Nuance Speech Recognition used to digitize radiology reporting at Royal Free Hospital in London

Radiologists freed from time-consuming analogue dictation; seamless workflow integration with existing RIS/PACS

Published: 06/10/2009

LONDON, UK, June 10, 2009 - Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN), a leading supplier of speech solutions, today announced that its speech recognition technology, SpeechMagic, went live at London’s Royal Free Hospital (RFH). More than 50 radiologists at the site now benefit from front-end speech recognition, implemented by Soliton IT – an integration partner of Nuance Healthcare. RFH joins high-profile healthcare providers in the capital who have recently adopted Nuance’s speech recognition together with Soliton IT’s Workflow Manager, including the University Hospital Lewisham, North Middlesex Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).

Radiologists at RFH can now dictate their findings without having to transcribe them as Nuance SpeechMagic will automatically translate their words into text and display it on their computer screens. Rather than having to coordinate transcription with their secretaries, radiologists can now handle the entire process themselves – resulting in faster report turnaround and better service to clinicians and referring physicians.

Simone Towie, Head of Radiology at the Royal Free Hospital says: “The system has already proven to offer a significant improvement to reporting workflow which is further enhanced by improved desktop integration facilities. This allows the department to ensure delivery of reports to referrers, in some instances within minutes of the completion of an exam. The staff has all taken to the system easily and are extremely happy with the voice recognition solution. The system is proving to be capable of making a marked improvement to the service we provide to customers of the Radiology department at the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust.”

Soliton IT’s Workflow Manager with Nuance’s SpeechMagic provides a fully integrated reporting solution for RFH’s Radiology Information System (RIS) and Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS). Proven at several other ‘National Program for IT’ sites, the Workflow Manager provides desktop integration with PACS to reduce clinical risk, as images and reports are clearly linked to each other.

Bob Watson, Director at the Nuance integration partner Soliton IT says: “I am very pleased that after just a few weeks of live use at the Royal Free, our Worfklow Manager with SpeechMagic is already providing significant benefits to the Trust. We are also delighted that several other Hospitals in London and around the UK have adopted our Workflow Manager/SpeechMagic solution and all sites are experiencing similar benefits to the Royal Free.”

Visitors at the UK Radiology Congress (UKRC), Manchester, 8-10 June 2009 can experience Soliton powered by Nuance’s SpeechMagic live at TPS stand #516.