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Anybody see this news about VR delaying biopsy results? - Modal or Nuance

Posted: Jul 15th, 2018 - 9:58 pm

https://leaderpost-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/leaderpost.com/news/local-news/technology-and-staff-shortages-contribute-to-biopsy-backlog/amp

Technology and staff shortages contribute to biopsy backlog

    ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: MAY 9, 2018

Regina’s backlog is largely due to significant challenges with voice recognition transcription software that is being piloted for the gross examination, said Lenore Howey, executive director of pathology and laboratory services with the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA). 

“We are meeting to find out if we need to do a course correction with the vendor that we’re using to say that this is not working because the impact of it is affecting patient care,” Howey said. 

Some patients are waiting up to a month to get their biopsy results from Regina.

“The backlog has been growing over the past months to the point now where we have to do something different,” Howey said.

Ideally the turn-around time should be five to seven working days.

Regina has a significant number of cases in the initial stages because of problems with the voice recognition technology in the grossing room.

“It is a system where somebody dictates into a recording device and then that recording device will turn their description into written text on the screen,” said Mark Anderson, CEO of 3sHealth. 

Pathology assistants and medical laboratory technologists use the hands-free device as they prep the sample for the pathologist who does the analytics on the specimen, Anderson said.

“When they do their dictating they require a piece of technology that lets them work with both of their hands as they’re cutting up the specimens and also take those notes and make sure those notes are accurate,” Anderson said. “That’s what makes it a unique circumstance in the grossing room and that’s where we’ve run into technology issues.”

When the information is on the screen, staff ensure it’s accurate and then hit enter and the report and sample is available to the pathologist.

However, sometimes they have to correct text before hitting enter, and that slows them down.

The first version of voice recognition technology was installed in the grossing room in July 2017. Another product replaced it in January, but it had problems handling complex dictations that exceeded 10 minutes.

Anything that slows down the process — particularly when there’s high demand and complex cases —  contributes to the backlog. 

“That process is taking them a little longer than it used to when they used to dictate into a microphone and then it would get sent off to a transcriptionist,” Anderson said. “That transcriptionist would then type up those notes and send the notes for them to the pathologist.”

The voice recognition technology works well for simple cases, but a different product is required for more complex cases, he said.

“If you send everything to the transcriptionist, that could contribute to a report backlog … What we’re really doing is trying to find the most efficient way to flow both specimen and report on to the pathologist so that our turn-around times are as good as they possibly can be,” Anderson said.

To that end, a new product will be in place by May 25.

Specimens are triaged according to information provided on the requisition form by the patient’s surgeon or physician. Biopsies for patients at high risk of cancer are given priority. 

Two years ago, Saskatoon had at least as many patients waiting for biopsy results as Regina does now. 

Saskatoon decided not to use the voice recognition transcription system because it was felt there was a “high risk that their work on decreasing the wait times would be impacted,” Howey noted. 

Complicating the problem is that neither Regina nor Saskatoon have enough pathology assistants or pathologists — both are hard-to-recruit positions.

 

Since the provincial dictation and transcription service began in April 2016, more than 81 per cent of hospital reports are transcribed and distributed to medical professionals in less than 24 hours. 

Howey acknowledged the hard work of those in the lab and said quality is their top priority. 

“No one feels good about the situation that we’re in and we’re doing everything we can to provide the best patient care that we can.” 

pcowan@postmedia.com



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