How To Successfully Handle Medical Localization Of Software?
Medical software needs localization to better suit a particular market or audience. The medical localization task frequently involves more than just interpreting spoken languages. In today’s article, GTE Localize would point out some challenges when localizing medical software and how to handle them effectively.
1. Medical Software Introduction
To better meet local cultural standards, the medical software must be modified during the localization process. The medical localization process of software may involve changing the currency, product sizing, mapping, and geo-locational aspects to fit the target audience, depending on the problem the software attempts to solve.
It could also mean you have to make any graphic pictures present in the software and related resources more culturally relevant. Considerations such as local accuracy approaches that convey correct information and data about health may be necessary. You might need to take into account how consumers engage with healthcare professionals, how their health is handled within the context of their families, and elements like how their medical care is supported. These factors might influence how you modify your product for a regional market.
Prior to being made available, medical software must generally pass through onerous QA procedures and regulatory hoops. This normally means that compared to other forms of software, the project cycle is frequently substantially longer.
So before starting any medical localization project, you should discuss it carefully with the translation provider that you might work with. There are many types of medical software (Patient Portals, Telemedicine Software, E-Prescribing Software, etc.) so it is necessary to give your translation partner all the material that they need to refer to such as industrial termbase, glossary, style guide, etc.
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2. Some Challenges of Medical Software Localization
Let’s go deeper into some typical problems when handling medical localization of software.
2.1. Specific Audience
The languages used in medicine are exclusively reserved for the mentioned specialist community, even as we go forward with the essential medical services. Only the greatest team giving medical translation services internationally can be of assistance. Technical, occupational, academic, and professional practice fields and expertise are included in this section. Additionally, medical translation is only focused on important elements like the user, the user’s field, and applications that use specific medical languages.
Depending on the individuals and communication contexts, this language use varies. When translating software materials for expert-to-expert communication, such as imaging reports, research papers, case studies, case notes, and discharge summaries, these phrases are employed. The medical translator must employ simpler terms in communicating between a layperson and a physician. They will be able to include product booklets, patient fact sheets, and more. It is important that the vocabulary used in the text be clear and thoroughly defined.
2.2. Terminology and Language in Medical Localization
Because it involves lives and careers, medical translation needs to be correct. There is always a demand for experts who are well-versed in unique medical and healthcare languages. Regardless of whether the language refers to a drug, a patient’s health, or a disease they are suffering from, it is nonetheless specific.
This section contains specific terminology that requires expertise to understand and is not used elsewhere. Clients must confirm that the translators they are working with are the primary subject matter experts. The medical translator should be well-versed in a variety of languages, have relevant medical experience in the targeted field, and always keep updated with some medical software that have come into the spotlight lately.
The medical localization providers should have native linguists with deep knowledge of the session’s technical jargon. They should be able to provide documents that are very helpful to nurses and doctors who are giving patients their utmost attention.
2.3. Word Compounding and Abbreviations
If you work in the medical localization area, you may encounter a lot of acronyms and abbreviations. The majority of these abbreviations and acronyms are borrowed from other languages, yet English frequently proves to be the industry lingua franca. There are certain readily available exceptions, though, and the translators must figure them out.
Patient safety, contrast, and heart failure are a few fundamental examples of compound nominal expressions that are frequently used in English medical termbase. These related expressions might undergo some syntactic or phrase alterations when translated into another language. Prefixes and suffixes are also frequent, and they are frequently derived from Latin or Greek.
3. The Process for Medical Localization of Software
Here is the typical localization process that is necessary for a medical software localization project.
Step 1. Initial evaluation and cost
Defining the scope of the work with your medical localization services provider is the first step in starting a software localization process. You might need to organize meetings where you can lay out your aims and objectives. Some questions that you might concern are:
- Which languages will be supported by the app?
- Do you intend to eventually branch out into other markets?
- What kind of user are you trying to reach? Are huge hospitals, pharmaceutical firms, or dermatologists your target market?
- Who are the intended users? Patients, medical professionals, or software experts?
- Are you selling software that goes along with medical equipment?
- Does your product come with supplementary materials that need to be translated as well?
- Will app store optimization be required if the product is a mobile app?
- Exist any regulatory obstacles?
All of this information will specify how and when the content adaptation process will be carried out by the translation and localization team. Once you have outlined all of your requirements for the project in detail, you should approach your LSP for a quote.
Step 2. Analysis of the source material
The team must first review the medical localization information to ensure that all files have been received and that the final product functions. Additionally, they must decide which tools and resources are best to use when they start working.
Step 3. Production stage
When translating and localizing any software material, the interface will now be modified while the translation is being worked on by linguists, designers, and engineers. The technical team will frequently use a technique known as “pseudolocalization,” in which fictitious strings that don’t specifically reflect any languages are created and tested to see if the interface can adjust to them.
So you must understand when the content lengthens, whether containers break, or when the content is much shorter, whether they appear empty and disjointed.
Step 4: Localization testing
To ensure great quality of medical localization, testing the program is crucial.
Medical software testing is a non-linear procedure that frequently entails going back and re-doing earlier stages of the localization procedure. But it’s crucial to make sure the finished product is flawless and completely operational.
Step 5: Quality assurance
Finally, quality control is performed. The parts of the medical software that must be assessed are the same as in the prior inspections, but quality assurance doesn’t simply concentrate on how the product functions; it also considers if it satisfies the stakeholders’ strategic goals. Most frequently, a project manager who has a high-level, multidisciplinary perspective of the project does quality assurance.
These stages of localization, which are crucial to ensuring a high-quality output, are applied to every component of the software, including the content and interface design. The software and user interface are localized first for consistency’s sake, and then any online assistance and manuals are modified. The printed material is then examined. This comprises the labeling, packaging, and packaging materials as well as the user and installation manuals.
4. Get The Best Medical Software Localization from GTE Localize
As already mentioned above, the medical localization of software entails more than just translating a product into another language; it also takes into account technology, culture, rules, and usability. High-quality healthcare software localization services that tackle translation and localization wisely and effectively are required to prevent the process from failing.
At GTE Localize, you can have top-rated medical localization and translation services from native experts. With many years of experience, committed project management, stringent quality control, and state-of-the-art technology, GTE Localize have become the language partner of many top medical industry figures.
Get a quotation right away to start expanding your user base.
