A review of application of voice recognition technology in macroscopic pathology reporting

Abstract

Voice recognition technology has been used for macroscopic and microscopic reporting of anatomical pathology specimens at the Gold Coast laboratory since 1999. A review of the macroscopic reporting was carried out and typographical and formatting errors, omissions of information and time taken to prepare the macroscopic report were studied. Previous studies have examined issues of cost effectiveness and utility1 but quality issues have been less well examined. Macroscopic reporting was examined closely because of the difficulties of utilising the technology in the "wet" work environment. The typographical and formatting errors were strictly assessed and there were 40 reports with these errors in 131 studied cases. 7 of 131 reports contained omissions or deviations from the methods manual for macroscopic reporting. The time taken for reporting different specimen types varied considerably. The review formed the basis of an enhancement project based on a template format. This project is underway and has reduced the typographical and formatting problems. The project highlighted the difficulty in introducing the technology to the pathology workplace. The rate of error reflects the strict attention to formatting detail and is greater than previous reports2. References: 1. Henricks WH, Roumina K, Skilton BE et al. Mod Pathol 2002; 15: 565-571. 2. Zardawi IM, Bennett G, Jain S, Brown MJ. Clin Pathol 1998; 51: 695-699.