AI Medical Interpreters and Language Access Quiz

Answers and explanations appear as you take the quiz.

1. Under the 2024 Section 1557 regulations described in the guide, what must happen when machine translation is used for text critical to a patient's rights or access?
   • A qualified human translator must review it
   • It must be printed in both languages
   • The patient must sign a waiver
   • Nothing, if the app is widely used
2. A nurse is using an approved translation app for simple comfort requests, and the patient starts describing new chest pain. What does the guide's example show she should do?
   • Keep using the app, since it is already running
   • Ask the patient's teenage child to interpret
   • Switch to a qualified interpreter, such as a phone interpreter
   • Wait until the patient's family arrives
3. According to the guide, what separates a qualified medical interpreter from someone who is simply bilingual?
   • A qualified interpreter speaks at least four languages
   • Accurate and complete interpretation, impartiality, confidentiality and knowledge of medical terminology
   • Employment by the hospital for at least five years
   • Being a member of the patient's family
4. What did research on consumer machine translation of emergency discharge instructions find, according to the guide?
   • Accuracy was perfect across all languages
   • Translation errors never had clinical significance
   • Accuracy was highest for languages with the least training data
   • Accuracy varied widely by language, and some errors could cause harm
5. In a pipeline of speech recognition, machine translation and text-to-speech, why do errors compound?
   • Each stage adds a new language
   • Text-to-speech always changes the meaning
   • A mistake in an early stage, such as a misheard drug name, is passed along and confidently translated
   • The pipeline deletes the original audio
6. Which situation from the guide calls for a video remote or in-person qualified interpreter rather than a consumer translation app?
   • Obtaining informed consent, which covers risks, alternatives and the patient's questions
   • Offering a patient an extra blanket
   • Asking whether the patient wants water
   • Saying good morning
7. Which privacy risk does the guide raise about consumer translation apps in clinical settings?
   • They store data only on paper
   • They may send audio to servers not covered by a HIPAA business associate agreement
   • They automatically publish conversations online
   • They require patients to create public profiles
8. Which safeguard does the guide recommend for confirming that a patient understood information delivered through AI translation?
   • Assuming understanding if the patient nods
   • Repeating the instructions more loudly
   • Using a longer written document
   • Teach-back, where the patient explains the information in their own words