How to Choose a Medical Translation Agency?

February 2, 2022

Precise translations are paramount for the medical industry, hence, it isn’t always easy to hire a suitable medical translation agency. To determine the right vendor for your project, you should keep these tips top of mind.

Machine translation is not a reliable solution

Nowadays, there are hundreds of machine translation providers claimed that they can offer you accurate translation. Sure, an automated tool can be helpful if you are trying to gain a basic understanding of foreign content. However, it’s for other types of documents, not healthcare materials. These types of software lack essential terminology knowledge, and syntax commands, causing mostly awful and inaccurate content. Certainly, in the medical field, we’d like to proceed with everything smoothly from document to practice since it can adversely impact people’s lives. Therefore, only the subject matter experts with the extensive background can provide flawless output.

How is the translation process handled?

Medical documents are directly linked to human health, so, your vendor should follow a systematic translation process. Here is a sample procedure for your reference, it might change in some steps, depending on your needs.

The source content is first evaluated by the project manager who then assigns the project to the competent linguist. After being translated, the document is given to another translator for proofreading and editing if you require it. If DTP service is what you need, the translated content will be handled by a subject matter expert who will add the content to the original file and ensure that the format remains intact. Ultimately, the quality assurance team checks the consistency of the medical document and sends it back to the clients.

Check the reference

Quality healthcare translation speaks for itself. Besides the information from the advertising, you should check the testimonials and reviews of the satisfied customer from the vendor’s website and compare the quality of work and price with other medical translation agencies so that you can choose a trustworthy partner at economical rates.

Look for relevant ISO Certification

Having an ISO certification means a business was certified by a third party and have passed certain management standard. For language service providers, ISO 9001 is the popular certification that ensures a company has well-documented processes and a good quality management system. Don’t misunderstand that this verification is only for language service providers, its main objective is to qualify all the businesses that are able to prove they have effective planning, operation, and control over processes and make improvements over time. If the medical translation agency possesses ISO Certification, you now may have more proof to rely on them.

Which translation tools are used in medical translation

As healthcare translation has a significant connection with people’s lives, the translated document should remain consistent and accurate all along. It can be assured by a glossary, termbases in translation tools at the first attempt. Hence, it’s essential to know that your ideal vendors use computer-assisted translation tools to proceed with your materials, otherwise, your output may sound quirky and misunderstanding may arise. Additionally, as translation software allows for creating a translation database, phrases that have been previously translated, it may generate a favorable impact on the final project cost.

Choosing a medical translation partner for your project might be daunting and take a lot of time. There are multiple factors you have to consider and compare various options. But with those tips above, you now can streamline the process and know what should be prioritized when choosing a team from a wide range of language service providers.