Home Forums Speech Recognition Software & Setup

My wife is a family doctor and we have used Amazing Charts for 7 years. She is having trouble with her hand and we want to try Speech Recognition and almost 100% of her keyboarding with is with Amazing Charts.

Is dragon medical the best? I see this other thread about microphones I will look at that. Any advice specific to Amazing Charts? Thanks.

(I see Dragon Medical Practice Edition 2 is like $1600, how does licensing work for multiple machines? She has one home laptop, one main work desktop, and then 4 exam room machines. I'm hoping we don't have to license them all separately.)

(I'm also wondering if I should get the $50/home edition just to see if it works at all for her? Or is it better to get the full medical one right off the bad, lest she conclude it's not good enough)

The home edition of Dragon will figure out you are in an EMR and will shut itself down so unless you copy a document from word or notepad then paste it into AC it is useless.
Here is my original thread on Windows Voice Recognition
http://amazingcharts.com/ub/ubbthreads.php/topics/29005/Voice_Recognition_in_Windows_7#Post29005

I still use WSR today with the added on vocabulary and as yet haven't taken advantage of all the utilities from the Windows Voice Recognition Toolkit.

That all said if Dragon Medical was 1/2 the price I would consider it.

You can, of course, put Dragon (Home or Premium) on a client machine and then remote to AC on the server or another machine on your network. It will work OK in a window, because it doesn't recognize AC -- only the window.
There are some oddities about the arrangement, but it works well enough for me.

My understanding is that medical can be used on multiple machines but I am not sure if there is an upper limit. I would expect it would be more than 5 (but ony for 1 user.) Tom Hamilton frequently posts to the board and is a vendor for Dragon. You could send him a PM for any specifics.

That said, I also understand remoting into the server and it is not recognize AC as an EMR. Home is fairly accurate but I have not used anything since version 9.

I use the Windows voice recognition built in. It's about as accurate as Dragon 9 (I think they are on 12 and I think it is probably more accurate by now.)

Useful when doing complex historys, most of the time I could type and template as fast or faster given review and placement and such. Many things I do can be templated and Dragon won't help there.

I have used DMPE 2 and would definitely recommend it. I have installed it on 3 computers(laptop, home computer and my office computer). Does not install on any more machines. I use GoToMy computer from home and dictate with DMPE 2 on my home computer and it works fine(with some quirks). Possible only 3 installs.

Hope it helps

Philip,

For beginners, all of the previously mentioned options, in this thread, are viable but in my opinion, not very realistic. For example, comparing WSR to DMPE 2.2 (Dragon Medical w/New Ver. 12.52 Speech Engine) ~ http://www.knowbrainer.com/NewStore/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=466&idcategory=71 is about equivalent to comparing NotePad to Microsoft Word. To put it another way, it?s equivalent to comparing standard broadcast television to the new 4K standard which is 4 times better than Blu-ray. In my opinion, you should look at your dictation software as a specialized work tool. You shouldn?t be working with consumer grade equipment like WSR, Dragon Home Edition or Dragon Premium because you?re going to have to make minimally twice as many corrections. You will also be lacking serious command capability not to mention 120 formatting options that are unique to DMPE.

DMPE is the best but only because it has no competition. Nuance has made a point of purchasing every manufacturer that could conceivably be a competitor, like ViaVoice. It?s also MAP priced everywhere but we do offer an Amazing Charts special. If you Type KB50-23 into the supplied Coupon or Gift Certificate box, during the checkout process, you will receive an additional $50 off your entire purchase. Note that this special also includes a complimentary copy of our $200 KnowBrainer 2014 command utility. We also include a customer satisfaction no restock fee guarantee and complementary training. You won?t find that offer from any of the reseller and speaking of resellers, we are Nuance?s largest Dragon Professional reseller. We have been selling Dragon product since 1997. The Dragon Home Edition is so stripped-down that we don?t offer it on our website, for ethical reasons. For beginners, you can?t take anything with you when you upgrade to the next version. Dragon Premium is a consumer product and while it would work for experimental purposes, we can?t recommend it for a physician because it is far too limited. Many people make the mistake of thinking that the difference between Dragon Premium and DMPE is the medical vocabulary but there is far more to it. For beginners, DMPE does not contain 57 medical vocabularies. It contains 57 language models which are equivalent to 57 medical specialty vocabularies on steroids. A language model includes Written Form/Spoken Forms, specialized rules and commonly used phrases. Dragon Premium will allow you to create your own vocabulary but it won?t allow you to create a language model. Again, we are comparing NotePad to Microsoft Word. With whatever Dragon product you purchase, you should go through a Nuance certified reseller. Otherwise, there?s a good chance you will just return the software. A good reseller will let you know that the OEM microphone that the manufacturer includes in the box should only be considered as a backup microphone and the microphone that comes in a box of Dragon Premium probably won?t even work with your integrated soundcard; especially if it?s a RealTek. If you think you have a heart problem, you don?t typically schedule an appointment with a GP; you contact a cardiologist. Speech recognition is the same way and shouldn?t be purchased over-the-counter or even from Nuance because very few people at Nuance use or know anything about NaturallySpeaking. Did you know that Dragon Medical doesn?t even come with any Nuance support? That is another good reason not to purchase from the manufacturer. DMPE is licensed to the individual but can be activated on up to 4 computers. That is the outside limit. We recommend trying DMPE 2.2 on one computer and if it works, we include instructions (in our advanced training chapter) on how to install DMPE and copy or network your user profile to other computers but if you want to go beyond 4 computers, you would have to add an upgrade license for an additional $600 (to add 4 more computers).

