Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) and Country-specific Practices with a Special Focus on Patient Privacy and Confidentiality Concepts

Digitalization and recent technological advancements have brought about the need for the embedment of technology-mediated solutions into the provision of healthcare services. Remote interpreting is an evolving mode which has gradually gained prominence throughout the world, allowing people to make use of such services available from remote locations, which is deemed to fulfil the principle of equity in access to healthcare. In this mode of interpreting services, “patient privacy” and “confidentiality” are considered to be crucial concepts worldwide, the absence of which may be problematic for the human good in healthcare settings. In that vein, patient privacy and confidentiality concepts are expected to be sensitively addressed during the provision of the healthcare services after the technological advancements have been incorporated into the healthcare systems. To this end, this study seeks to provide an overview regarding the video remote interpreting (VRI) mode and its current practices in the exemplary countries with a specific focus on where this system has successfully been integrated, as this system is yet to be available in Türkiye. In addition, the study also aims to review available regulations and legislative frameworks to reveal the good practices where VRI services are successfully implemented. A further review is conducted on the available regulations concerning patient privacy and confidentiality concepts to be better considered while integrating VRI practices into their national healthcare system. This study is expected to contribute to the possible integration of video remote interpreting services with the Turkish healthcare system, giving special consideration to patient privacy and confidentiality