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Digital dictation helps achieve performance targets at Ravenswood Surgery

  • “Once we spoke to Voice Technologies about their system, we felt upgrading to digital dictation would be a wise choice, which it has been.”

    Claire Watt, Practice Manager, Ravenswood Surgery

Background

Ravenswood Surgery in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, provides General Practitioner (GP) services plus a wide range of clinics such as maternity care, epilepsy, weight management, diabetes and family planning.

The Surgery employs seven members of staff – four GPs, two secretaries and a practice manager.

Letters and documents were previously originated using an analogue tape system. The GPs would record dictations onto tape, stating the patient’s CHI number, and hand finished tapes over to the secretaries. The secretaries typed up the documents and passed them to the GPs for approval along with the tape for reuse.

The process was time-consuming, particularly because poor audio quality often resulted in the secretaries having to clarify dictations with the relevant GP. It was also reliant on equipment that was expensive and difficult to maintain due to the age of the recording machines and tapes.

The NHS’ focus is on accuracy, fast turnaround and improving productivity. The Surgery found that analogue dictation was negatively impacting their ability to meet targets and decided to look for up-to-date systems.

Voice Technologies’ was selected as their supplier based on our reputation and positive feedback from managers at other practices where our systems are used.

Meeting budget and targets

Voice Technologies specified and installed a digital dictation system that fits the Surgery’s requirements and budget. It comprises Olympus DR2200 RecMics, an Olympus AS7000 transcription kit and Olympus Dictation Management System (ODMS) software.

Olympus DR2200 RecMics (professional desktop dictation microphones) are designed to be operated intuitively and are engineered to reduce background noise. They produce clear, accurate recordings making transcription faster and easier.

The Olympus AS7000 transcription kit – headset, footswitch and professional transcription software – and ODMS software enable the secretaries to effectively manage and share dictation files and documents. As well as speeding up the workflow, they allow the secretaries to see clearly which dictations are urgent, allowing them to prioritise appropriately. Automatic 256-bit AES file encryption boosts security and individual files or entire folders can be password-protected.

Since the system was installed, feedback from the Surgery team has highlighted how simple the system was to implement and how easy it is to use. Not only did it meet the Surgery’s budget, it fulfils the need to increase efficiency in order to meet NHS document turnaround time targets.

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  • Digital dictation helps achieve performance targets at Ravenswood Surgery