How’s this for client communication? Pet owners visiting one of six Banfield Pet Hospitals will be able to converse with the veterinary team in any of 350 languages.
The company unveiled a 60-pay pilot program June 5 that utilizes a contractor, Lionbridge Technologies, to interpret for clients who speak anything from Mandarin, French or Portuguese to Vietnamese, Creole or Arabic.
Clients who require interpretation will be placed on a phone call with a Lionbridge representative, who will translate for the veterinary team.
“The new offering enables Banfield to provide more culturally competent veterinary care to clients by ensuring those who don’t speak English understand their pet’s diagnosis and treatment needs, with the ultimate goal of delivering even better outcomes for pets,” the company reported.
The participating hospitals are in Southern California: Bakersfield, Culver City, Glendale, La Cienega, Los Angeles Midtown and Oxnard.
Besides offering in-person interpretation, Banfield will offer the same service to anyone phoning its national call center.
If deemed a success, the program could be introduced at other Banfield hospitals in 2020.
The company also noted the relaunch of its Spanish-language website, https://es.banfield.com.