Melbourne-based, Eye Surgery Associates is a well-established Ophthalmological practice that delivers a range of sub-specialist services to patients across its four clinics. The practice’s 18 highly qualified and experienced Ophthalmologists provide medical and surgical eye services in cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, medical and surgical retina,
oculoplastic, refractive surgery, clinical electrodiagnostic, and inflammatory eye diseases. Highly focused on the well-being of their patients, the clinicians were keen to spend less time tied to a desk drafting letters and more time with their patients.
In particular, the clinicians were keen to implement software that would accurately capture Ophthalmological terms when creating patient notes and letters, and which would also allow them to easily dictate documents from any of their four clinics or their home-office. Some of the clinicians had been using various versions of speech recognition software including
Nuance’s Dragon. As the mix of software did not consist of a medically dedicated speech recognition solution, it required that the clinicians continuously train the software so that it recognized Ophthalmological terms to ensure accuracy which caused constant frustration, while wasting precious time.
Further, the software could only be accessed from dedicated computers, in dedicated rooms across all four sites. This meant that the clinicians had to dictate their documents from their consulting room, slowing the flow of timely documentation and causing a drag on their own productivity levels as well as the workflow efficiency of the communications team.
“Our doctors see about 50,000 patients annually
across all four clinics, and each visit usually requires
some form of documentation, so there is a considerable
amount of paperwork generated by each doctor.”
— Andrea Linden, CEO, Eye Surgery Associates
“Medical reports and letters are continuously proofed by our communications team for accurate spelling and formatting before they are given to a patient, released to the referring doctor and filed into our Electronic Management Records (EMR) system, so any improvement in creating timely documents and capturing the correct spelling of medical terms would make the entire process far more efficient.”
For the communications team, the drag on workflow efficiency was further compounded by the fact that the clinicians used a range of different tools to create their documents. Apart from the various versions of speech recognition software, some doctors preferred to manually write their letters while others opted for Dictaphones. The various tools slowed the
processing pace as the communications team was required to navigate between them.
Determined to see if they could do better, one of the clinicians came across Nuance Dragon Medical One (DMO) while searching for options online. DMO is a secure, cloud-based speech platform used by clinicians around the world to help boost their efficiency and productivity. It delivers fast and accurate dictation and streamlines documentation processes by allowing clinicians to create and edit notes and documents directly into EMR systems and other applications by simply using their voice. DMO is also compatible across solutions, platforms, and devices, meaning that clinicians can use the software from anywhere, at any time.
To investigate DMO further, Eye Surgery Associates partnered with VoiceX Communications who are specialists in providing speech recognition and dictation solutions. The clinicians decided to trial the software and after some basic one-on-one training with VoiceX, two of the doctors tested DMO’s capability and responsiveness over 14 days and were impressed.
With the help of the clinic’s IT service provider, VoiceX Communications quickly and easily integrated the software with their existing computers, EMR system, and dictation devices, providing support if needed, as the doctors began to use DMO.
“Our clinicians dictate medical reports, letters, and other
documents faster and with greater accuracy.”
— Andrea Linden, CEO, Eye Surgery Associates
“DMO has a dedicated and comprehensive medical dictionary which means that as soon as the doctor mentions a medical term, the software correctly transcribes the word and the doctor does not have to waste time training the software or checking to see if the word has been spelled accurately or making corrections. This lets our clinicians dictate medical reports, letters, and other documents faster and with greater accuracy.
“The productivity of the communications team has also improved because it now receives documents to proof that have far fewer errors so they can get through the work quicker and the time saved is spent on other tasks,” explained Andrea. The processing of documents has also been further streamlined thanks to DMO. “We now have eight of our doctors all using
the same DMO software, which means our communications team spends less time switching between different transcription tools. Also, the software updates automatically, so our doctors are always on the same page and have a consistent user experience. As more of our doctors take up DMO, we hope to further optimize our processes,” she said.
The flexibility and portability of DMO have also proved invaluable for clinicians at Eye Surgery Associates. According to Andrea the doctors no longer have to wait for an available, dedicated computer to dictate their medical reports and letters. They can access the cloud-based software via a range of devices from anywhere. The software can be accessed from any of their clinics, the doctor’s home office, or the operating theatre. Plus, they can conveniently and securely access DMO 24x7 to easily turn around their documents on time.
“The ability of our doctors to now quickly and accurately
dictate their documents have provided them with additional
time to spend with their patients.
The frustration they use to experience and the
accompanying wasted energy have evaporated.
Seeing a considerable difference DMO has made,
I can understand why our doctors tell us they ‘love it.”
— Andrea Linden, CEO, Eye Surgery Associates
VoiceX Communications Pty Ltd
Tel: 1300 551 778 Australia Wide
VoiceX Communications is Australia's largest speech recognition and dictation solution specialist and a valued authorized Nuance partner.
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