Colette Madison, Physician Assistant

Lifetime Health – Perinton



















In April 2006, the medical staff at Lifetime Health Medical Group in Perinton, New York, were told they would be receiving training in using speech recognition software. Physician Assistant Colette Madison, along with all the physicians, spent a day learning the ins and outs of Dragon Naturally Speaking software, which Lifetime Health planned to use in conjunction with its electronic medical record system. The goal of the training was to reduce the office's reliance on traditional medical transcription services, which held up a patient's record by one or two days while it was transcribed, as well as to reduce or eliminate the cost of those services.

After just three weeks, Madison has seen improvements in her speed and accuracy. She sees approximately 25 patients a day and spends a few minutes after each appointment dictating a patient's chart. In three weeks, her speed has jumped an estimated 75%.

The biggest benefit of using the Dragon software, she says, is that "It's easier for the nurses. They don't have to request a chart, pull a chart, and spend time walking back and forth to get it." Instead, they simply pull up a chart on the system and review it on-the-spot to answer a patient's question. Now, "We're guaranteed it's there – it's done when we need it" - now.