AI-powered Speech Recognition: All Talk or Superhero?

Innovative AI-powered speech to text is helping not only to reduce the burden of clinical documentation on clinicians but is also set to support decision-making.

The productive workflow

AI-powered speech to text app, Dragon Medical One (DMO) is already playing a key role for clinicians, enabling them to save time  by recording data accurately and directly into largescale electronic health record platforms like PatientTrack, Cerner and Epic as well as local GP systems like Emis or Vision, and even Microsoft® Office.

Calling DMO a superhero may not be overstating its contribution to meeting the aspirations of the NHS Long Term Plan; not only does it benefit productivity, it allows clinicians to spend more time with their patients, and reduces work stress and burnout.

So much so that users at NHS Boards and Trusts have cited it as being a game-changer in their working lives. They point to tangible results following DMO’s introduction, including clearing document backlogs, improving patient care and, as a result, even boosting staff morale.

Microsoft + Nuance elite partner, Voice Technologies, has worked closely with NHS Highland’s Urology team who reported a 90 per cent reduction in the time taken to share documentation with the wider clinical community after implementing DMO.

Similarly, NHS Lanarkshire’s speech and language therapy team has overcome inherent challenges in patient interaction, reducing the time spent on reports and letters to patients by 40 per cent as well as halving their document turnaround time. These improvements have speeded up the response time to patents and carers, as well as freeing up staff for other tasks.

More than just talk

In terms of accuracy, DMO’s speech recognition capabilities allow the user to dictate notes immediately, with no voice profile training thanks to automatic accent detection, comprehensive medical terminology recognition and audio calibration.

Early frustrations with the software, when users initially found they were having to make corrections to the text, are a thing of the past.

The technology is straightforward to deploy, with clinicians requiring simply a recording device with a microphone, such as a mic connected via a consulting room PC, where the software is installed. Simpler still, using a smartphone means that it’s app-based for iOS or Android.

A new era of possibilities

DMO currently uses conversational AI technology to record and transcribe conversations between patients and clinicians instead of the clinician typing into a computer during the consultation.

Patients say that, from their perspective, the experience is better, because their interaction with the clinician is much more personable; their focus is on them.

The software is now on the cusp of a real breakthrough in digital voice technologies in the form of ambient and generative AI which will draw on clinical data and research to offer the clinician prompts as to what the issue might be.

DMO users in healthcare are starting to recognise the potential for not only speeding up the process of writing patient notes, but where more sophisticated insights can be made from the voice inputs captured, even assisting in clinical decision-making.

Underpinning the advances is Microsoft + Nuance’s approach to responsible AI.

It’s a layered approach for generative models, guided by Microsoft + Nuance’s Responsible AI Principles of fairness, reliability and safety, privacy and security, inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability.

Those principles are enacted across the company, empowering teams with a clear framework for how to develop and deploy AI systems responsibly.

As a tool that can bring productivity and diagnostic gains, and as AI systems continue to prove their value to patients and clinicians alike, DMO adoption is set to continue increasing.             

This article is sponsored by Microsoft + Nuance, in partnership with Voice Technologies.

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