Improving care with speech recognition and digital dictation

The UK Department of Health is planning to increase the number of doctors by 15,000 by 2008 from the 2001 baseline but medical staffing is still relatively low and shortages persists in some specialties.

The British Medical Association has proposed a number of measures to deal with the short supply of medical staff, which includes the improvement of working conditions for doctors in order to avoid early retirement and time-out taken as a result of overwork and stress. Freeing doctors from non-medical tasks, such as the creation of medical reports, reduces stress and the time gained can be invested in patient care.

In this feature, sponsored by Philips, we look at the role digital dictation and speech recognition can play in reducing the strain on the healthcare system's financial and human resources and improving the quality of care by ensuring the prompt delivery of medical documents.

Managing clinical documentation Documentation is the lifeblood of healthcare; without it, there is no accurate communication between the various members of a healthcare team. Dr Nick van Terheyden, Chief Medical Officer, Philips Speech Recognition Systems, discusses how digital dictation and speech recognition are improving the flow of information in healthcare. Only workflow solutions can cut the mustard John Bendall is the Manager of Technical Services for Crescendo Systems Ltd. Crescendo counts over 200,000 users worldwide and more than 15 years experience in the document creation market. Documentation flexibility with speech recognition London-based G2 Speech will unveil the new version of its MediSpeech reporting solution at Healthcare Computing, stand B4. The solution, powered by SpeechMagic from Philips, features advanced digital dictation and speech recognition features which aim to extend workflow flexibility in healthcare documentation. Voice Messenger: enabling access in a web environment One of the latest speech recognition products to be launched at Healthcare Computing 2006 is Voice Messenger from Voice Technologies (stand B25), which is powered by SpeechMagic from Philips. A star in efficient report creation The three-star Clatterbridge Centre for Oncology (CCO) situated on the Wirral Peninsula is one of the UK's largest cancer facilities. Aiming to provide the best possible standard in cancer treatment, the trust has a policy of continuous research and improvement.

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