CoreCHI™ Certification is Accredited by NCCA

The Commissioners are happy to announce that on June 12, 2014, the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) granted accreditation to the CoreCHI™ –the one and only certification which every healthcare interpreter of every language needs to have and can achieve with and through CCHI. The CoreCHI (Core Certification Healthcare Interpreter™) certification measures the core professional knowledge of the medical interpreter of any language, including such vital healthcare concepts as safety protocols, universal precautions, and HIPAA. The CoreCHI examination tests the interpreter’s critical thinking, ethical decision-making, and cultural responsiveness skills needed to perform their duties in any healthcare setting.

“Competence of healthcare interpreters is an extremely important component of the quality of patient care,” said CCHI Chair Alejandro Maldonado, CHI™-Spanish. “The core certification for all interpreters–CoreCHI, after going through a very rigorous process, was accredited by NCCA. This accreditation testifies to CCHI’s adherence to the highest national certification standards making us the first ones in the field to offer this certification to all interpreters,” he emphasized.

“This makes the CoreCHI a valid and reliable tool that allows hospitals and healthcare systems to work with certified interpreters of all languages today,” Maldonado said. “The CoreCHI provides access to a valid core certification to interpreters of any refugee language. Best of all, patients with limited English proficiency, their families, and healthcare providers nationwide can get high quality interpreter services now.”

CCHI received NCCA accreditation for the CoreCHI certification 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. In addition to CCHI, there are more than 270 NCCA-accredited programs from over 120 organizations that certify individuals in a wide range of professions. NCCA certificants include nurses, financial professionals, respiratory therapists, counselors, emergency technicians, crane operators and more. 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. The NCCA accredited the CoreCHI certification for a five-year period, expiring June 30, 2019.

CoreCHI certification allows all hospitals, health systems, and healthcare providers to efficiently show their compliance with The Joint Commission’s interpreter qualifications requirement, National CLAS Standard 7, and Title VI requirements for meaningful language access today.

NCCA accreditation of the CoreCHI certification is a third-party stamp of approval and validation that this certification truly measures the core professional knowledge of the healthcare interpreters. “CCHI has always followed the best psychometric practices and highest national certification standards when developing its exams. NCCA accreditation is another confirmation of that,” Maldonado said. Hiring or contracting certified interpreters has a direct and positive effect on patient safety, reducing readmission rates, and eliminating health disparities.