ArthritisCARE reduces letter turn‑around‑time and saves cost with Dragon Medical One
A Queensland medical practice annually saves $40,000 per specialist using the latest in speech technology.
7,000 patients, 13,000 letters
To help reduce the time and cost of documentation, the busy ArthritisCARE practice sought to implement cutting‑edge, integrated voice technology. Read about their Dragon Medical One journey.
Challenge
- Make the letter process faster and less frustrating
- Empower specialists with technology to create letters at any time, anywhere
- Reduce typing costs
- Increase time spent with patients
Solution
Dragon Medical One
Results
- Reduced letter turnaround time from 4‑5 days to within 6 hours
- Annual savings of $40,000 per specialist
- Flexibility to create letters from anywhere
- Reduced frustration and salvaged time
Background
ArthritisCARE is a Queensland‑based medical practice that specialises in offering patient care to those suffering from inflammatory arthritis and associated auto‑immune diseases. The busy practice has six rheumatologists who see some 7,000 patients annually, which generates the need for an enormous volume of correspondence that is time‑intensive to produce. To help minimise the time spent on documentation the practice was keen to embrace the latest in integrated voice technology.
The business case for Dragon Medical One
Already aware of Nuance’s Dragon software, thanks to a previous role where she saw dyslexic students using their voice to write up their homework and complete assignments, ArthritisCARE’s Business Manager, Barbara Landsberg could see the merits of using Dragon at the practice.
‘All of our specialists would create a voice recording on their mobiles for each letter. The recording is then forwarded to a dashboard where the typist logs‑in and listens to the recorded letter and types it up before returning it to the relevant specialist to review and approve. Sometimes, if the typist doesn’t understand a word or a paragraph is not clear, there may be some back and forth between the specialist and the typist. And the entire exercise may take 4‑5 days before the final letter is sent out to the referring doctor. So, when Nuance’s cloud‑based Dragon Medical One was released, I could see how it could benefit our specialists. By simply speaking, the AI powered technology types up what the specialists are saying with great accuracy and speed.’
‘The letter can then be saved directly into Genie, our practice management system, and sent off to the referring doctor in a timely manner. Dragon Medical One would make the entire letter process faster, more efficient and less taxing. Thankfully, our specialists agreed to trial Dragon Medical One.’
Dragon Medical One is a secure, cloud‑based speech platform used by health professionals around the world to help boost their efficiency and productivity. It delivers fast and accurate dictation and streamlines documentation processes by allowing them to create and edit notes directly into their electronic medical records (EMR) systems and other applications by simply using their voice. Dragon Medical One is also compatible across solutions, platforms and devices, meaning that health professionals can use the software from anywhere, at any time.
Reducing letter turn‑around‑time with Dragon Medical One
One of the specialists who volunteered to trial Dragon Medical One was particularly impressed with its capability and is now a strong advocate of the software. Dragon Medical One quickly typed up letters as she spoke, eliminating the need for both a voice recording and a typist. In addition, rather than having to wait 4‑5 days to have her correspondence typed up and forwarded to the referring doctor, her letters were now on their way within hours of her patient consultation, and well in advance of the patient’s next appointment with their GP.
According to Barbara the specialist was also struck by the considerable accuracy of Dragon Medical One. ‘She prefers to use a uniquely customised format for her letters which are highly detailed—often running to three or four pages in length. Dragon Medical One had no problem adapting to her layout.’
‘The medical dictionary that comes with Dragon Medical One also ensures accuracy as it contains a comprehensive list of correctly spelled medical terms that cover many medical specialty areas including rheumatology. And the dictionary can be customised, so we enhanced it by adding specific words and phrases used within the ArthritisCARE practice. As a result, she is making minimal edits to her letters, saving time, and reducing stress and frustration because Dragon Medical One is so fast and accurate.’
85%+
reduction in letter turn-around-time
Flexibility to create letters from anywhere
The freedom that comes with using Dragon Medical One was also greatly appreciated. ‘She can now create her correspondence whenever she likes—immediately after her consultation, in the afternoon, from the car while she is on the road or from home in the evening,’ says Barbara. ‘Dragon Medical One gives her the freedom to transcribe her letters whenever and from wherever it suits her because it’s a cloud‑based solution, and she can use her smartphone as a microphone to login and generate her correspondence.’
The ability to transcribe her letters when it suits her also provides greater flexibility so that she can spend more time with her young family. ‘Specialists are so time poor that time is a precious currency for them. Any technology that can give them time back is priceless,’ says Barbara.
Annual savings of $40,000 per specialist
In addition to helping save time, slash frustration and improve documentation turnaround, the practice has also experienced significant financial savings. According to Barbara the practice has seen annual savings of $40,000 when a specialist takes up Dragon Medical One as typing services and any associated costs are eliminated. And as usage at the practice expands, she is looking forward to additional savings.
‘Dragon Medical One has been invaluable for us not only because it has saved the practice a considerable amount of money but because it has helped re‑energise our specialist. She is no longer swamped by time‑consuming and inefficient document processes and is free to spend more of her valuable time where it matters most—with her patients and family,’ said Barbara.