Adoption Of Electronic Medical Report Systems: The Role Of Speech Recognition

e introduction of The American Recovery andstipulates physicians operating in a “health
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) enacted by Congressprovider shortage area” will be eligible for an
and signed into law by President Barack Obamaincremental increase of 10%, and those who
on February 17, 2009, the push to digitize patientdeliver care entirely in a hospital environment (e.g.
medical records has been at the forefront ofanesthesiologists) are ineligible.
Health Information Management. The act calls forPhysicians who do not demonstrate meaningful
the digitization of all medical records by the end ofuse of an EMR by the end of 2014 will see their
2014, which means that all medical practices in the2015 fee schedules decrease by 1%. Additional
United States will be required to transition todecreases will be implemented in 2016 and 2017
Electronic Medical Records (EMR). Still, indown to a total of 97% of the regular fee
today’s world, the most common types ofschedule for non-participating physicians. This can
health information exchanges are typically paperbe reduced even further (down to 95%) if the
copies of paper medical records. To date, theretotal adoption is below 75% in 2018.
has been very little automated data exchangeWhat exactly constitutes the definition of
between hospitals and physicians.“meaningful use” of an Electronic Medical
So, you might ask, how will the governmentRecord is still under debate. We do know that
effect the digitization of American health records,most physicians agree that “meaningful use”
and influence the way physicians and hospitalsof an EMR should mean highly accessible and
store and transmit health information? To answerdetailed health records. According to a study by
this question, we must look to the stipulations ofNuance Communications, Inc. — a leading
the HITECH Act.supplier of speech solutions aimed at making the
The health component of the ARRA bill is thetransition to EMRs easier for clinicians —
HITECH Act, which appropriates $19.5 billion dollarsphysicians cited faster access, more complete
to encourage the adoption and effective utilizationpatient reports, and better caregiver-to-caregiver
of Electronic Medical Records (alternately referredcommunication as important to defining meaningful
to as Electronic Health Records, or EHR). The twouse of an EMR.
primary goals of the HITECH Act are to mobilizeIn addition to gaining insight that physicians value
physicians who have been slow to adoptreadily available, highly detailed Electronic Medical
Electronic Medical Records to a computerizedRecords, the Nuance study also shed light on
system, and to ensure that patient data isphysicians’ concerns about existing
actively and securely exchanged betweenobstacles that impede EMR adoption. Ninety
healthcare professionals. To do so, thepercent of physicians said that they were
government has allocated funds to catalyze theconcerned about usability as the leading obstacle
desired changes.impeding EMR adoption. Armed with this
The HITECH Act stipulates $2 billion will beknowledge, Nuance has developed a speech
immediately provided to the Department ofrecognition software solution that greatly
Health & Human Services (HHS) and itsincreases usability and function within an EMR
sub-agency, the Office of the National Coordinatorsystem.
of Health IT. $320 million of this $2 billion will beNuance Communications’ voice recognition
used to establish more Health Informationsoftware — Dragon Medical 10 — is
Exchange (HIE) initiatives, help existing HIEs tothe industry-leading speech recognition software.
progress in connecting providers, and to ensureThe software eliminates physicians’ need
standards are consistent across products andto rely on typing, clicking and scrolling, something
care settings.that 67 percent of doctors surveyed cited as a
The biggest winners under the HITECH Act areusability concern. This gives physicians more time
the clinicians. $36 billion will be paid over ato allocate toward patient care instead of
five-year period to healthcare providers thatreporting. And, because most doctors speak
demonstrate meaningful use of Electronic Medicalthree times faster than they type, Dragon Medical
Records. These payments are designed tospeech recognition software can improve
reward hospitals and physicians for effectivelyproductivity by up to 25%.
using robust, connected EMR systems.Dragon Medical software empowers physicians
Conversely, practices that do not implementwith the technology they need to digitize their
effective EMR systems by 2015 will be penalized,practice. Dragon allows physicians to dictate
and will be required to forfeit Medicare fees. Therecords into Microsoft Word and other common
net cost to the Federal government is anticipateddesktop applications, effectively increasing usability.
to be $19.5 billion after savings are achievedPhysicians can develop templates for repeat use,
through efficiencies, tax revenue and Medicarehelping them easily dictate patient notes by voice.
fee reductions for non-adopters.Dragon Medical makes it easy for physicians to
All said, there is quite a bit of government moneytake that first step toward adopting EMR
to be distributed to qualifying physicians andsystems.
hospitals. Physicians who adopt effective EMRDragon Medical was developed by Nuance to
systems will eligible to receive as much asaccelerate physician adoption of EMR software by
$64,000 over five years according to the HITECHallowing clinicians to navigate an EMR system by
Act. In order to qualify for incentive payments,voice. Dragon allows doctors to dictate medical
both physicians and hospitals have todecision-making — history of present illness,
demonstrate three things:review of systems, assessment, and plan
1. Use of a certified EMR with ePrescribing— directly into EMR systems —
capability that meets current HHS standards.eliminating transcription and ensuring more
2. Connectivity to other providers to improvecomplete clinical documentation. Dragon Medical
speed and quality of access to patient medicalfully supports HIPAA patient information
information.confidentiality requirements.
3. Ability to report on their use of the technologyDragon Medical 10 speech recognition software is
to the HHS.a must for every physician, as it greatly increases
Physicians may qualify for one of two incentiveproductivity by making EMR systems easier to
programs (not both). There is a Medicaid programadopt and use. Dragon is the first step for
and a Medicare program.physicians looking to digitize their practice and
Under the Medicaid program, physicians who seesave money on transcription costs, and is a
more than 30% of patients paying with Medicaidvaluable solution for physicians who want to take
(20% for pediatricians) are eligible for paymentsadvantage of available government incentives for
of up to $64,000 over five years. Under theEMR adoption.
Medicare program, physicians who acceptGet rid of the paper files, and do away with the
Medicare payments (but do not have a largekeyboard and mouse! Dragon Medical speech
volume of Medicaid patients) are eligible to receiverecognition technology is the future of Electronic
$44,000 over five years. The Medicare plan alsoMedical Record technology.