Leveraging Technology: Using Voice Recognition to Improve Medical Records Production at Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Abstract

Abstract : Medical records documentation is burdensome for health care providers in terms of both the time and costs involved in their production. Recent advances in voice recognition technology have made it an alternative to transcription services. This pre-implementation study, conducted within the Department of Pathology and Area Laboratory Services at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, sought to determine if voice recognition technology could be leveraged to improve the production of its anatomic pathology reports. Work process analyses, a transcription services satisfaction survey, and a financial analysis were performed to determine if the time and costs to produce these reports could be reduced. The work process analyses showed the voice recognition system could substantially simplify the process of producing these reports from twelve to four steps. The satisfaction survey showed the pathologists were dissatisfied with the current transcription services. The foreign-born pathologists with accents were particularly dissatisfied with the accuracy, and younger pathologists were dissatisfied with the timeliness of producing the transcribed reports. Use of the voice recognition system could result in a cost savings of $520,000 over five years by eliminating the need for six medical records transcriptionist positions. These results indicate voice recognition could be used to reduce the time and costs involved in the production of the pathology reports, however, the results need to be confirmed following the implementation of the voice recognition system.