A joint dictation system in all hospitals
The facts
The customer
Aleris-Hamlet Hospitals, Denmark
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Philips partner
Globe Systems
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The solution
SpeechExec Enterprise Dictation and Transcription Solution
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SpeechMike Premium Dictation Microphone
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Foot control
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Aleris-Hamlet Hospitals is one of the leading private actors within the Scandinavian health sector with operations in Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The company employs 10,000 people within its four areas of expertise – health, diagnostics, eldercare, and psychiatry.
Aleris-Hamlet maintains five hospitals with eleven additional locations in Denmark and is experiencing a massive growth. This has involved acquiring and merging several hospitals through time. Each hospital has had its own individual systems handling electronic patient records and dictation. The former dictation system of Aleris-Hamlet could not meet the requirements caused by their growth. Consequently, challenges in the cross-company digital infrastructure had arisen. Doctors, secretaries, and IT personnel experienced less flexibility and heavier administration during their workday, necessitating Aleris-Hamlet to improve the situation. The company architecture amplified this challenge, as employees work across several hospitals, and thus needed to master many systems at once.
Head of IT Jesper Pedersen was determined to make a joint solution that was more efficient in relation to internal resources, improved the user experience, and was able to take on future demands in patient data security.
Jesper Pedersen, Head of IT
The big advantage of the new system is that both software and dictation files are located on a central Citrix server. It is almost instantly updatable, and it doesn’t matter where our doctors or secretaries are. They can always access it.
Jesper Pedersen
Head of IT
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A joint system
Aleris-Hamlet identified a series of requirements and requests for the support of their dictation system. One main demand was the ability to run on different servers concurrently, as each hospital at the time had its own platform.
A major system demand was the ability of their doctors to dictate in different hospitals and performing a number of medical responsibilities. Security had to be impeccable without inhibiting user experience. Therefore, Aleris-Hamlet preferred the system to integrate the user database with Active Directory and make an automatic backup for every dictation.
The staff had to be able to dictate during the deployment of the new system. Accordingly, the supplier would need to install it incrementally, leaving the doctors, secretaries, and technicians undisturbed in their routines.
Aleris-Hamlet received a proof of concept with subsequent tenders from three suppliers in Denmark, offering them different options in choosing the optimal solution for their needs.
A more flexible dictation solution
Aleris-Hamlet quickly discovered that Philips was the best provider of both software and dictation equipment. One of the main reasons was that Philips SpeechExec Enterprise, a professional server-based dictation system, is flexible on all levels. It matched all the challenges Aleris-Hamlet had.
As recording device, Aleris-Hamlet opted for the Philips SpeechMike Premium. Besides besting its predecessor with a superior sound quality, it also features the well-known slide switch, enhancing familiarity, ergonomics, and handling for the staff while dictating.
“The sound quality of the new dictation devices is noticeably superior to the old ones, making it easier for the secretaries when we transcribe the dictations for our medical staff,” says Annie Sneftrup, Functional Manager for the secretaries at the Aleris-Hamlet division in Aarhus.
The secretaries had their transcription equipment upgraded as well, making it fully integrated with both dictation units and software. As part of the smooth transition, they received brand new Philips foot controls with the same configuration as the former products. As a result, the secretaries adopted the new system easily, facilitating its efficiency from the outset.
Emphasizing cooperation and user involvement
Aleris-Hamlet chose Globe Systems as the company providing all future services around the Philips dictation solution. Aleris-Hamlet and Patrick Figgé, project coordinator at Globe Systems, drew up a now executed project plan that functions as the basis for future cooperation and maintenance. One integral part was giving the end users the opportunity to try out the products and exchange ideas and concerns. This gave them a platform of involvement in developing their own dictation system. The company accepted the user-designed system, and deployment started in the hospitals.
“The ability of our supplier to easily and flexibly adapt to our situation was crucial for us. Therefore, the supplier had to act fast and deliver solutions adeptly, all while maintaining an emphasis on collaboration,” states Jesper Pedersen. “Choosing Globe Systems was easy. They fully lived up to all of our expectations, and furthermore, as one of the only dictation specialists in our region, had a profound knowledge of both dictation devices and abstract software solutions.”
“
Choosing Globe Systems was easy. They fully lived up to all of our expectations, and furthermore, as one of the only dictation specialists in our region, had a profound knowledge of both dictation devices and abstract software solutions.
Jesper Pedersen
Head of IT
A future-proof system
To facilitate staff adaptation, Aleris-Hamlet and Globe Systems prepared a thorough manual, giving doctors and secretaries user-friendly instructions on how to make use of the array of functions in Philips SpeechExec Enterprise. “
The thing that makes our collaboration with Aleris-Hamlet so fruitful is our shared set of values, like how easy dictation should be for all end users,” explains Patrick Figgé. “Right from the start, our collaborative efforts have laid the foundation for our success in finding the right dictation solution for the staff – and that we can continue making the necessary adaptations along the way. Aleris-Hamlet keeps evolving, and it is essential that their dictation system can keep up.”
As a part of the deal, Globe Systems will continue optimizing the dictation system for as long as Aleris-Hamlet needs. This ensures that their Philips SpeechExec Enterprise solution will always be up to date, flexible, and tailored for the doctors and secretaries at any time.
A universal solution
“The big advantage of the new system is that both software and dictation files are located on a central Citrix server. It is almost instantly updatable, and it doesn’t matter where our doctors or secretaries are. They can always access it,” says Jesper Pedersen. “The doctors fill in the relevant patient data when they dictate, and our secretaries can see right away which specialties have the highest number of dictations not yet transcribed, and if there are any dictations flagged with high priority. That allows us to funnel our work towards the most urgent areas. By doing this, we guarantee our patients a better, faster, and more targeted service.”
As a part of the deployment, Aleris-Hamlet wanted to benefit from the expertise of Globe Systems as the leading supplier of headset solutions in Scandinavia. They decided to replace a selection of their existing headsets with new wireless models that allowed secretaries to transcribe and answer calls with the same unit, something they were not able to do previously. It simplified their work and improved their efficiency in a number of core areas.
Direct line to Philips
While the new integrated system lives up to their present standards, it is imperative for Aleris-Hamlet that it can handle acquisitions or mergers of hospitals in the future, requiring the system to evolve continuously. Philips SpeechExec Enterprise does the job perfectly, and Globe Systems will assist in deploying the continuous updates smoothly and seamlessly for the end users at the hospitals. If Aleris-Hamlet grows, their dictation system is ready to elevate with them.
As a part of the ongoing cooperation, Aleris-Hamlet provides feedback to their supplier on how their hospital employees apply dictation in their work. Globe Systems collaborates directly with Speech Processing Solutions, the company behind the Philips dictation brand. In doing so, the supplier of the Philips dictation solution keeps receiving customer insights in order to guarantee a consistently high standard in the manufacturing and development of dictation solutions with maximum customer involvement and benefit, which is a common way of working for Speech Processing Solutions in these kind of projects.