Oregon Administrative Rules
Chapter 950 - OREGON HEALTH AUTHORITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION DIVISION
Division 50 - STANDARDS FOR HEALTH CARE INTERPRETER REGISTRY ENROLLMENT AND REQUIREMENTS TO WORK WITH QUALIFIED OR CERTIFIED HEALTH CARE INTERPRETERS
Section 950-050-0010 - Definitions

(1) "Applicant" means any individual who applies for qualification or certification as a health care interpreter under OAR 950-050-0050.

(2) "Authority" means the Oregon Health Authority.

(3) "Central registry" means the record maintained by the Authority of enrolled individuals recognized as approved certified or qualified health care interpreters.

(4) "Certified health care interpreter" means an individual who has been approved by the Oregon Health Authority and issued a valid letter of certification by the Authority under these rules to perform health care interpreting services as outlined under ORS 413.558.

(5) "Coordinated Care Organization (CCO)" means a corporation, governmental agency, public corporation, or other legal entity that is certified as meeting the criteria adopted by the Authority under ORS 414.625 to be accountable for care management and to provide integrated and coordinated health care for each of the organization's members.

(6) "Formal training" means instruction obtained in an academic setting, seminars, in-service instruction, or by other means of substantive learning.

(7) "Health care" means medical, oral, vision, surgical or hospital care or any other remedial care recognized by state law, including physical and behavioral health care. For the purpose of these rules, "health care" does not currently include assistance with the activities of daily living or instrumental activities of daily living by providers. The Authority will monitor the exclusion of these services and make a determination on continuing this exception no later than July 1, 2025.

(8) "Health care interpreter" means an individual who has proficiency in English and at least one other spoken or signed language and who is readily able to accurately:

(9) "Health care interpreting services" means the provision of services to limited English proficient individuals through the process of fully understanding and analyzing a spoken or signed message, then faithfully rendering the message into another spoken or signed language in order to ensure access to any medical, surgical or hospital intervention including physical, oral, vision or behavioral health treatment.

(10) "Health care provider" means any of the following that are reimbursed with public funds, in whole or in part:

(11) "Integrated interpreting skills" means the ability to perform as required for employment, demonstrated by interpreting a simulated cross-linguistic interview with acceptable accuracy and completeness while monitoring and helping to manage the interaction in the interest of better communication and understanding.

(12) "Interpreting service company" is used interchangeably with "Interpretation service company" from ORS 413.550 and means an entity, or a person acting on behalf of an entity, that is in the business of arranging for health care interpreters to work with health care providers in Oregon.

(13) "Interpreting knowledge" means an entry-level range of knowledge, skills, and abilities that includes but is not limited to demonstrated capacity in:

(14) "Limited English proficiency" or "LEP" means a level of English proficiency that is insufficient to ensure equal access to public services without an interpreter.

(15) "Person with limited English proficiency" means an individual who, by reason of place of birth or culture, communicates in a language other than English and does not communicate in English with adequate ability to communicate effectively to arrange for and receive health care or health related services or an individual who prefers to communicate in a language other than English.

(16) "Qualified health care interpreter" means an individual who has been approved by the Authority and issued a valid letter of qualification by the Authority under these rules to perform health care interpreting services as outlined under ORS 413.558.

(17) "Relay interpreting" is the practice of interpreting from one language to another through a third language. It is necessary when no single interpreter commands the required language pair.

(18) "Sight translate" means to translate a simple written document into spoken or signed language.

(19) "Translation" means the process of creating a written or signed target text based on a source text, in such a way that the content and in many cases the form of the two texts, can be considered to be equivalent.

(20) "Written verification" means providing proof in a way that establishes the authenticity of submitted documents in a reasonably reliable manner and may include official transcripts, a certificate of completion, or an endorsement from an agency or institution whose training curriculum is approved by the Authority.