Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters Receives Accreditation of Its CHI™ Certification from the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA)

The NCCA accredited the Certification Commission for Healthcare

Interpreter (CCHI) CHI™-Spanish Certification for a five-year period,

expiring June 30, 2017 during its recent meeting. “CCHI is the first and

only organization certifying healthcare interpreters to receive NCCA

accreditation,” said Natalya Mytareva, CCHI Chair.

Founded in July 2009, CCHI is a professional certification organization

acting in the public interest by establishing and enforcing education,

examination, experience and ethics requirements for certification.

Currently, 314 healthcare interpreters are certified to use the

CHI™-Spanish designation.

CCHI received NCCA accreditation of its Certified Healthcare Interpreter

(CHI™) program by submitting an application demonstrating the program’s

compliance with the NCCA’s Standards for the Accreditation of

Certification Programs. NCCA is the accrediting body of the

Institute for Credentialing Excellence (formerly the National

Organization for Competency Assurance). Since 1977, the NCCA has been

accrediting certifying programs based on the highest quality standards

in professional certification to ensure the programs adhere to modern

standards of practice in the certification industry. To view the

standards visit http://www.credentialingexcellence.org/ncca.

There are more than 260 NCCA accredited programs that certify

individuals in a wide range of professions and occupations including

nurses, financial professionals, respiratory therapists, counselors,

emergency technicians, crane operators and more. Of ICE’s more than 330

organizational members, over 120 of them have accredited programs.

ICE’s mission is to advance credentialing through education, standards,

research, and advocacy to ensure competence across professions and

occupations. NCCA was founded as a commission whose mission is to help

ensure the health, welfare, and safety of the public through the

accreditation of a variety of certification programs that assess

professional competence. NCCA uses a peer review process to: establish

accreditation standards; evaluate compliance with these standards;

recognize programs which demonstrate compliance; and serve as a resource

on quality certification.

ICE and NCCA are located at 2025 M Street, N.W., Suite 800, Washington,

DC 20036-3309; telephone 202/367-1165; facsimile 202/367-2165; website www.credentialingexcellence.org.

“Our NCCA Accreditation journey began on the day CCHI was launched, July

1, 2009, because we were 100 percent committed to creating the best,

most valid, most credible professional certification for healthcare

interpreters, which directly benefits patient safety, health care

providers, and interpreters who work in more than 139 languages,” said

Mara Youdelman, J.D., CCHI’s Founding Chair.

Fred Hobby, CEO, Institute for Diversity in Health Management, and CCHI

Commissioner from 2009 to 2011, said, “NCCA Accreditation awarded to

CCHI is an outstanding achievement, plus strong and clear recognition of

CCHI’s leadership and a strong sense of equity in health care for all we

are privileged to serve. CCHI appreciates, tremendously, all who

volunteered their time and personal resources to make quality

communications the hallmark of quality care. CCHI is now the gold

standard by which all other interpreter services programs will be

measured.”

Kathleen Diamond, CCHI Commissioner, said, “I would like interpreters to

understand that the NCCA application process was as rigorous as the MA

thesis was for me. Working on the application for several months gave me

deeper insight into the professionalism of my fellow Commissioners.”

CCHI, a 501(c)(6) organization whose mission is to develop and direct a

comprehensive credentialing program for healthcare interpreters, brings

together representatives from national and regional non-profit

interpreting associations, language companies, community-based

organizations, educational institutions, healthcare providers, and

advocates for LEP individuals. CCHI’s Associate Healthcare Interpreter™

(AHI™) credential is the entry point into professional certification for

healthcare interpreters regardless of the language(s) in which they

interpret. Once a healthcare interpreter passes the AHI™ exam they are

eligible to sit for the Certified Healthcare Interpreter™ (CHI™)

examination, an oral performance exam that tests consecutive and

simultaneous interpreting plus sight translation in one or more

languages in which they interpret.