The York NHS Hospitals Trust is looking at digital dictation technology to reduce errors and streamline administration.
The hospital has more than 150 consultants and generates a significant volume of patient record data and correspondence. More than 90 medical secretaries then transcribe the doctors’ audio dictation into the relevant hospital systems.
Automatic voice recognition software could free up administrators’ time by speeding up the production of patient letters and records,’ says the trust.
‘Medical secretaries are under pressure because of the volume of work and this could present a more productive use of time,’ says a York NHS spokesperson.
‘If a doctor provides information using digital dictation, medical secretaries can simply verify the information rather than transcribe it,’ he said.
Speech recognition systems could also help eliminate errors caused by rekeying information into systems.
The formal tendering process started by the trust last week will help determine if the technology can meet the hospital’s needs, such as integration with its patient administration system.
A decision on the type and scale of implementation will not be made until all bids have been evaluated, says the trust.
The apparent benefits of digital dictation systems may be outweighed by the immaturity of the technology, says Ovum analyst Graham Titterington.
‘The benefits are the time savings and improved efficiency from not having to transcribe every document,’ he said.
‘But a potential disadvantage is that the systems are not 100 per cent accurate.
‘And they have to be trained to recognise individual speakers, so there is a period of familiarisation and documents must still be scanned for accuracy,’ he said.
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