Digital dictation becomes software as a service

Digital dictation specialist WinScribe has launched software as a service option – with the first UK NHS installation now up and running.

WinScribe claims its OnDemand SaaS is cost effective and overcomes some of the headaches of installing software on site.

Rather than pay licence fees for individual users, which can be as high as £900, and installing WinScribe on trust servers, NHS organisations can now opt to pay a yearly fee and access the software over a secure website.

The subscription fee covers software maintenance and upgrades, said Carine Russias, WinScribe’s European marketing executive.

It has been installed by WinScribe partner ABM at Hope Hospital’s physiotherapy service, which recently moved from a central Salford site to a new clinic in the community.

Victoria Dickens, consultant physiotherapist, said that when eight physiotherapists moved to the Walkden Gateway clinic, their three secretaries did not come with them. So analogue tapes had to be sent between the clinic and the hospital.

“It could take up to three weeks for a physiotherapy report to be transcribed and sent to a GP in charge of the patient,” she said.

When she looked at digital dictation solutions to allow physiotherapists to send their dictations electronically, she found that a traditional site licence was too costly for the small department.

The OnDemand service fitted the bill, however, and within three weeks of making initial investigations, the installation was in place.

“We have had no teething problems and have cut down the turn around time for physiotherapy reports to 72 hours,” she said.

Physiotherapists are using Phillips devices to record their dictations, which are then uploaded to a secure site that can be accessed by secretaries who work in another building.

Dickens said that secretaries can share their workload more effectively and can work from home, meaning an end to Saturday overtime.

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