Speech-to-text: the next revelation for recording data

There are numerous tools available for communicating and storing information. Administrators may want to consider speech-to-text-technology. Programs are available that are accurate, easy to use and easily integrated into existing hospital information systems. Computerized voice recognition systems that provide direct speech-to-text are available today and are often referred to as the "listening typewriter." You speak, the computer listens and then types out what it thinks it heard. Such a system has a vocabulary or collection of words that may be spoken by a user. The program analyzes the phonetic structure of words in the vocabulary. A database table compares sounds made by the voice to words in the vocabulary. Two types of recognition are available--realtime and deferred server-based. With realtime transcription, dictation appears on the workstation screen in front of the dictating radiologist. With the deferred system, the dictated session goes to a queue on a server and waits there to be processed, on operation often known as batch processing. Failure of the system can be prevented by clustering or having a redundant server that takes over for the primary server if it should fail. Options to consider for a speech transcription system include security for electronic signatures and a provision for quality assurance or editing professionals who will review documents for errors in recognition. Some software systems offer a program that examines the final document for new or misspelled words, while other systems require error correction to be completed within the last 10 dictated words. The distributed voice model contains a profile of users' pronunciations and allows the computer to recognize a voice that, associated with login ID, differentiates it from others. This model allows a physician to dictate from different locations. Although the cost of the hardware is impressive and requires a thorough cost benefit analysis, such a system can be an excellent solution for large institutions with several locations.