Boston hospital turns to speech recognition to monitor patients

Sindya Bhanoo — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:48:58 -0500

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston are using an automated follow-up system developed by Vocantas to gather data on patients' medications. But instead of using the Web or email to interact with patients, the software is turning to an older communications technology: the telephone.

"Chronic disease management is big," said Gary Hannah, Vocantas' president and CEO, in an interview with The Industry Standard. "And the more senior population is comfortable with the phone -- not everybody likes to use the Web."

Vocantas' product is called CallAssure. Brigham and Women's is using it to call patients, collecting data on how they feel after taking medications. The technology helps doctors identify side effects, and, based on a patient's responses to the questions, can ask a doctor or nurse to follow up directly.

Founded in 2003, Vocantas is a 16-person, privately owned company in Ottawa that got its start developing products for utilities. "We started by working with utilities companies, asking people about their bill payment issues," Hannah said. "Then four years ago, people in the healthcare industry out of Boston and Ottawa told us about the issues they were facing."

CallAssure now works with several hospitals in Canada and the United States. The software is customized for each institution, based on information doctors at the hospital want to collect.

Typical CallAssure questions include:

1) Are you taking a new medication since you've gone home?
2) Are you having any symptoms?
3) Are you having problems w/ mobility?
4) Do you have a temperature?

The software can be progammed to respond in various ways, Hannah said. For example, it could alert a doctor to call a patient, or ask a receptionist to schedule an appointment.

Technology firms -- including giants such as Microsoft, Google, Intel and Siemens -- are increasingly attracted to opportunities in the healthcare sector. America's population of elderly is getting larger, and the healthcare system is widely viewed as broken, with many areas needing improvement. The healthcare industry is a $2.5 trillion dollar market in the United States alone, and the healthcare IT market is worth an estimated $50 billion, according to Reuters.

To test out the Vocantas speech recognition software, call 613-271-2912 (Note: It's a Canadian number).