Voice Assisted Care Technology and Healthcare

At the HIMSS Virtual Conference and Expo, there was an educational session on the topic of Voice Assisted Care Technology. How do you think voice assisted care technology can improve the nursing workflow? Nurses are often so busy because they are caring for so many patients.

In a nursing pilot program (3 weeks, six IV nurses), voice technology in IV application was shown to reduce documentation time by 75%, improve communication, and improve point of care documenting. The researchers also felt that infection may be reduced because nurses who used this voice technology were not touching as many items that may contaiminate the IV. They were using a hands-free headset and they could speak more and write less. Will future nurses all walk around the hospital with a headset (or earpiece)? I'm sure Vocollect would like to think so.

Here's the brief abstract that sums up how voice assisted care technology can impact healthcare: "In today’s complex healthcare setting, IT is seen as the number one method for improving efficiency and quality. Voice assisted care technology provides hands and eyes free accurate documentation for nursing staff while enabling easy verbal access to patient information, effective communication and task management. This innovative technology is believed to increase the accuracy of documentation, while interfacing directly into the EHR. This presentation will introduce you to innovative voice assisted technology designed to support nurse clinicians at the bedside, allowing real time documentation and communication with patients and co-workers."

The speaker was Debra Wolf, PhD, MSN, BSN, RN. She is an Associate Professor of Nursing at Slippery Rock University. Her program of research focuses on nurses impacting patient outcomes using a patient-centered model of care. Dr. Wolf oversees the Healthcare Informatics Certification Program at Slippery Rock University.