Introduction
COVID-19 has considerably changed much of the way we conduct our lives. Physical distancing, necessary for mitigating the spread of COVID-19, has deeply affected us all and impacted healthcare on so many levels.
I have never witnessed such quick and wholesale adoption of a technology in the healthcare community as I have recently with telemedicine. Personally, I think this telemedicine adoption is fantastic, especially in the time of COVID-19. Admittedly, some medical practices still require a hands-on approach but even in these cases there are several options available to protect both healthcare workers and patients. The aforementioned continues development and may take longer than other medical practices to implement.
One of the benefits of telemedicine is that healthcare providers are able to see more patients in a day than they had before; hopefully those previously without a family doctor are able to obtain one now. As a result, the ability to document more encounters in a day becomes increasingly important. This is precisely why Dragon Medical One fits the bill so perfectly.
Dragon Medical One
Dragon Medical One is a cloud-based subscription speech to text service that is extraordinarily accurate and flexible. Speakeasy Solutions has provided DMO to Canadian physicians since the latter part of 2019. I have to say that I am very impressed with the accuracy. We have a few clients with very thick accents and DMO understands them better than I do half the time! That aside, what makes DMO adoption right now so crucial and applicable is the following:
- Install and use DMO on as many Windows PC computers as needed. Granted, with telemedicine, most healthcare practitioners are using one computer in their home office at the moment. However, there are some that will move between home and office, as required by their practice.
- Your Dragon user profile is maintained in the cloud (on a Canadian server). No matter which computer you use, your Dragon user profile is up to date with your custom vocabulary, commands, and the way you speak.
- Using a Mac computer at home? – no problem. Remote access your Windows based office computer and use your Smartphone as a microphone to dictate as though you were right there in your office.
- Home computer not as robust as your office computer? – also not a problem. DMO has a small footprint and technical requirements.
$110 per month is a small price to pay for minimizing the time it might otherwise take in documenting additional cases each day.
A delightful benefit of using speech recognition is that patient documentation is more complete and accurate; it is far less laborious to speak than it is to hand type, prompting detailed notes. Moreover, saving time with voice commands, whether it is to control your EMR or produce very repetitious text, aids in faster documentation, freeing up time for more personal care of patients.
Free Trial of Dragon Medical One
Are you ready to try Dragon Medical One?
If so, contact us and we will set you up with a brief trial of Dragon Medical One for your evaluation purposes. Once the trial is complete, should you wish to proceed with a subscription, we personally guide you through the installation and use of DMO in accordance with your workflow and EMR.
Speakeasy Solutions looks forward to working with you.
Personal Postscript
As life affecting and terrible as COVID-19 is, I feel that telemedicine advances in Canada are a boon for both physicians and their patients. Canada’s continuing shortage of family physicians, in particular, has saddened me greatly in the past decade, but I do see some hope on the horizon for those who have been without a family practitioner for far too long.
My first experience with telemedicine was last year in Ontario when I was quite concerned that I had contracted strep throat. I booked a time at a telehealth clinic and arrived to find a small waiting room and the facility staffed by two wonderful nurses. Within a private room I videoconferenced with a family physician and was attended by the two nurses who performed a quick and efficient strep throat test. I had every confidence in the way this appointment was conducted, and I was further pleased at the end when it was announced I did not have strep throat. It is the way of the future, and for so many reasons is and will continue to be a benefit all around.
Stay safe, stay healthy!
Reference Link
From the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada: Telemedicine and virtual care guidelines (and other clinical resources for COVID-19).