Home Forums Discussions Problems Dragon Dictation Medical 10

I just got started with AC and I am looking into Dragon Dictation. Do I need the medical version #10 or can I get by with the regular Dragon Dictation? There is a huge price difference so I thought before I know if I can deal with Dragon I should find out which one is needed.

You can thank you Federal Government which is looking out for you. CCHIT certification demands the EMR use a "Certified" dictation system, and only version 10 is so blessed. Dragon was sold (I believe to Dictaphone) and they got it certified, and are passing on the "value" to you. Point is the lessor versions are blocked from working in a Certified EMR. (Does it seem like a rip-off to you too?)
I had the cheapest version some years ago and it worked pretty good, but there were some issues addressed by Version 10, (mainly vocabulary)and my $100.00 copy was on a laptop that was stolen. So now I am also in the market for Ver. 10.
At the ACUC I had a few minutes to look at this again and I am ready to bite the bullet and invest. It takes a little commitment in time and energy and I am ready to make that, so I think I will still get my money's worth, it will just take a lot longer.

Version 9 will work with AC below the Medical version.

Only the Medical version in 10 works with AC.

Of course version 10 is supposed to be better than 9 (I have not used v10)

One advantage of the medical version is that you can put it on as many computers as you wish (only 1 user though.)With lesser versions, you need a separate copy for each machine.

Do you really need to be certified???? I have no idea.

We used V.9 for three years. It was quite satisfactory, but not nearly as good as 10. My estimate is that 9 was about 95%-98% accurate, 10 is much better than 99% even after 3 months vs. 3 years of training. That might not sound like a big difference, but it makes a huge difference in time spent proofreading. Doing a letter in V9 which had to be perfect was a painful experience. No problem at all in 10.

I am also a longtime user of Dragon Naturally Speaking, since version 9 Preferred, which was the last "non-medical" version that worked with an EMR. It worked well after prolonged training and adding medical terms to the standard dictionary.

Version 10 is both slightly faster and more accurate, but unfortunately only Dragon Medical will allow dictation into an EMR like Amazing Charts. I have been using 10.1 (latest upgrade) for about a year, and for a slow typist like me, it has substantially improved my speed and accuracy using AC. The medical vocabulary means a high accuracy from the start, even with minimal training. You can also install Dragon Medical on several computers so you can dictate at home (it's licensed per user, not per computer).

A few tips:
-get a better microphone than comes in the box with the software. Choice of microphone is the most important factor for dictation accuracy. The USB mikes are much better than the sound-card types. Look in the "Vendor" part of the AC boards for some comments and links to websites that review and have a good selection of dictation mikes.
-dictate as much as possible, and use the "Spell" command to correct the program's errors when they occur. This is tedious at first but you will notice an appreciable increase in speed and accuracy within a few days.
-get a modern computer, with at least 2 GB RAM. An old Celeron laptop doesn't have the horsepower to handle Dragon Medical 10.
-learn to use the "Voice Macros". It still really amazes me to be able to say a brief macro phrase like "normal-CPX" and have Dragon insert a 30 line 12 system exam in an instant.
-create "Voice Fields", which are templates with areas throughout the text, which can be navigated and filled in by voice commands.

Good luck and give it a go.

David,
I'm curious as to what microphone you are using to get that 99% accuracy. I'm a fan of my Revo xTag, because of mobility and convenience, but it's nowhere near that accuracy. Even so, I can't imagine not using Dragon with AC. It is simply the fastest way to go. Unfortunately, my 3 year old xTag battery is starting to falter, so it's either time to send it off for a new battery, get another xTag (probably what I'll do), or look for something new like the Phillips Speechmike Air.
The other David

Dave,

I'm away from town for the weekend. I'll get the model for you when I get back.

I'm using a sennheiser (spelling?) mic which cost me about 150 I believe but my partner uses an Andrea which was my old mike which works about as well at less than half the cost. I agree with David I went from dragon med 7 to 9 to 10 - bit the bullet although since I upgraded it wasn't quite so painful but was worth the upgrade. 2 things - mic placement is critical if the mike is not in the proper position in regards to your mouth accuracy will suffer and the 95 to 99% doesn't sound like much but it is. Just when u trust Dragon it will substitute a word with no logical reason case in point -patient went to the ER and had a shot of dying (demerol) and felt much better - caught that one but there are several other ones I missed. That being said if u work with it some it speeds things up greatly

I'm using a Jabra GN9350e wireless headset. It allows me to switch between phone headset and computer headset, and does not have the issues of bluetooth headsets I tried earlier.

Thanks, I'll check it out.

Love Dragon 10 Medical. Really didn't like Dragon 9 and actually completely abandoned Dragon until earlier this year. Is it worth the cost difference? Of course not but the medical portion is nice. It's not perfect and has trouble with my southern accent at times but I've learned to enunciate quite well. I use the Dictaphone PowerMic and it has definitely been a HUGE difference.

My next step is to develop "Voice Fields" when I get some extra time.

I upgraded to Medical 10, and it is well worth it. Can you folks explain "voice field" to me? Thanks.

I didn't bother with Voice Fields when I started with Dragon Medical 10, but I now think they're a huge timesaver and substantially improve "canned" sounding templates.

Voice Fields are text areas within a template, that are coded in a way that allows you to "jump" to each text field by saying "next field" (or a tab key if you prefer), and then dictating a word or phrase.

For example, I am preparing to dictate an exam. I say the phrase "Dragon-brief-exam", which is the phrase I've trained Dragon to recognize, and the following text appears (shortened for this example):

GENERAL: Appears [0] than stated age.
SKIN: [1]
etc.

If I say "next field" the cursor jumps to [0], and whatever I dictate (older, young or just a space) appears, replacing the [0]. Then "next field" takes me to [1], and I can dictate either an exam or insert a skin exam template by saying "Dragon-skin-exam" (or whatever phrase I have trained).

I have used several of the medical "normal exam" templates already provided in Dragon Medical 10.1. Then I have added "Variable Fields" in these templates to allow me to customize text within the templates.

There is a demo of the process on this webpage, click on the "Dragon Medical Template Library" link under Dragon Medical 10.1 Feature Demos, toward the middle of the webpage.

Wendell, If Ver 10 is installed on the server and everything is done through the server would we need to also install it on the client computers?

This brings to mind another question. We are using Midmark Spirometry and EKG but seem to have to run them off of the the thin client in order to get the USB connection to work (i.e. instead of connecting directly to the server we have to connect from the desktop through the network to the database the old fashioned way)Hope that makes sense. Might that be an issue for DD also?