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In recent years, healthcare in Australia has improved dramatically – ensuring that most patients receive the treatment and medicine they require in a timely manner. According to the Commonwealth Fund, Australia's healthcare is the fourth-best across the organisation, falling only behind the UK, Switzerland and Sweden.

While this can be attributed in part to breakthroughs in medical science, there are also more qualified medical professionals and funding opportunities than ever before. This helps to create an environment where the health system works productively and efficiently for patients.

However, this said, there are always areas to improve. So, what are patient expectations for 2016 and how can Voice Recognition software support these goals?

Elective surgery waiting times

As the Australian population continues to age, the number of those receiving elective surgery is only increasing. While these surgeries (hip and knee replacements and mastectomies, for example) are medically necessary, they are not life-threatening so can be planned for a later date.

While the latest statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) suggest that the median waiting time has dropped from 36 to 35 days, those in rural locations or requiring certain surgical specialties wait much longer – up to double in some cases.

To support those in these situations, it will be important for medical practices to improve wait times. One option is through Dragon Medical Practice Edition 3. With the vast amount of paperwork and reports to fill, doctors and other medical professionals can fall behind schedules due to simple bureaucratic processes.

Through Dragon, clinicians can save 30 minutes or more a day through dictating rather than written or typed text. This means they can spend more time with their patients and undertaking elective surgeries. Additionally, having doctors create powerful patient documents using this technology can improve accuracy as it's dictated in the clinician's own words – leaving no room for error further down the chain.

Organ and tissue donation process

Australia is certainly one of the most generous countries in the world with regards to organ and tissue donation. In times of need, thousands of people come to the table to support those with serious medical conditions.

According to the statistics from the Department of Health, the general donation rate rose 14 per cent last year – calculating to over 18 donors per million population.

"Last year 1,241 Australians received an organ transplant from 435 deceased donors and their families, a 15 per cent increase in the number of organ donors over 2014 (378 donors)," Minister responsible for organ and tissue donation Fiona Nash said.

However, in getting the vital organ or tissue to the patient, there is a significant amount of paperwork for both donors, their families and medical professionals to complete. In fact, just 1.8 million out of the 6.1 million people who have registered as a donor have finished all the documentation for doctors.

While the Department of Health will eliminate the paperwork for donors in May and make the process one-step, the important documentation on the medical side will remain and could hold up progress on vital procedures. This is another example where Dragon software can support medical outcomes and help patients get treatment quicker.

As mentioned before, many documents can be finished accurately and professionally with dictation and speed up the red-tape process. There is no doubt that the paperwork is important, but with the line between life and death so thin, any difference can be monumental.

If your medical practice wants to adopt a system that promotes patient contact and smarter outcomes, feel free to contact the expert team at Voice Recognition today.

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