any certification program calls for formal assessment to test and measure the skill, training and competency level of an individual in a specific professional position or job.  CCHI has been formed to develop, implement and administer a comprehensive, accredited, professional certification program for healthcare interpreters.

We began the development of a national certification in September 2009 and recently conducted the job task analysis (JTA) to create a current definition of the healthcare interpreting profession through an unbiased, scientific study. Close to 2,500 interpreters, supervisors of interpreters, and trainers responded to CCHI's Job Task Analysis Survey.  The report from the JTA is available on CCHI's website.  CCHI’s first credentialing examination will be released in Fall 2010.

Interpreters in all types of healthcare settings will have a way to indicate their desire to become certified by registering with CCHI, through our website at www.healthcareinterpretercertification.org (registration will be available shortly). There’s no charge to register and this will begin the conversation and commitment of support with each interpreter, individually. It is important to note that certification agencies do not have members; rather, they have candidates for certification and those who have achieved their certification. An interpreter can be a candidate for certification for weeks, months or a year—for as long as they are showing interest in becoming certified, completing the application steps and taking advantage of the many kinds of preparation options to get ready for taking the certification examination.

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4. Why is CCHI certification for healthcare interpreters being created now?
According to the U.S. Census, more than 25 million people speak English less than very well and may be considered limited English proficient (LEP).  Healthcare providers report:

• 80 percent of hospitals frequently encounter LEP patients
• 81 percent of internal medicine physicians treat LEP patients frequently
• 84 percent of federally qualified health centers provide clinical services daily to LEP patients

For more than 20 years, the medical community has been confronted with increasing situations where they are unable to communicate or have limited communication capabilities with the patients they are trying to serve.  This growing dilemma of healthcare practitioners being unable to adequately talk with patients has been extremely crucial in trying to properly diagnose and treat critical cases and life-threatening emergencies.  To respond to this need, professionals in the healthcare community joined together to form CCHI as the organization designed to develop certification plans to recognize the competency of healthcare interpreters in language interaction and translation.

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5. How will CCHI certification benefit healthcare interpreters?
First of all, a valid and independent professional certification must be both recognized and preferred by healthcare providers requesting interpreting services.  As the healthcare profession increases its demand for professional interpreter credentials, healthcare interpreters will recognize the value of making sure they have the experience, training or both to earn the certification.  Likewise, certification will also become recognized as a valuable and requested asset to an enhanced professional career and lifelong advancement opportunities.

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6. How will CCHI certification benefit language companies?
Currently, without a recognized professional standard for healthcare interpreters, language services agencies are limited to providing “trainings” ranging from two-hour orientations to 60 or more hours of training sessions and internships.  Yet even with this training, there remains no reliable way for healthcare providers to assess an individual’s essential knowledge and skills to function competently as a healthcare interpreter.

Language agencies can see that certification standards will significantly enhance the worth of their credentialed healthcare interpreters.  For these agencies, encouraging interpreters to pursue and attain certification can translate into a positive investment, not only in their employee’s professional training and development but also in the agency being able to answer the increased preference and demand for professionally certified interpreters.

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7. When will CCHI’s credentialing examination be available?
The earliest anticipated date for releasing CCHI’s first credentialing examination is in Fall 2010.  Achieving a scientifically valid and reliable credentialing procedure will be far more important to the value of CCHI’s certification than rushing to meet an arbitrary date for testing.

Interpreters in all types of healthcare settings will have a way to indicate their desire to become certified by registering with CCHI, through its website at www.healthcareinterpretercertification.org.  There’s no charge to register and this will begin the conversation and commitment of support with each interpreter, individually. Certification agencies do not have members; rather, they have candidates for certification and those who have achieved their certification. An interpreter can be a candidate for certification for weeks, months or a year—for as long as they are showing interest in becoming certified, completing the application steps and taking advantage of the many kinds of preparation options to get ready for taking the certification examination. CCHI will organize and offer these preparation options, such as study groups and assistance in finding the training each interpreter may need to update their knowledge and skills.

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8. Will there be a fee to take the credentialing examination?
CCHI will need to charge a fee to cover the costs of test administration, scoring and keeping the results of all certification exams secure and available, on demand, to the one certified. We are committed to keeping costs affordable so that all interpreters will have access to CCHI’s certification program.

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9. How can someone prepare for and achieve CCHI Certification?

A summary of the performance areas CCHI’s Certification Test will cover is available on the Job Task Analysis page of CCHI's website. As CCHI begins to develop its test, we will be providing much more information about how the test will be administered, in what languages it will be offered, what the prerequisites are (for example, education or language proficiency), and requirements for continuing education/recertification. CCHI’s certification testing will be state of the art, which brings a highly-secure, fair and credible examination to the CCHI Certification candidate. CCHI’s certification will be applicable across all healthcare settings, including hospitals, community health centers, and public and mental health settings. CCHI will offer a single certification for interpreters in all modes of interpreting – face-to-face/in-person, over-the-phone and video. CCHI will not certify sign language interpreters at this point; the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf has extensive experience in developing certification programs for sign language interpreters and a representative of RID serves on CCHI’s Advisory Panel.

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10. How can I get involved in the development of CCHI's certification program?
We encourage you to stay informed about our process and progress. CCHI publishes a monthly News & Updates for the CCHI Community. You can be added to our mailing list by selecting the “Stay Informed” link on the right side of each webpage. We are also recruiting volunteers to help CCHI create a highly valid certification examination – one that your colleagues can trust and support as an enhancement to the quality of health care in the United States. Your organization can also get involved by hosting a pilot test session for your staff interpreters. If you are interested in being a part of the CCHI Certification Test Development Team and/or participating in our CCHI Certification Pilot Test, please complete our Volunteer Form to tell us in which of the areas you would like to be involved.

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