Short-notice cancellation costs add up

This fiscal year, short-notice cancellations (less than 24 hours notice) of interpreter bookings are projected to cost the Lower Mainland health authorities over $250,000!

Why is there still a cost when the appointment is cancelled? If an appointment is cancelled or changed with less than 24 hours notice, the interpreter is still paid for the original appointment because we have already reserved the interpreter’s time.

Cancellations occur for many different reasons, including patient no shows, duplicate bookings and last minute appointment date/time changes. These short notice cancellations not only cost the health care system, they also tie up interpreter resources that could have been used to provide interpreters for other appointments.

Thankfully, some cancellations are avoidable and most people are trying to minimize their short notice cancellations. Here are our top five tips for avoiding last minute cancellations:

1. If the appointment date/time changes, let PLS know as soon as possible by changing the interpreting request online or calling our office.

2. Make sure the patient knows about the appointment. PLS will only remind patients two days prior to the appointment if you request a reminder call. To inform a patient of an appointment or to remind the patient more than two days prior, you can call the patient yourself (as you would do with for an English-speaking patient) with the help of a phone interpreter. Just call 604-297-8400 when you are ready to make the call and we will connect you to a phone interpreter within minutes.

3. Determine in advance whether the patient speaks English or the health care provider speaks the patient’s language. If the patient and health care provider speak the same language, you do not need an interpreter and should cancel your interpreter request as soon as possible.

4. Avoid duplicate bookings by viewing the Current Requests page when you log into the online interpreter request system (CSM) or by double checking with your colleagues to ensure a request has not already been submitted for the patient/client.

5. Use the interpreter that you have booked, rather than using other staff or the patient’s family members or friends as language resources. The health authority is still paying for the time you have booked, even if you turn the interpreter away.

For more information, please contact us at lmis@phsa.ca.