Electronic Health Reporter

After announcing his retirement from Geisinger Health System Foundation, Dr. Glenn D. Steele, Jr. has joined the board of directors for video remote interpreting company Stratus Video Interpreting. Dr. Steele’s expertise in the healthcare industry will help Stratus Video Interpreting (http://www.stratusvideo.com/) in their mission to give a voice to the voiceless by allowing healthcare systems nationwide to communicate with patients regardless of language through their technologically advanced platform.

This June, Dr. Steele will be retiring from his current position as president and CEO of Geisinger Health System Foundation, a Pennsylvania based, physician-led integrated health services organization. He will remain as chairman of xG Health Solutions, a spinoff from Geisinger Joint Ventures with a $40 million investment from Oak Investment Partners. During his 14-year tenure, Dr. Steele helped make Geisinger an industry leader in patient safety, care quality, and value. Geisinger is nationally recognized for its innovative use of electronic health record and the development and implementation of innovative care models.

Dr. Steele has been named consecutive times to Modern Healthcare’s 50 Most Powerful Physician Executives in Healthcare, and has also been featured as one of the “100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare.” Additionally, Dr. Steele was listed among Becker’s Hospital Review’s 100 Non-Profit Hospital, Health System CEOs to Know List in 2012. Dr. Steele is a recipient of numerous awards including the CEO IT Achievement Award (2006); AHA’s Grassroots Champion Award (2007); 8th Annual (2010) AHA Health Research & Education Trust Award and HFMA Board of Directors’ Award (2011).

In addition to sitting on the board of directors for Stratus Video Interpreting, Dr. Steele also serves on numerous boards and national committees. He was recently appointed to the Committee on the Governance and Financing of Graduate Medical Education.  A member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Steele serves as a member on the Roundtable on Value and Science-driven Healthcare and also sat on the Committee on Reviewing Evidence to Identify Highly Effective Clinical Services (HECS), and is a former chairman of the American Board of Surgery. A fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Steele is a member of the American Surgical Association, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and past president of the Society of Surgical Oncology.

Dr. Steele has had a long and distinguished career in academia. Prior to serving as President and CEO to Geisinger, Dr. Steele held the position of Dean of the Biological Sciences Division at the Pritzker School of Medicine and additionally served as the Vice President for medical affairs at the University of Chicago and as the Richard T. Crane Professor in the Department of Surgery and the William V. McDermott Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School.

“Dr. Steele, with his distinguished background and experience, will bring a lot to Stratus,” says President of Stratus Video Interpreting David Fetterolf. “His strength and expertise will help Stratus provide better care to those who need it.”

A prolific writer, Dr. Steele is the author or co-author of more than 481 scientific and professional articles. His investigations have focused on the cell biology of gastrointestinal cancer and pre-cancer and most recently on innovations in healthcare delivery and financing.

“No person should be hindered in receiving medical care because they ‘don’t speak the right language’” says Dr. Steele. “The communication barrier has long been a problem in our industry, and it will be rewarding to help remedy the situation by serving on the board of directors for Stratus.”

Dr. Steele’s appointment will help Stratus Video Interpreting in its effort to provide the information, comfort, advocacy and support to allow people from different cultures to connect in a simple, immediate way. Stratus offers Video Remote Interpreting (VRI) services by providing users with a language or ASL interpreter over a videophone call, Stratus marries the benefits of face-to-face interpretation with the on-demand nature of over the phone interpretation (OPI). A standard VRI situation, the two parties are able to use a videophone device (e.g. webcam, tablet, smartphone) to place a call to an interpreter who is then able to assist the two parties overcome the language barrier.

Stratus Video Interpreting sprang from the recognized need for better communication between cultures and languages, particularly in specific markets, such as healthcare and the courts, where a lack of understanding can create significant problems for people. Stratus allows healthcare systems nationwide to avail themselves of VRI technology in order to ensure that every patient’s needs are heard – regardless of what language they speak.

About Stratus Video Interpreting:

Stratus Video Interpreting provides on-demand interpreter services by using technology to connect clients with interpreters in over 175 spoken and signed languages in less than 30 seconds. Stratus’ cloud-based video solution delivers an array of unique features to virtually any Internet-enabled PC, Mac, smartphone or tablet. Stratus clients use the technology to connect with their own staff interpreters, as well as with Stratus interpreters, who have years of healthcare and courtroom experience and hold multiple certifications. With Stratus, state-of-the-art video remote interpreting is made available with virtually no capital investment. Stratus averages 65,000 video calls a day, up from 40,000 in mid-2013. Stratus Video is the sister company of The Z® (CSDVRS, LLC, dba ZVRS), which was established in 2006 and developed by and for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, setting the industry standard as the nation’s premier Video Relay Service Provider and the first VRS Provider to receive a 5-Year certification from the FCC. In 2014, Stratus was recognized as one of the fastest-growing privately held companies, ranking #3,827 on Inc. magazine’s Inc. 5000 list. For more information, visit www.stratusvideo.com.