Medical Transcription

Much more efficient by
Digital Dictation

This press release is about medical transcription. It outlines the experiences of a clinic in the USA using desktop array microphones for speech recognition to capture reports for their Electronic Medical Reporting (EMR) system. The Voice Tracker™ Array Microphones are manufactured by Acoustic Magic.

Sudbury, MA February 4, 2004 - Digital dictation, for later transcription, has the potential to make data entry into electronic medical reporting systems much more efficient.

However, many medical organizations have been reluctant to use digital dictation because systems require use of either a headset or handheld microphone for sufficient recognition accuracy. Some transcribers may feel unreasonably tethered by a headset and inconvenienced if they get up from the computer frequently. A handheld microphone can be a problem if the user needs to hold charts.

Marshfield Clinic has found a solution for at least 12 of its transcribers who now use the Voice Tracker™ array desktop microphone, replacing their headset or handheld microphone.

The Marshfield Clinic system provides patient care, research and education with 41 locations in northern, central, eastern and western Wisconsin, making it one of the largest comprehensive medical systems in the United States.

Chuck Heiting, Marshfield Clinic Information Systems Administration and Planning manager, noted that if the end-user is comfortable with a headset that is the best solution since “accuracy will always be best with a headset. “However,” he added, “in reasonably quiet environments, the Voice Tracker™ array microphone’s accuracy is nearly the same.”

According to Bob Feingold, founder of Acoustic Magic, Inc., The Voice Tracker™ is the first desktop microphone that is effective in long-range recording because it combines two levels of noise reduction with a wide field of view.

The Voice Tracker™ locates a talker and electronically steers a “listening beam,” like an acoustic searchlight, in that direction. This creates spatial filtering; sounds from other parts of the room are not picked up. In addition, constant background noise is removed by digital noise reduction algorithms. This two-stage noise reduction, coupled with increased sensitivity since the Voice Tracker’s eight microphone elements are used continuously and constructively, give the Voice Tracker™ outstanding range and sound quality. The Voice Tracker™ can be connected to a PC through the sound card, or through the USB port using optional USB adapter.

The Voice Tracker™ has been certified for use with WinScribe for digital recording for later transcription as well as Dragon and ViaVoice for direct speech recognition.