fluency evaluation of residents with voice recognition software

Abstract Introduction: Electronic health records have become a core component of managing patient care in healthcare. Use of dictation and voice recognition software by medical professionals for charting is a method that could facilitate more efficient and easier recording of the medical data and records. Objective: Our aim was to assess the perceived value of voice recognition software on patient encounter documentation in an orthopaedic surgery resident population. This included adoption rate, quality of the records, workflow efficiency, as well as overall value. Materials and Methods: We surveyed resident expectations of voice recognition software before introduction, and at four and sixteen months following its implementation, inquiring about resident experience. The pre-survey assessed resident expectations of the voice recognition software and general attitudes regarding its usefulness in practice. The post-survey assessed resident experiences when interacting with the tool. Results: The expectations survey had an 88% response rate (22 out of 25) at pre-implementation, the experiences survey had 80% response rate (20 out of 25) at four months-post, and 84% response rate (21 out of 25) at sixteen months’ post-implementation. We found that overall experience was higher for perceived value of voice recognition software than initial expectations. Conversely, overall expectations for improvement in time spent on record keeping and quality of records were higher than their actual experience. Conclusion: We concluded that although residents found the voice recognition software to be valuable, they did not believe it increased their efficiency. Keywords Charting; Dictation; Documentation; Electronic health record; Orthopaedic residency; Voice recognition Abbreviations EHR: Electronic Health Record