This guide is intended to provide general guidelines toward the design and utilization of SRT products used for healthcare documentation. It is intended to recommend the essential elements required of SRT systems in healthcare.

This guide will not identify specific products or make recommendations regarding specific vendors or their products or services.

A well-edited SRT document may result in improved quality over current methods of documentation, that is, handwritten notes and improved productivity over traditional dictation and transcription.

Faster turnaround times.

Legible documentation over handwriting has many advantages:

Improved patient care communication.

Enhanced patient safety.

Reduced malpractice risks.

Facilitation of appropriate reimbursement.

For the medical transcriptionist and/or SRMTE, decreased repetitive stress injuries, such as neck, arm, wrist, and heel pain.

Facilitation of cost controls related to document completion.

Better utilization of medical language skills of MTs as productivity is not limited by keyboarding skills.

1.1 This guide identifies system types and describes various features of speech recognition technology (SRT) products used to create the healthcare record. This will assist users (health information professionals, medical report originators, administrators, medical transcriptionists, speech recognition medical transcription editors (SRMTEs), system integrators, support personnel, trainers, and others) to make informed decisions relating to the design and utilization of SRT systems.

1.2 This guide does not address the following items:

1.2.1 System and data (voice and text) security.

1.2.2 Administrative processes such as authentication of the document, productivity measurements, etc.