July 2, 2012

CCHI receives NCCA Accreditation for its CHI™ Certification

On June 29, 2012, CCHI received NCCA accreditation of its Certified Healthcare Interpreter (CHI™) (Spanish) 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 www.credentialingexcellence.org.

“CCHI is the first and only organization certifying healthcare interpreters to receive NCCA accreditation,” said Natalya Mytareva, CCHI Chair.

Good news travels fast. By the following Monday morning, the American Hospital Association News for July 2, 2012 featured CCHI in the headline story: Certification Program for Health Care Interpreters Receives Accreditation. Emails, phone calls and messages of congratulations and celebrations began pouring into CCHI this month from legions of healthcare interpreters who helped CCHI create the CHI™ certification programs.

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 and more.

“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.”

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