PowerScribe 5.0 for Radiology Raises Bar for Speech Accuracy and Usability of Clinical Documentation and Communication Tools

Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN), a leading supplier of speech solutions, today announced version 5.0 of its Dictaphone PowerScribe for Radiology speech-enabled reporting solution. The new product enhancements and integration capabilities are geared to support and improve the radiology workflow process, with a concentrated focus on highly accurate, comprehensive and readily available clinical documentation. Aimed at making radiology departments significantly more effective and efficient, the new features of PowerScribe 5.0 were driven by customer feedback, industry demand as a result of regulatory and operational pressures, as well as Nuance’s own innovation to ensure the radiology market continues to embrace technology to improve the overall clinical documentation and communication, process. Product highlights include: Enhanced Voice Recognition Reduces Word Error Rate by 35 Percent - Speech engine upgrade to the latest version of Dragon Medical and new Radiology-specific language model significantly reduce user word-error rate, speed report creation, streamline editing process and support radiology sub-specialists. Workflow Engine Enhancements – PowerScribe 5.0 natively supports multi-vendor radiology information system (RIS) environments to streamline workflow for sites that have disparate systems and inconsistent operational processes. System Technology Upgrades – Updates to the overall system architecture result in enhanced database storage, easier deployments and maintenance, as well as support for the latest technologies, including LDAP, SSL, Windows XP x64, Windows Vista, MS SQL 2005, RealSpeak 4.5. New Graphical User Interface – Redesigned based on feedback from radiology departments to drive radiologist efficiency. Provides improved usability and interoperability, as well as access to additional information for the end user. Seamless Integration for Critical Test Result Management (CTRM) – Provides enhanced integration to Veriphy for automated communication and reporting of high-priority patient findings (see more detail below). Seamless Integration for Order Decision Support and Business Intelligence – Provides integration to RadPort and RadCube, enabling end-to-end workflow optimization (see more detail below). The University of Southern California’s (USC) Department of Radiology has been a PowerScribe for Radiology customer since November 2004 and was a participant in the beta program for PowerScribe 5.0. Dr. Edward G. Grant, MD, FACR, chair of radiology, shared the following: "The improved speech recognition accuracy of PowerScribe 5.0 has been apparent to me and others within our radiology department. We’ve found PowerScribe 5.0 easy to adapt to with minimal training, and will leverage the high accuracy voice recognition rates we are achieving to speed the time it takes to create and edit reports, as well as accelerate our reduction of conventional transcription and editing processes.” The Joint Commission, the nation’s predominant accreditation body in healthcare, requires automated, real-time, fail-proof, consistent communication among caregivers. By deepening the integration of Veriphy critical communications management within the radiology reporting processes, the growing list of more than 1,000 Dictaphone PowerScribe for Radiology customers can benefit from a speech-enabled, clinical documentation solution that incorporates CTRM capability to ensure high-priority patient findings are identified, communicated and documented in an automated, reliable and auditable fashion. In addition to CTRM, PowerScribe 5.0 customers will benefit from the option to employ the capabilities of RadPort and RadCube. RadPort is a solution for appropriate order entry decision support based on the American College of Radiology (ACR) guidelines. RadCube delivers business intelligence, data mining and analysis tools for trending and forecasting (see separate press release on RadCube availability). Both solutions help radiology departments respond to the increased requirements related to cost containment, quality assurance and outcomes measurement. "With PowerScribe 5.0, Nuance is extending its leadership in radiology well beyond speech recognition for reporting. Not only have we significantly improved the key feature of PowerScribe for Radiology, its speech recognition accuracy, we’ve added features that our customers have asked for to make clinical documentation easier, faster and more accurate,” said Peter Durlach, senior vice president, marketing and product strategy, Dictaphone Healthcare Solutions, Nuance. "In combination with its new features, the multiple integration capabilities of PowerScribe 5.0 to work with Veriphy and RadPort and RadCube will improve patient care through enhanced clinical communication, as well as by minimizing risks associated with inappropriate exam ordering and inefficient critical test results management. A tremendous amount of effort has gone into this major upgrade and while it’s doing what it’s always done, but better, PowerScribe 5.0 goes well beyond speech-enabled reporting.” PowerScribe 5.0 will be on public demonstration at booth #225 at SIIM 2008 in Seattle, Washington, May 15-18. Veriphy, RadCube, RadPort and RadWhere will also be on display in the Dictaphone Healthcare booth. For more information on any of these products, please visit: http://www.nuance.com/dictaphone/products/. Dictaphone Healthcare Solutions Division Dictaphone Healthcare Solutions, a division of Nuance Communications, provides a comprehensive family of speech-driven clinical documentation and communications solutions. Dictaphone solutions orchestrate and optimize clinical workflow, reduce transcription expense, raise standards of care via more thorough documentation, deliver results rapidly to meet patient safety guidelines, and heighten clinician satisfaction by making EMR systems easy to use. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com/dictaphone/. Nuance Communications, Inc. Nuance (Nasdaq: NUAN) is a leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance’s proven applications and professional services. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com. Nuance, the Nuance logo, Dictaphone, RadPort, RadCube, Veriphy and PowerScribe are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other company names or product names may be the trademarks of their respective owners.