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About Us
About Us
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History
LanguageMate was founded in 2002 by Mr. William "Bill" Z. Tan, a visionary thinker and social entrepreneur. Immigrating to the U.S. at age 15, Bill began high school in New York City with an English vocabulary of 500 words. In the ensuing years, he often accompanied his parents and grandparents to healthcare facilities, acting as their interpreter. The obstacles that confronted his family and other non-English speaking patients, along with the frustrations experienced by their healthcare providers, made an indelible impression on him. With the chronic shortage of trained medical interpreters and the adverse impact of language barriers on critical outcomes such as patient safety, quality of care, and satisfaction, sustainable solutions were clearly needed. After receiving a business degree from New York University, where he served as the President of the business school's Entrepreneurs Club, Bill worked for several technology companies. The experience enabled him to learn firsthand how technological solutions could be applied to solve tough business challenges. He and a group of like-minded colleagues began looking into the various methods by which language assistance was provided at hospitals, and arrived at the realization that there was a near complete absence of technology-enabled solutions for addressing the language barrier. They decided that innovative solutions could be developed to address the needs in areas such as healthcare and social services the same way they had been developed to address business challenges—by bringing together a team of motivated individuals who have expertise in linguistics, cross-cultural communication, information technology, and healthcare delivery and administration. Hence, Bill made a full-time commitment to pursuing the vision, and the company was born. Since 2004 the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded LanguageMate over a dozen Small Business Innovation Research grants with total funding exceeding $15 million. Our team of researchers and technologists are collaborating with leading academic institutions—including New York University School of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, University of Michigan School of Medicine, and others—to develop a suite of highly innovative tools for improving patient-provider communication and elevating the quality of care for underserved populations. | ||||||
