Homerton Hospital Benefits from Dictation Solution

SRC has helped Homerton University Hospital eradicate document backlogs in its radiology department with the deployment of Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS) Professional version 9 speech recognition system.

The project follows a successful pilot of both the DNS software and SRC services, which highlighted the systems ability to improve document turnaround times and reduce typing costs by automatically creating documents from spoken words and commands.

Barry Cotton, head of imaging at Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, who foresaw a need for a speech recognition solution in the wake of reductions in secretarial resources, said he was "delighted with the overall performance of the software and the speed at which users positively adopted the new system."

The most stringent challenge Cotton faced was clearing and then stamping out typing backlogs. "Before SRC deployed the system we had over 1,000 reports awaiting transcription. Once the speech recognition system was in place we managed to clear the backlog in two weeks and the software has ensured typing backlogs haven't built up again." As an underlying result, the reduced backlog ensures that reports and urgent diagnosis and treatments can be delivered without unnecessary delays, "document turnaround times are now immediate thanks to the software rather than taking days," he continued.

"We are seeing more interest in speech recognition in the healthcare market and we understand our customers want to harness the ?software to enhance document turnaround times. We look forward to developing the partnership with Homerton and deploying speech recognition across other departments to help the Trust save money and improve patient care," said Chris Hart, CEO of SRC.