Beyond Words: Boosting Patient Safety with Video Localization
Clear communication is the cornerstone of effective healthcare. Yet, millions of patients with limited-English proficiency (LEP) or varying literacy levels struggle to understand critical health information from written materials. This gap creates confusion and directly impacts patient safety, informed consent, and clinical outcomes. How can health systems ensure every patient, regardless of language or reading ability, truly understands their care?
One leading national health system found the answer by moving beyond static text. They transformed their patient education with localized video content, which enhanced comprehension, improved compliance, and strengthened health equity. Here’s how they achieved it.
The Challenge: When Written Translations Aren't Enough
A major health system serving diverse, low-income communities encountered a critical communication problem. Many individuals in their patient population spoke different languages and had varying literacy levels. Standard educational materials, like pamphlets and forms, failed to deliver effective communication.
Even when they translated these documents, writers often chose a reading level that exceeded many patients' comprehension skills. This mismatch led patients to agree to procedures without fully understanding the details, risks, or benefits. The organization recognized this risk to patient safety and saw it as a barrier to providing equitable care. They set out to find a more accessible solution to ensure genuine, informed consent.
The Solution: Video Localization with Human-Led Quality
To overcome the literacy barrier, the health system partnered with AMN Healthcare Language Services to localize their core educational videos. They aimed to make complex medical information accessible through audio and visual cues, which research1 shows significantly boost comprehension and recall compared to text.
The team completed the project through a comprehensive workflow:
- Transcription and Translation: English video scripts were transcribed and then translated into eight key languages spoken by their patient population.
- Strategic Voiceovers: A hybrid model was used for voiceovers. High-quality synthetic voices provided an efficient solution for several languages, while a human voice-over was selected for Hmong to ensure maximum cultural resonance and clarity for a particularly sensitive topic.
- Unyielding Quality Assurance: In an age of automated solutions, the risk of AI "hallucinations" or cultural misinterpretations in medical content is unacceptable. AMN implemented a rigorous, human-in-the-loop quality assurance process. Every translated script and final voice-over was reviewed by a native-speaking medical linguist to guarantee absolute accuracy and cultural appropriateness.
This high-touch approach made the final videos linguistically correct and also clear, compassionate, and effective educational tools. AMN Language Services managed the entire technical process—from audio engineering to final video rendering—which freed the health system's staff to focus on patient care.
The Results: Better Understanding, Safer Care
By shifting from text-based materials to localized video, the health system improved patient engagement and operational efficiency. The project directly addressed the health literacy gap and enhanced patient understanding and compliance.
By shifting from static text to video, the health system transformed their patient education strategy, resulting in: 88% of patients who watched educational videos strictly complied with their treatment plans, compared to just 70% who received pamphlets. In addition, 66% of video viewers rated their care as "excellent," which is more than double the rate for those given written materials.
The team completed the project with remarkable efficiency. The complete localization of the video suite into eight languages was achieved faster than industry average. By ensuring patients could see and hear valuable information in their native language, the organization reduced the risk of uninformed consent and protected both their patients and their practice.
This initiative demonstrates that investing in high-quality, accessible communication drives better clinical outcomes and advances health equity.
Read the Full Story
This health system sets a new standard for patient education by prioritizing human-verified accuracy in multilingual video content. Explore the full details of this transformative project and see how your organization can leverage video localization.
Read the complete case study now, and discover how powerful video localization creates real results.
1Hansen, S., Jensen, T., Schmidt, A., Strøm, J., Vistisen, P., & Høybye, M. (2024). The effectiveness of video animations as a tool to improve health information recall for patients: Systematic review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 26, e58306. https://doi.org/10.2196/58306
1Galmarini, E., Marciano, L., & Schulz, P. J. (2024). The effectiveness of visual-based interventions on health literacy in health care: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC health services research, 24(1), 718. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-024-11138-1