North Bronx Healthcare Network Integrates Voicebrook's VoiceOver with Misys CPR

Misys Healthcare Systems, a healthcare information technology provider, announced the North Bronx Healthcare Network, operated by New York City Health and Hospitals, is integrating Voicebrook's VoiceOver speech recognition solution with Misys Healthcare Systems' Misys CPR integrated electronic patient record and CPOE system (formerly Patient1).

Approximately 270 physicians and 100 nurses at the Network's two hospitals, Jacobi Medical Center and North Central Bronx Hospital, use the combined tools to improve patient safety, enhance clinical documentation, and accelerate billing reimbursement.

"The VoiceOver speech recognition technology, launched directly from Misys CPR, encourages physicians to enter their progress notes online at the point of care to create more readable, error-free and comprehensive documentation of a patient's particular treatment diagnosis," said Daniel Morreale, chief information officer, North Bronx Healthcare Network. "The dual tools streamline physicians' workflow and enhance computer navigation."

Speech recognition technology integrated with the Misys CPR improves billing accuracy at North Bronx Healthcare Network by generating a structured clinical note with appropriate diagnosis and procedure codes. The online progress notes capture more patient visit charges, which are transferred via the Misys CPR to the two hospitals' finance systems for billing.

"Now that our physicians are capturing more clinical encounter details, we've reduced our potential billing denials by 32 percent in each of the six clinics that are now paperless," Morreale said. "We estimate roughly a return on investment of several million dollars due to improved cash flow and enhanced accuracy in insurance payments."

Online progress notes are helping enhance patient safety. The immediate availability of automatic, legible notes ensures patient treatment is accurate and administered more quickly by the attending physician.

"Instead of waiting for the medical chart to be pulled across campus, the physician can download the electronic health record, read the latest diagnosis and treat the patient accordingly," Morreale said.

Today, six clinics use online progress notes at Jacobi Medical Center and North Central Bronx Hospital - Radiology, Adult Outpatient, Pediatric Outpatient, Urology, Sports Medicine, and Women's Health - following a successful pilot implementation of the enterprise integration of VoiceOver and Misys CPR in 2000. "We're thrilled to partner with industry leader Misys Healthcare Systems to provide an integrated enterprise speech recognition solution that augments the care management and billing processes and improves both physician and patient satisfaction," said E. Ross Weinstein, Voicebrook president.