ISO 9001 
ISO 17100 
ISO 18587 LinguaVox provides medical translation services for hospitals, clinics, medical publishers, manufacturers, patient organisations and healthcare providers. We manage multilingual projects in more than 150 languages, combining specialist translators, project management, terminology control and review workflows according to what each assignment requires.
Translation for the medical and healthcare sector
Medical translation has to be clear enough for the intended reader and precise enough for the clinical context. The same condition described for a specialist audience and for patients calls for different vocabulary, tone and sentence length: a clinician reads a case summary; a patient reads an information leaflet. Getting that register right is as much a part of medical translation as getting the terminology right, because a technically correct text that a patient cannot understand has still failed.
For that reason we do not assign work on language pair alone. The document type, the target reader, the destination market, the format and the level of review all shape the workflow, and we confirm these before quoting rather than assuming them.
Documents we translate
Typical documents include clinical reports, patient information leaflets, informed consent forms, hospital documentation, medical device manuals, healthcare training content, medical correspondence, discharge summaries and case reports. Some are internal, some are published, some support training, and some are used for compliance, tenders or product launches. We also handle patient-reported outcome and quality-of-life questionnaires, where linguistic validation — often including back-translation and reconciliation — is used to confirm that each language version measures the same thing as the original.
Before quoting, we review the files whenever possible to identify non-editable text, tables, screenshots, embedded content, repetitions, multilingual layouts, versioning problems and any instructions that should be applied during translation.
Specialist translators and quality control
Projects are assigned to translators with medical or healthcare subject-matter experience and the right language combination. Where the assignment includes bilingual revision, a second qualified linguist checks the translation against the source, and the project manager reviews files, instructions and delivery format before completion.
This supports ISO 17100-based workflows for professional translation. For large volumes of suitable, lower-risk content, full post-editing of machine translation can be considered, but only where the content type and quality target make sense; patient-facing and clinical material is normally handled by human translation with revision.
Terminology, readability and consistency
Medical terminology has to be both accurate and consistent: the same term should not appear three different ways across a document set. We work from glossaries, translation memories, client style guides and recognised medical terminology references, and for patient-facing content we pay particular attention to readability so that instructions, warnings and dosing information are unambiguous. Planning this at the start keeps wording aligned across documents, languages and revisions.
Formats, readability and delivery
Medical content arrives in every format, from clean Word files to scanned reports, slide decks and leaflets built in InDesign. We work with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, editable PDF, HTML and XML, and can extract text from non-editable files or rebuild layouts where needed, quoting any desktop publishing separately so costs are clear. For patient-facing material we treat readability as a deliverable in its own right: short sentences, plain wording, consistent names for medicines and procedures, and warnings and dosing information that cannot be misread. For clinician-facing material we keep the denser terminology that specialists expect. Where the same source serves both audiences, we can produce versions at different registers rather than forcing one text to do both jobs. Multilingual sets are coordinated together, with terminology and layout kept consistent across languages, and delivered on a schedule that fits the client's own deadlines for publication, training or submission. Where a document will be reused — a standard consent form, a recurring report template, a set of ward instructions — we keep it in a translation memory so the next version starts from the approved wording rather than from scratch, which keeps both cost and turnaround down.
Related services
Medical translation frequently connects with technical translation for device manuals, legal and certified translation for official documents, website localisation for clinics and providers, subtitling for training and patient-education videos, desktop publishing for leaflets and terminology management. The right combination depends on the files and on how the content will be used.
How to request a quote
To prepare an accurate quote, send the files, the language combination, the deadline, the destination market and the intended use, along with any previous translations, glossaries or style preferences. For large multilingual projects we can organise staged deliveries, separate files by language and keep the same structure across markets, so the translation fits your workflow rather than creating a bottleneck.
Frequently asked questions
Do you adapt the language for patients versus healthcare professionals?
Yes. We confirm the intended reader before starting and translate accordingly: plain, clear language for patient leaflets and consent forms, and precise clinical terminology for documents aimed at specialists. The same source can be handled at different registers depending on its audience.
Can you handle patient questionnaires that need linguistic validation?
Yes. For patient-reported outcome and quality-of-life instruments we can run a linguistic validation process, which may include forward translation, back-translation, reconciliation and review, so each language version is conceptually equivalent to the original. Tell us the instrument and the markets involved.
Which medical documents do you most often translate?
Common requests include clinical reports, information leaflets, consent forms, hospital and discharge documentation, device manuals, training content and medical correspondence. We assign each to a translator with the relevant clinical or technical background rather than treating them as general text.
Do you provide certified translations of medical records?
Yes, where a certified or sworn version is required — for instance medical records used for insurance, legal or official purposes abroad. We confirm the format needed based on the destination country and authority, though final acceptance always depends on the body receiving the document.
How do you keep terminology consistent across a hospital's documents?
We build a glossary and translation memory specific to the client, so departments, procedures, drug names and standard phrases are translated the same way across reports, leaflets and training material, including in later updates and additional languages.
