One of the country's biggest NHS Trusts has deployed AI-powered speech recognition as part of large-scale digital transformation plans.
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust is deploying speech recognition technology as part of its Apollo programme, an ambitious digital transformation strategy to reshape the way in which they deliver patient care.
"Our initiative aims to use technologies that make it easier for staff and patients to access required information and data and will enable clinicians to create accurate, high-quality patient records more efficiently, empowering them with better information and freeing them to do what they do best – improving outcomes for patients," said Robyn Tolley, Apollo Programme Director at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust.
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, which also includes Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals, Evelina London Children's Hospital, and local community services, is one of the largest NHS Foundation Trusts with approximately 22,000 staff.
The Trust recently established its Apollo programme, in partnership with King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, to transform how its services are delivered and how patients engage with their own healthcare through the Trust. The programme will provide an electronic health record (EHR) system from Epic and supportive technologies to replace paper documentation and consolidate patient records for easy reference by clinicians at the point of care.
The Trust will integrate the Dragon Medical One solution from software company Nuance with the Epic EHR, enabling more than 10,000 clinicians to compile clinical documentation and navigate patient records using their voice instead of typing.
Speech-to-text is at least three times faster than typing, meaning less time will be spent on documentation and more time spent on patient care.