Speech Recognition Technology: Improving Speed and Accuracy of Emergency Medical Services Documentation to Protect Patients

Because hospital errors, such as mistakes in documentation, cause one in six deaths each year in the United States, the accuracy of health records in the emergency medical services (EMS) must be improved. One possible solution is to incorporate speech recognition (SR) software into current tools used by EMS first responders. The purpose of this research was to determine if SR software could increase the efficiency and accuracy of EMS documentation to improve the safety of patients of EMS. An initial review of the literature on the performance of current SR software demonstrated that this software was not 99% accurate, and therefore, errors in the medical documentation produced by the software could harm patients. The literature review also identified weaknesses of SR software that could be overcome so that the software would be accurate enough for use in EMS settings. These weaknesses included the inability to differentiate between similar phrases and the inability to filter out background noise. To find a solution, an analysis of natural language processing algorithms showed that the bag-of-words post processing algorithm has the ability to differentiate between similar phrases. This algorithm is best suited for SR applications because it is simple yet effective compared to machine learning algorithms that required a large amount of training data. The findings suggested that if these weaknesses of current SR software are solved, then the software would potentially increase the efficiency and accuracy of EMS documentation. Further studies should integrate the bag-of-words post processing method into SR software and field test its accuracy in EMS settings

Industry Career Guide: IT-BPO

Off-shoring describes the relocation by a company of its business processes like manufacturing, operations, and support processes to other countries, particularly in global production networks. Outsourcing involves the contracting of a third party to perform the necessary processes within the company. The recent development of the ability of companies to outsource suppliers outside the nation gave rise to the concept of off-shoring which not only implies foreign inputs to work domestically, but involves cross-country collaborations as well. The Off-shoring and Outsourcing (O&O) Industry is known widely as the IT-BPO (Information Technology – Business Process Outsourcing) industry. The industry is relatively new, but the dynamism it exhibits is great. Global O&O has grown to 15% in 2008, which is the third largest around the world. In 2008, the industry contributes 3.6% of Philippine GDP and 12.36% of exports which is particular in the export of services

Offshoring of High-Value Functions: A Case Study of U.S.-India Trade in Medical Transcription Services

The offshoring industry in the developing world is rapidly moving into a higher gear. It started with relatively low-end works such as back-office support, customer service, and data entry. In recent years, developed-world-based firms are increasingly outsourcing more sophisticated work such as computer coding, insurance underwriting, claims processing, and medical transcription to developing economies (Reich, 2005). An estimate suggested that “high-value” business process outsourcing (BPO), such as accounting, paralegal, medical, research, and banking will reach $50 billion by 2010 (Mehta et al., 2006)

The impact of healthcare IT on clinical quality, productivity and workers

Adoption of health information and communication technologies ('HICT') has surged over the past two decades. We survey the medical and economic literature on HICT adoption and its impact on clinical outcomes, productivity and labor. We find that HICT improves clinical outcomes and lowers healthcare costs, but (i) the effects are modest so far, (ii) it takes time for these effects to materialize, and (iii) there is much variation in the impact. More evidence on the causal effects of HICT on productivity is needed to guide further adoption. There is little econometric work directly investigating the impact of HICT on labor, but what there is suggests no substantial negative effects on employment and earnings. Overall, while healthcare is 'exceptional' in many ways, we are struck by the similarities to the wider findings on ICT and productivity stressing the importance of complementary factors (e.g. management and skills) in determining HICT impacts

Focal Spot, Winter 1983/84

https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/focal_spot_archives/1036/thumbnail.jp

Tasks Performed by Medical Secretaries

This study was to determine what tasks are regularly performed by medical secretaries and medical transcriptionists. The objective was to learn with what frequency these tasks are performed and what level of skill is necessary in the areas of clerical practices, medical terminology, clinical procedures, and medical transcription.Occupational and Adult Educatio

Focal Spot, Winter 1983/84

https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/focal_spot_archives/1036/thumbnail.jp

Defining the Frontline Workforce

Explores the characteristics, qualities, and potentials of the frontline healthcare workforce, in order to construct a classification of core healthcare and human services occupations