ATLANTA–(HISPANIC PR WIRE – BUSINESS WIRE)–Feb. 17, 2003–With Hispanics now the largest minority group in the United States, and with the growing need for equal access to healthcare services for persons of limited English proficiency, A.D.A.M., Inc. (Nasdaq: ADAM), today announced it has completed a licensing agreement for its Bi-Lingual Health Platform with Valley Baptist Medical Center (VBMC) in Harlingen, Texas.
The platform, which offers both English and Spanish translations of A.D.A.M. health content, is unique in that it allows users to interact with the same information in both languages. The platform is the result of a joint development project between A.D.A.M. and DrTango, Inc., its Hispanic Health services partner.
“Having the bi-lingual health platform with the ability to go back and forth between identical English and Spanish content is invaluable for our patient-base and community,” says Bill Elliot, director of Communications at VBMC. The hospital’s service area is more than 85% Hispanic. Spanish is spoken in more than three quarters of the households with approximately a third of the population claiming to speak English “less than well” according the 2000 U.S. census.
“A.D.A.M’s English-Spanish products provide a patient education solution that can fill a critical void in helping to provide important health information for persons who are most comfortable with the Spanish language – especially if their English skills are not sufficient to fully understand crucial health and medical concepts. This product is an exciting tool to build health literacy,” said Dr. Alan Greene, A.D.A.M.’s chief medical officer. “In many cases, this information given at the point of care can reduce the need for interpreters, improve understanding, acceptance, and carry-through of treatment plans, and can help strengthen provider-patient relationships.”
About Valley Baptist Medical Center
Valley Baptist Medical Center is the flagship of Valley Baptist Health System serving the Lower Rio Grande Valley at the southern tip of Texas along the Mexico border. The 540 bed referral center in Harlingen serves the region as a major trauma center. For more information, visit http://www.vbmc.org.
About A.D.A.M., Inc.
Headquartered in Atlanta, A.D.A.M., Inc. (NASDAQ: ADAM) is a leading publisher of interactive, visually engaging health and medical information for healthcare organizations, medical professionals, consumers and students. A.D.A.M. products contain physician-reviewed text, health visuals produced by medically trained illustrators, and multimedia interactivity to create health information solutions that offer a unique “visual learning” experience in both the healthcare and education markets. Today, A.D.A.M. employs a growing range of media, including Internet, software, CD-ROM, television and print, to deploy its proprietary content assets and products. A.D.A.M. is a founding member of Hi-Ethics, a coalition of the most widely referenced health websites and information providers committed to developing industry standards for the quality of consumer health information. For more information, visit http://www.adam.com.
About DrTango
Headquartered in Atlanta, DrTango, Inc. is the leading provider of Hispanic health solutions. DrTango develops and licenses web-based, health and diet-related applications, as well as Spanish content, to assist healthcare organizations in marketing to and communicating effectively with the fast-growing Hispanic population. DrTango’s unrivaled products include: MiDieta(TM)/MyDiet(TM), a personalized, online weight management system; comprehensive cancer content resources in partnership with CancerConsultants.com; and Spanish versions of content products developed by A.D.A.M., Inc. and translated by DrTango. eTransCreate(TM) – DrTango’s language services division – translates and maintains healthcare organization websites in Spanish. For more information, visit http://www.drtango.com.
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CONTACT:
Valley Baptist Health System
Bill Elliott, 956/389-1950
or
A.D.A.M.
Mary Prado, 770/980-0888
or
DrTango
Lisa Wells, 770/649-0298
