CCHI Professional Ethics and Standards 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A CCHI-certified interpreter is working with a patient who shares the interpreter's ethnic background and speaks to the interpreter in a regional dialect the provider cannot understand. The patient requests the interpreter keep certain comments 'between them.' What should the interpreter do?
- Honor cultural solidarity and keep the aside confidential
- Interpret everything said, including the patient's aside, and explain the interpreter's role (Correct answer)
- Ask the provider to leave briefly to allow for cultural communication
- Summarize only the medically relevant parts of the patient's aside
Correct answer: Interpret everything said, including the patient's aside, and explain the interpreter's role
CCHI standards require interpreters to interpret everything said during a session; cultural affinity does not override the duty to full and accurate interpretation.
Question 2: Which of the following best describes the CCHI ethical standard of 'fidelity' in interpretation?
- Maintaining loyalty to the healthcare provider's instructions over the patient's statements
- Conveying the complete meaning, tone, and intent of all utterances without omission or addition (Correct answer)
- Ensuring the patient understands all information before leaving the appointment
- Prioritizing culturally appropriate language even if it alters the literal meaning
Correct answer: Conveying the complete meaning, tone, and intent of all utterances without omission or addition
Fidelity means faithfully rendering the full meaning, register, and intent of each speaker without additions, omissions, or distortions.
Question 3: A healthcare interpreter is approached by the patient's employer (who is paying the patient's medical bills) asking for details about the medical visit. What should the interpreter do?
- Provide a general summary since the employer is financially responsible
- Decline to share any information and direct the employer to the facility's privacy officer (Correct answer)
- Ask the patient by phone if it is okay to share information with the employer
- Share only non-clinical information such as appointment dates
Correct answer: Decline to share any information and direct the employer to the facility's privacy officer
Patient health information is confidential and protected by HIPAA; interpreters must not disclose it to third parties without proper patient authorization through official channels.
Question 4: When an interpreter notices that a provider is using highly technical language the patient clearly does not understand, the interpreter's ethical role is to:
- Simplify the provider's language independently to aid patient comprehension
- Interpret the technical language accurately and alert the provider that the patient appears confused (Correct answer)
- Stop the session and provide the patient with written educational materials
- Ask the provider to use simpler terms on the patient's behalf without disclosing the interpreter's concern
Correct answer: Interpret the technical language accurately and alert the provider that the patient appears confused
Interpreters should accurately convey the provider's words and then transparently flag comprehension issues to the provider, who retains responsibility for patient education.
Question 5: A CCHI-certified interpreter receives a request to interpret a second opinion consultation for a patient they previously interpreted for in a highly sensitive situation. What ethical consideration is most relevant?
- The interpreter must decline because prior knowledge of the patient creates an automatic conflict
- The interpreter should consider whether prior knowledge could affect impartiality and disclose it if so (Correct answer)
- Prior interpreting history is irrelevant since professional interpreters are always neutral
- The interpreter should inform the new provider of details from the previous encounter to aid continuity
Correct answer: The interpreter should consider whether prior knowledge could affect impartiality and disclose it if so
Interpreters must assess whether prior sensitive knowledge could compromise impartiality and disclose appropriately, while never volunteering protected patient information to new providers.
Question 6: Under CCHI standards, what is the appropriate response when a minor patient's parent instructs the interpreter not to convey certain information to the child during a pediatric consultation?
- Follow the parent's instructions since parents have legal authority over minor children
- Interpret everything and later report the parent's instruction to the provider for clinical guidance (Correct answer)
- Tell the child privately what was withheld to protect the child's interests
- Refuse to interpret the session unless both parent and child agree on communication terms
Correct answer: Interpret everything and later report the parent's instruction to the provider for clinical guidance
Decisions about what information to disclose to a minor are clinical and legal matters for the provider and parent; the interpreter should surface the instruction to the provider and continue interpreting per provider guidance.
Question 7: A healthcare interpreter becomes aware that a colleague who is also CCHI-certified regularly omits patient emotional statements during mental health encounters to 'keep sessions efficient.' What should the certified interpreter do?
- Ignore the situation since it involves a colleague's independent professional judgment
- Report the behavior to the CCHI ethics board or facility management, as it violates accuracy standards (Correct answer)
- Advise the colleague informally but take no further action to preserve collegial relationships
- Document the instances but wait to see if patient harm results before reporting
Correct answer: Report the behavior to the CCHI ethics board or facility management, as it violates accuracy standards
CCHI's code of ethics includes a duty to uphold standards within the profession, which includes reporting systematic violations that harm patient care to the appropriate authority.
CCHI Professional Ethics and Standards 5
A CCHI-certified interpreter is working with a patient who shares the interpreter's ethnic background and speaks to the interpreter in a regional dialect the provider cannot understand.
The patient requests the interpreter keep certain comments 'between them.' What should the interpreter do?