Dragon Medical 10.1 is Now Released

After weeks of anticipation, Nuance has now released verion 10.1 of Dragon Medical, the long awaited update to our bestselling Dragon Medical 10. For those of you using Dragon Medical 10, the following are the more important updates that could well improve your experience:

• Updated Epic and Cerner Support. Dragon Medical 10.1 offers Epic and Cerner users an even better experience as it's fully compatible with text boxes of existing Cerner PowerNote™ releases.
• 64-Bit Support for Windows Vista. 10.1 provices 64-bit operating system support, running on Windows Vista 64-bit operating systems. Does not support Windows XP 64-bit operations systems.
• New Medical Search Commands. 10.1 offers multiple voice shortcuts for searching medical information on the web. Physicians can now search medical data via a single command on WebMD®, UpToDate®, PubMed™ and ICD9. These commands can be said at any time without even having an Internet browser open. The commands combine multiple clicks into one fast command for the busy physician. Simply say "Search UpToDate for Wllbutrin contraindications" and Dragon Medical 10.1 and UpToDate take you there. For Medical & Medical Enterprise Only.
• More Powerful Capitaliation Rules. User can instantly set capitalization rules for words as they are added for the following word categories: Person, Department, and Drugs. Clinicians can have capitalization set to initial-caps, all-caps or no-caps for the categories.
• Dragon Medical Template Library. Dragon Medical 10.1 comes with a library of over two dozen macros for standard notes such as SOAP notes, new patient visit, and outpatient consults. In additiona, a complete list of "medical normals" by body system is also available, so that clinicians immediately can begin using Dragon Medical "out of the box" with less time spent creating their own templates. For Medical & Medical Enterprise Only.
• Hidden Mode Icon. Users will now see an icon to remind them if text dictated into Hidden Mode is ready to be transferred into an EHR text box. You can also decide if you want to stay in Hidden Mode after transferring text or return to a "normal" mode where your cursor is active in the EHR. For Medical & Medical Enterprise Only.
• Microphone Sleep Mode. User can set Dragon Medical to have their microphone go to sleep when they want: ten minutes, a half hour, or even two hours since Dragon Medical was last used. For Medical & Medical Enterprise Only.

To order the 10.1 update, call 1-800-654-1187. The cost is $9.95 to cover shipping and handling. The installer is too large to download.

If you're a Dragon NaturallySpeaking Legal 10 user and wish to update to 10.1, call that same number. For Preferred and Professional Users, go to the Nuance download request page to download the update.

To Update to Version 10

If you're still using Version 8 or 9, we highly suggest you consider updating to Version 10.

The increase in speed and accuracy is well worth the price:

• Professional Upgrade to Version 10
• Legal Upgrade to Version 10
• Medical Small Practice Upgrade to Version 10
• Medical Upgrade to Version 10

As always, call us at 866-408-1383 if you have any questions about Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

Need Help with Dragon?

Don't forget about our bestselling book, Mastering Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10.

Making Sense of Speech Recognition Headsets

Speech Recognition Headsets can be broken down into three main categories: USB, bluetooth and computer jack input devices.

A USB microphone can be wireless or connect directly to your computer. The Plantronics CS540 Wireless Office System comes with a base unit which charges the headset through a USB connection with your computer. The headset can be worn on the ear with the microphone positioned closely to the mouth. It has been certified by Nuance to work with their Dragon NaturallySpeaking software. This is a great solution for those who wish to use a wireless USB input device. The BlueParrot TalkPro is another Nuance certified headset which is wireless, and like the Plantronics CS540, is powered by the USB connection to your computer. This moanural headset fits comfortably on your head, and the noice-cancelling microphone can be positioned closely to your mouth for great sound pick up.

The Plantronics Savi-Go Bluetooth USB Headset is a lightweight bluetooth microphone which can be paired easily with your bluetooth enabled computer. It comes with a USB adapter for charging and is worn on the ear. The BlueParrott Roadwarrior is a monuaral bluetooth headset with noice cancelling microphone. This unit charges with the AC adapter.

Headsets which connect directly to your computer's sound card come in two basic varieties: monaural and binaural. Some of the more popular monaural headsets are the Parrott TalkPro USB-1,  VXI B250 Roadwarrior and the Andrea NC-181. Nuance certified binaural headsets include the Parrott TalkPro Max 2.

The Philips SpeechMike Control For Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Philips has come out with brand new software for their popular SpeechMikes. The device allows users to dictate into their computer, listen back to recordings and even control functions with buttons on the device.
Now Philips has released the Device Control Center. This software allows the SpeechMike to perform simple and complex functions within many different programs on your PC. The most impressive are those pertaining to Nuance's Dragon NaturallySpeaking software. The advantages the SpeechMike control gives you for operation in this program is incredible. And the best part about it is it's free! Click here to download the Philips Device Control Center. Scroll down and click on the CD Driver Utility v2.4. Once you download it, this is what it looks like:

In this case, I am using a SpeechMike Classic plus. This model has 4 function buttons allowing users to control several operations with a single device.

Say I am dictating into Dragon NaturallySpeaking. If I wanted to open "Word Pad" I could designate a function button to do so. Click the "..." to the right of the button you want to use. In the pop-up window click "Add" to assign a new action. You can designate the button to be a "hot key", to insert boilerplate text, start an application, perform a command in Dragon or to 'click' on something as a mouse does.

While using Dragon, the EOL (end of letter) button will highlight previous words one-by-one as you click the button. The rewind and fast-forward buttons not only control the audio playback of your dictation, but it will also move the cursor in the desired direction making it easier than ever to edit or correct your dictation. You never have to touch your mouse or keyboard. When moving the slide-switch up to record, you are also turning on the microphone in Dragon and turning it off when you stop.

In addition to the function buttons performing unique actions when you click them, they can also be configured to perform multiple functions by combining them with the SHIFT and COMMAND keys on the SpeechMike, as well. By pressing SHIFT+F1, you can perform a completely different action as pressing F1 by itself.

So, as you can see there are many possible functions executable by the Philips SpeechMike, and it is only a matter of assigning the buttons to your preference. Start programs, insert text, draft an e-mail, navigate in an EMR system, perform complex commands all at the touch of a button. This is one of the most robust utility drivers we have seen from Philips and they are offering it to their customers absolutely free. If you are interested in obtaining the ultimate desktop dictation system or want to improve your efficiency with Dragon NaturallySpeaking, the Philips SpeechMike is the ultimate tool on the market today.