Prologix Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
THIS MONTH’S FOCUS: ‘Speech Technology in Healthcare System’				Newsletter March, 2005
	Welcome to the March Issue of the Prologix Newsletter India has made rapid strides in the health sector since Independence: life expectancy has gone up markedly, the infant mortality rate has been halved, and 42 per cent of children receive the essential immunizations. We have a huge private healthcare infrastructure. And yet, critical health issues remain: infectious diseases continue to claim a large number of lives, babies continue to die needless deaths from diarrhea and respiratory infections, and millions still do not have access to the most basic healthcare. As estimated by the World Health Organization, there are 38 million blind and 110 million people with low vision all over the world, and this large chunk of society is unable to gain from the mammoth information explosion that has revolutionized our way of living - all because of lack of availability of technology and appropriate adaptation to their special needs. One of the greatest imperatives in modern medicine is effective education of the target population to help ensure timely prevention of life threatening diseases. Timely information delivery regarding new diseases, ailments, epidemics, treatments, as well as projects and schemes run by health agencies to combat spreading diseases is thus a critical need, especially in a country such as India. In such scenario Speech technology can aid institutions in a number of ways, including the use of virtual operators, IVR (Interactive Voice Response) servers, voice activation services, dictation/transcription services, data entry, clinical reports, prescription fulfillment, interpretation services, and assistive technology. The speech enabled IVR server as a case in point can prove to be one of the major tools in any system targeted at rapid information delivery – especially in the Healthcare sector. Available 24/7, standard technology available off the shelf can be easily customized to create specialized IVR servers which offer more specific tools for healthcare clients and institutions. Speaker verification technology in such servers can allow secure access via voice biometrics for patients to obtain general hospital information, get lab results, fill prescriptions, access personal information, and hear product overviews/information on available health programs. IVR systems also provide healthcare institutions the ability to retrieve patient medical histories, generate appointment reminders for patients, access work schedules, retrieve personal information and view product overviews. Working less as a directory/switchboard and more as a resource tool for patients and institutions alike, the speech enabled IVR can be a powerful tool to help reduce the number of daily interruptions for nurses and doctors, and speed-up the turnaround of information to the patient. Patients with disabilities can also benefit significantly from the uses of speech technology. Among them are quadriplegics, individuals with autism and with Parkinson's disease. Researchers, developers, healthcare providers and educators are all seeking better ways to make life a little smoother and learning a little more successful for people with disabilities. Some of the more recent developments and concepts have involved voice-operated wheelchairs with digital signal processing technology and beds with environmental controls for quadriplegics. Even household devices that are controlled by voice, such as the lights, television, computers and telephone, can be highly effectual in giving people with these types of limitations more freedom and individuality in their everyday lives.
	It is for all of the above reasons, as well as the reduction of emergency departments, low staffing situations and rise in hospital visits across the globe, that make it imperative that the basic functions and communications of healthcare providers be as simple and straightforward as possible. Speech as always fits the bill by being an extremely intuitive way of communication for all and the challenge before speech technology developers today is to develop speech software that enables healthcare institutions to maximize valuable staff time and skills. As part of this series, we have always attempted to introduce our readers to technology that we must watch out for – that has direct relevance to the work we do and the potential to impact it strongly in the near future. In this issue, we attempt to discuss how speech technology can play a significant role in the healthcare sector. Happy Reading! ~Editor In this month issue: · Speech platform for a new automated medical appointment messaging and response service …more · BMC has reduced transcription costs by 40% result of implementing the speech enabled system...more · A module for providing patients with medical test results…more		First Ever Text to Speech Software for Indian Languages and English By using Vaachak based online information services patients of healthcare institutions will be able to: · Obtain general information (working hours, hospital location, etc.) · Get lab test results · Fill a prescription form · Access personal information · Hear product overviews/information on health programs. By using Vaachak based online information services the personnel of healthcare institutions will able to: · Retrieve medical history for a patient · Obtain appointment reminders · Access personal information · Hear product overviews and much more.
	Speech platform for a new automated medical appointment messaging and response service DALLAS Two USA based companies have developed a speech platform for a new automated medical appointment messaging and response service. The service uses speech capabilities to call and remind patients of upcoming appointments and allow them to make changes via their telephone. This automated messaging and interactive voice service can save time for the office staff, help reduce missed appointments and allow the doctor to focus more on patient care. The Interactive Message Broadcast (IMB) server integrates with the medical facilities' scheduling database and calls patients to remind them of their upcoming appointment or that they are due for a check-up. Patients can either confirm the appointment or select to be connected to the clinic to reschedule. The service can contact large groups of people and can update the scheduling records in the database. In addition, messages and response options can be modified based on whether the calls are answered by a machine or a person. In this solution the speech platform connects the IMB server to the telephone network and processes all voice and touchtone responses for use by the application.		Benefits… The main advantages offered to healthcare institutions by using the Speech enabled information services are: · Reducing total costs (by automation of informational services) · Patient requirements and wishes are satisfied (ability to manage transactions on their own; easy information access: anytime, anywhere; user-friendly interface) · Cost savings for callers (callers don't wait on hold to get necessary information — time and cost savings) · Enhanced security (speaker verification technology for access control for personnel and patients)
	BMC has reduced transcription costs by 40% result of implementing the speech enabled system Borgess Medical Center is a 424-bed teaching hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. Borgess integrated Philips’ SpeechMagic™ together with the dictation workflow Fusion Text from Dolbey into its Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system. This appllication is aimed for a smooth transition to speech recognition without burdening physicians with additional work. The transition to speech recognition commenced with training SpeechMagic™ to each physician’s voice characteristics. During this phase dictations were transcribed normally but SpeechMagic™ analyzed the resulting text and audio data, with the technology adapting to the author’s dictation style, dialect and vocabulary. Once enough data has been gathered physicians are placed in active speech recognition mode at the click of a button, without requiring any change of their working habits. Medical transcriptionists are now presented with a recognized draft of each dictation for review, correction and completion. After a year, the cost of outsourced transcription services is down by 40 percent of the original $530,000, which represents a saving of $212,000. The change from typing to editing has resulted in productivity gains for medical transcriptionists of up to 50 percent.  The productivity increase has reduced report turnaround time to four - 72 hours, compared with 24 - 96 hours previously. Immediately after a report has been edited, it is saved in the EMR and available for the physician to sign.
	A module for providing patients with medical test results Hemel Hempstead A United Kingdom based CTI company has developed a module for providing patients with medical test results. The Medical Results Service module was developed in conjunction with NHS Trust (the National Health Service, the government funded health service in England.). The NHS is often used to encompass the health services in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as well and existing procedures and systems and can be applied to a variety of hospital departments. This service allows patients to call a specified number and obtain results of any recent medical tests on the phone. The first deployment has been for an STI/GUM Clinic. Patients are identified by entered a unique information key. The system then tells them if their results are available, what the results are or the next course of required action. If the patient still wishes to speak to a person, they are given a number that they can call. Speech technology ensures smooth interface with the caller – for both driving the menu as well as delivering the results of the queries. This virtual operator won the National Business Award for Innovation in 2004 (regional award) for its potential to reduce operating costs and improve service simultaneously for several NHS Trusts. The solution is now used by over 40 NHS sites including the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Trust and Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust.
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