A scientific trial assessing medical documentation speed and accuracy when using Nuance’s clinical speech recognition technology - compared to physicians typing data - has been conducted at Düsseldorf University Hospital in Germany in a first of its kind worldwide. In addition to measuring documentation speed and accuracy, the objective of the independent study was to detail objectively the effects of using Nuance’s medical speech recognition solutions in a university hospital with respect to documentation completeness, length and physician satisfaction over other means of entering information into Electronic Patient Records (EPRs).
Key findings include:
- The overall increase in documentation speed through web-based automatic speech recognition (ASR) assistance was 26%
- Participants documented an average of 356 characters per report when not assisted by ASR and 649 characters per report when assisted by ASR – an 82% increase
- Participants' average mood rating was 1.3 using ASR assistance compared to 1.6 without ASR assistance (scale of 1-3 where 1 =good)
Out of 1,455 reports, 718 (49.35%) were assisted by speech recognition technology and 737 (50.65%) were not. The authors of the report concluded that medical documentation with the assistance of speech recognition technology leads to an increase in documentation speed, document length and completeness and participants' mood when compared to self-typing. They also concluded that Nuance medical speech recognition is a meaningful and effective tool for the clinical documentation process.
In the trial’s analysis of 1,455 reports, physician documentation was completed 26% faster using speech recognition technology assistance.
The research findings come at a key time for healthcare providers as they make the transition to EPRs and consider the most effective data input options in order to realise the full benefits of deploying digital records. Given that healthcare professionals spend a significant portion of their time on the computer and are rarely trained typists, alternatives to typing - such as modern and accurate speech recognition technology– have the potential to improve the satisfaction of health professionals through increased documentation efficiency, accuracy and quality.
“Medical professionals consistently voice their desire to have their administration burden reduced in order to have more time to spend with their patients, to put them back at the centre of care. This most recent trial demonstrates that using speech recognition can help free healthcare providers to deliver the personal attention that both patients demand and that healthcare professionals want to provide,” said Alan Fowles, senior vice president, Nuance Healthcare International Sales & Operations.
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