We are not physically disabled but if we were not using speech recognition to automate every aspect of our company, we wouldn?t be able to get out of work until hours after dark. Your wife won?t be using speech recognition continuously like us, but even if she didn?t have trouble with her hand, it could easily be saving her an hour or more per day. Again, we guarantee it.

Using WSR with Speech Toolkit and WSR Macros is more like Notepad++ then Notepad; you still might get me to spend money on DMPE someday.

Thanks Tom,

There was a reason I recommended he PM you. My comments were only meant to show that home may not add a lot over build in WSR, but while I have dabbled in this area, it was old versions.

That's why I compared WSR to Dragon 9 (premium, I think). I don't need or use it much, so it doesn't effect me. I think it is cool technology, so I am somewhat drawn to it, but don't have the need enough to spend > 1K.

Occasionally I do want to do more typing and will fire up WSR. Probably would be tedious if I was using it on a regular basis.

Koby and Wendell,

I wanted to revisit this thread and make sure you both know I'm not bashing how you work. I just had to give my opinion as to what is the best product in regards to features and productivity. The pricing structure of the product however.....has a bit to be desired.

Tom no worry I agree Dragon is the best product out there.
I still haven't gotten over losing ViaVoice which I had tuned well prior to IBM giving it up to Nuance to kill.
Hopefully the IBM people got enough of a buy out to cover the pain of my voodoo doll curses.

Tom:

I have been using Dragon medical since version 7, back in 2004, and have used DMPE 2, for over a year now. Not to avoid hijacking the thread and turning it into a KnowBrainer speech forum, I would like to hear your advice and experience in regards to improving speech accuracy to the point where you can be ?hands-free? when dictating. Producing this text, thus far, has required me to use my mouse multiple times to correct my post. For example, just dictating the word ?post? ended up with Dragon producing ?post-? in spite of repeated attempts to correct it verbally. Instead of ?hijacking?, Dragon wrote ?high jacking?, just now. Another problem that I have seen with DMPE 2, as have my partners, is the continual confusion between he, she, you, his, her, and your. I do not remember seeing it with previous versions of Dragon. This problem with proper transcription of these words, alone, wastes many minutes a day when I am dictating my progress notes, because having to go back and correct the errors (Dragon just put down ?years? for errors). Multiple efforts to teach Dragon regarding the errors (Dragon just put down ?ears? instead of errors, yet another correction needed) have failed to register with Dragon, in this edition. For over a year and a half, I have been using a Speech Mike 9-in-1 desktop microphone, and I am using it while dictating this, and in spite of the money spent, I have not noticed much improvement over use of a Sennheiser headset, and both are expensive. I am also using an M Tech 8700 laptop with plenty of RAM. Having been well acquainted with Dragon, I have gone through all of the training that I know of, that has been recommended, and I still have problems. I agree that there is nothing better out there for voice recognition software but I am actually surprised that Apple?s Siri voice recognition software does so well on my iPhone. I found your comments regarding Nuance support to be very interesting. I am very appreciative that we have the KnowBrainer forums, as well as the input from you and Lunis. I have learned a lot over the years. Unfortunately I cannot visit the forums as frequently as I would like.

DoctorMel,

Unfortunately, there is very little you can do about Dragon confusing he with she. Training will not help. In many situations you can use Vocabulary Editor tricks such as adding a specific phrase to your vocabulary but in the case of he vs. she, you are using them in the same context. Your only bulletproof recourse is to create a specialized Written Form/Spoken Form such as Written Form: ?she? Spoken Form: ?Female she? but that approach has its own problems. Having to focus on specific words can be counterproductive when dictating a patient chart. We do not have this problem but when you do, it?s almost impossible to beat.

You might consider turning off the default feature of ?Automatically Add Words to the active vocabulary? under the Dragon Options Correction tab. If you open your vocabulary, you may find ?post-? has been inadvertently added to your vocabulary. DON?T let Dragon control your vocabulary because it can cause all kinds of mischief. The only way Dragon should misinterpret ?high jacking? for ?hijacking? is if you pause between dictating the 2 words. We don?t believe you did. It actually sounds like it might be time for you to create a new user profile or minimally rerun your Audio Check. Dragon accuracy should be in the high 90 percentile range right out-of-the-box. Your current sound system and computer look excellent but so did your previous Sennheiser microphone.

DON?T go through all the training. Beginning with DMPE 2 (Dragon 12) we have stopped training entirely. If you have to train, use the short training and if your accuracy is subpar, consider one additional training but do not go beyond that. Additional training can lower Dragon?s accuracy rather than increasing.

Thank you for the tips, Tom. I will go ahead and give this a try. It seems that there is always something new to learn about Dragon.

I did not really think you were bashing me, just clarifying my statement. Actually, it prompted me to install a home copy of Dragon 11 I bought for nearly nothing. I was curious whether V11 was that much better than I remember V9 (long since deceased in some old machine.) Not convinced it was all that better, but didn't play with it much beyond initial training.

Anyway, I agree with you. For those using it on a regular basis, Medical is better from what I have discussed with others. I just haven't used it much to give a good answer and don't really have the need.