Reminder: Providers must book in-person interpretation through scheduling service

Washington State Department of Labor & Industries sent this bulletin at 12/13/2022 09:50 AM PST

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washington state department of labor and industries - claims and insurance

Interpreter Services at L&I

Reminder: Providers must book all in-person interpretation services for scheduled appointments in the scheduling system or L&I will not pay for the service 

As a reminder, effective April 12, 2021, healthcare and vocational service providers must request in-person spoken language interpretation services for scheduled appointments through the scheduling system under the vendor interpretingWorks.  Individual Language Access Providers (LAPs) are not authorized to provide in-person interpretation for scheduled appointments.

Per L&I’s Medical Aid Rules and Fee Schedule (MARFS) Chapter 14: Language Access Services, providers may request in-person interpretation for “on-demand” appointments with individual LAPs/interpreters only for:

  • Initial report of accident filing visits,
  • Initial visits for filing a reopening application,
  • Emergency, urgent care, and walk-in appointments, i.e., unscheduled appointments
  • Independent Medical Exams when the scheduling system has not secured an LAP within 24 hours of the scheduled appointment.

L&I will DENY payment for on-demand interpretation services if the use of this method is not appropriate.

NOTE: L&I does provide other options for interpretation services.  Language Link is the resource for over-the-phone (OPI) and video remote (VRI) interpretation services and should be used as the backup when an in-person interpreter is not secured through the scheduling system for a scheduled appointment. 

Visit interpretingWorks or send an email to onboarding@interpreting.works for registration instructions.

Visit L&I’s Interpreter Services website for general questions or let us know through the interpretation@Lni.wa.gov inbox if you have any additional questions.