Is Digital Dictation “Nice-to-Have” or will it Improve Patient Care?

A lot of people think that Digital Dictation is something that can save time and increase efficiency. If you know what the benefits are then you will realize that this can dramatically improve patient healthcare!

So why should you go Digital?

Most of this software was created by people just like us! People who were sick and tired of using tape-based dictation wanted to create something that was less time consuming and can cater to all of the industries. Let us face it, cassette tapes were not created for confidentiality! Anyone can go through them and get whatever information they want! And when it comes to patient care the most important thing is confidentiality! That is the whole reason why there is something called “Doctor-Patient Confidentiality.” 

With the use of this software doctors can record important and urgent information or data quickly and forward them to the relevant people for immediate use. Since the recordings are quite superior in terms of sound quality the accuracy of the information is high, it can be transcribed, and the process of transcribing itself will be faster.

If you still need some more convincing about why you should use this software then here is an endorsement from Handford Health Center which installed this software in 2011. Joanne Morton (Practice Manager at Handford Health Center) had this to say about the dictation software: 

“The doctors are now dictating between consultations and that has given way to a regular and steady flow of information to the secretaries. As a result, our letters are now moving freely.”

Improving Patient Care

Dictation is being taken much further with the introduction of Cloud Computing (We will speak about this exciting software in the future!). With the combination of these heavy hitting software’s, users can record, edit, receive and even send dictations from all their sites. And the best part is you do not have to have a network connecting your team together. With dictation software being available on smart phones you can now dictate when you are on the move! 

Having the ability to dictate a letter, diagnosis or patient information during or after the consultation makes sure that the details are accurate and efficient. Recording information when doing your rounds at the ward is another way that this software can help you out! You do not need another person following you and taking down information or writing down the information on your own! What if the information that the other person is taking down is wrong? You would have to get that information again! No one wants to waste time doing that! Especially a doctor!

Myths in the Healthcare Industry Regarding this Software

There are still healthcare institutions that heavily rely on, and in some cases prefer, the use of cassette tapes. Their reasoning behind this being that using something you know is always better than using something you do not know. Well if this is the case then maybe they should speak to Lianne Burket who is the IT Manager at Appletree Medical Practice. Like most people out there she was skeptical about this software at first. So when she changed her mind and came to the conclusion that dictation software was better we wanted to know why:

“I think if I were to tell the staff that we are going to take this software away, they would all hand their notices in the following day! That’s how much of an impact this digital dictation platform has made in this practice.”

Others do not switch because of their general fear that converting from cassette tapes to digital dictation will take too much time and might be a difficult change or even cost more money!

But our advice is that you do not panic! We all have questions about this type of software, but the great thing is that there are so many different providers of this software and have different prices and levels. So the choice is always yours! You get to decide which level or version is best suitable for you or which software is cost effective. You can even decide as to which software is best suited for your business by checking out the features. The possibilities are endless! 

So do not be so quick to judge Digital Dictation. It may be something new, but it can dramatically improve your efficiency and the overall functions of the business. Give it a try! There are providers that will even give you a trial period so that you can test it out and make an informed decision! 

Do you use this software? Are you satisfied with it? Are there certain features you want made available? Let us know what you think! After all this software was created for you!