THE PATH WAY Voice Recognition in Anatomic Pathology Is it ready for prime time use?

Unfortunately there is not a simple yes or no answer to the question. The answer is dependent on which voice recognition technology will be used and in what areas it will be expected to function. Voice recognition for every aspect of an anatomic pathology type case from gross to sign out will not work in our current workflow. There are, however, areas in anatomic pathology where voice recognition can play a role and increase productivity while decreasing turn-around time. For the purpose of this discussion anatomic pathology type cases include all types of cases in our department utilizing Cerner CoPath as their reporting application. Currently the dictation software utilized in pathology and laboratory medicine is part of a digital system. The user dictates the case which is recorded as a digital file on a server. Transcriptionists listen to the digital recording and type directly into Cerner CoPath Plus. Benefits of the current system include the capturing of a digital audio file, allowing the user to dictate freely and having transcriptionists perform corrections and formatting of the report. This newsletter is made possible from the generous contributions of MUSC's Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Faculty and Staff. The succes