Sponsored Post

4 reasons why the time isn’t right — yet — for voice recognition software on smartphones in hospitals

This post is sponsored by Sprint and is the eleventh article in a 12-part series […]

This post is sponsored by Sprint and is the eleventh article in a 12-part series on mobilizing healthcare for improved communication.

Siri, Apple’s personal assistant application, popularized the concept of voice recognition software on smartphones. Voice recognition refers to the capability of a smartphone to understand — and perform — your speech commands.

This means you can find out what time a movie is playing, get directions to the theater, and find local restaurant recommendations without ever looking at your smartphone.

Of course, voice recognition doesn’t just have personal applications. It also has potential in the medical setting, said Adam Maguire, director of sales support for Mobile Heartbeat, which provides smartphone applications for improving clinical workflow and team communications.1

In hospitals of the future, we might see a doctor rushing down the hall using voice recognition to research medical data or a patient’s family member asking Siri to help her find the nearest nurses’ station.1

But we’re not quite there yet, said Jamie Brasseal, Mobile Heartbeat’s vice president of sales and marketing.1 There are significant limitations to using voice recognition software in the medical setting, he said.2 And, so far, Brasseal has heard only frustration from the medical community.2

“People we’ve talked to about implementing smartphones into a provider setting have asked that voice recognition be turned off,” he said.2“It doesn’t translate right. It doesn’t get the name right. It’s loud.”2

Here are the main reasons we aren’t seeing voice recognition in the medical space – yet:

  1. There are many medical terms that sound alike, Brasseal said, but are vastly different.2 Voice-to-text software, or even just the auto-correct feature, could induce clinical error by misinterpreting speech, he said.2
  2. Similarly, the response of voice recognition software is only as good as its ability to recognize the speech, Maguire said.1 Hospitals tend to be noisy places – not the ideal environment for using voice recognition.1
  3. Because one of its benefits is being “hands free,” voice recognition software uses speakerphone. That means no privacy, Maguire said, which is often a deal breaker in medical settings where patient privacy is key.1
  4. Another privacy problem: The voice-to-text creation isn’t happening within the hospital’s four walls, Maguire said.1 The text is converted to speech in a data center outside the protected environment of the medical center.1 Hospital administrators simply don’t want to risk HIPAA violations.1

There are ways to make voice recognition software more appealing to the medical community, Maguire said.1 For one, systems that produce voice-to-text should be internal to the hospital.1 A healthcare voice-to-text engine would be in a localized server, so the hospital can assure its data is protected.1 “In its current iteration,” Maguire said, “not a lot of people are doing that.”1

More work needs to be done to make voice-to-text better for the healthcare setting, Maguire said.1 It’s less about replacing text with voice, he said, and more about finding the best way to communicate in a way that’s compatible with medical professionals’ interruption-driven lifestyle.1

Read the earlier articles in this series:

The value of communication coordination among the care team

What are the best ways to handle care transitions?

The communication pitfalls of multidisciplinary approaches to treating patients

The five worst things about being a doctor (from a tech perspective)

5 best smartphone advances for doctors in the past 5 years

The pros and cons of BYOD (bring your own device)  

The problems with charging racks and shared computers in hospitals

Mobile Heartbeat provides comprehensive solution to clinicians’ communication needs

How getting the right information quickly can minimize risk in a clinical setting

A better solution for alarm fatigue in clinicians

                                                                                                                                                      

1. Adam Maguire granted permission for all of his direct quotes and indirect quotes to be used in this article. Interview date: Jan. 26, 2015.

2. Jamie Brasseal granted permission for all of his direct quotes and indirect quotes to be used in this article. Interview date: Jan. 26, 2015.

Shares0
Shares0