Dragon Medical Additional Information

Incorporating Dragon into Workflow

In any business there is the legitimate factor of Return On Investment that must be evaluated before purchasing of Dragon Naturally Speaking is justified. In addition every company has a data workflow. Sometimes these workflows are defined sometimes they just happen. Some are efficient and others cause us to spend too much time on relatively unimportant items.

Dragon Naturally Speaking Medical Practice Edition (Dragon) is a tool designed to help medical practices streamline the task of creating documentation on the work performed throughout the day. Below are some ideas of common uses of Dragon in the medical practice. Of course each situation is unique and we at HTH can work with you to design a workflow that fits your exact needs.

Using Dragon with a Tablet PC in the exam room

These systems often include an EMR package running on the tablet PC to allow the doctor to speak directly into the text boxes in the patient record. This is much quicker that typing into the EMR form and it improves the quantity and quality of documentation for the patient visit. If an EMR is not being used then the doctor can use his/her voice to call up an exam form template and speak into each of the desired fields. This is quick and easy for the doctor, allowing for more patient visits during the work day. Also documentation is already entered so no end of the day paperwork is necessary. Some points about this system:

• It is often advisable for someone in the office to go back over the data entered into the EMR/template to insure Dragon interpreted the doctor’s voice properly. A quick scan with minor changes is usually enough
• The microphone is important. Many people use a wireless Bluetooth microphone to free the doctor’s hands. Dragon’s maker Nuance recommends the Calisto Bluetooth microphone.
• Another option for a microphone is new Philips SpeechMike Air. This has the advantage of being wireless and also gives the doctor buttons at his finger tips to navigate easily through the forms.

Using Dragon’s ability to transcribe audio files

Often doctors and other medical professionals want to speak into a digital recorder like those from Olympus or Philips. The files saved on these digital recorders can then be transcribed using dragon into a text document. The state of the art software that comes with Olympus or Philips professional digital recorders has built-in compatibility with Dragon. The user can simply select the file they want transcribed and push a button on a toolbar and the software will convert the file format for Dragon and Dragon will transcribe the document. Then final editing can be done either natively in Dragon or for foot pedal support; one can use Transcription Made Easy to do the final editing.

• Creating final documents from audio files using Dragon dramatically reduces the human effort required to produce documents. This is much faster than traditional transcription so the practice can save money on transcription costs.
• Dragon’s transcription can be done into a Microsoft Word document so that the resultant document and its audio file can be sent to someone for final editing
• Dragon Medical Practice Edition comes with a batch transcription feature so that any audio files placed in a given directory will be transcribed automatically.

Automating Common Repetitive Tasks

There are many tasks that we do repetitively throughout the day on our computers. These tasks can be time consuming. And since the time spent on these tasks takes away the time spent on other things anything that reduces the time to perform the tasks is a return on the investment of Dragon.

• Common form letters can be made into Dragon templates. These templates can be called up
• Voice commands can automate routine tasks by invoking Hot Keys or Windows applications
• E-mail can be initiated/ answered and sent with just voice commands.
• Dragon has the framework to allow for custom programming of unique applications. Your IT staff may be able to accomplish this programming or you can contract with HTH Engineering.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What are the specialized vocabularies available in Dragon Medical Practice Edition?

A: This pdf document contains the Dragon Medical vocabularies: Specialty Vocabularies

Q: Am I allowed by license to install Dragon Medical on more than 1 computer?

A: The Nuance verbiage is as follows: Dragon is licensed on a “per individual” basis. You are permitted to install the software on more than one computer (such as on a desktop and a laptop computer, or on a work and a home computer), but you cannot use the software concurrently on more than one computer. You are permitted to create multiple voice profiles, so long as each voice profile is for you. If someone else wants to create a voice profile, that person must purchase a separate Dragon license.

Q: Can I use Dragon Medical Practice Edition with my EMR package?

A: Out of the box Dragon Medical Practice Edition will work properly with virtually all Windows application edit boxes. The best way to think about it is if you can set your cursor in an edit box and type into it, you will be able to use Dragon Medical. In addition, several EMR packages have additional macros and commands that allow you to use Dragon in ways specialized for their packages.Dragon Medical Practice Edition supports virtually all EMR handlers on the market. Dragon supports over 150 EMR programs, see the official list.Even if your EMR is not on the list, Dragon is designed to work with any computer and any program, including your EMR.

Q: What are the system requirements for Dragon Medical Practice Edition?

• CPU: We recommend 2.5 GHz Pentium 4 (or equivalent), or 2.0 GHz Dual Core (or equivalent). SSE2 instruction set required.
• Processor cache: We recommend 2 GB
• Free hard disk space: 5 GB
• Supported operating systems:
  • Microsoft Windows 7, 32-bit and 64-bit
  • Microsoft Windows Vista SP1 and SP2, 32-bit and 64-bit
  • Microsoft Windows XP SP2 and SP3, 32-bit only
  • Windows Server 2003 and 2008, SP1, SP2 and R2, 32-bit and 64-bit
• RAM: We recommend 2 GB RAM for Windows XP and 4 GB RAM for Vista, Windows 7 or Windows Server.
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or higher
• Creative© Labs Sound Blaster© or equivalent sound card supporting 16-bit recording
• DVD-ROM drive required for installation