Physicians spend too much time documenting clinical care, and technology companies are working hard to build solutions. One of the latest innovations is Nuance DAX, an AI-powered ambient clinical intelligence solution that aims to automate clinical documentation. 

But is Nuance DAX worth integrating? And how does it compare to leading speech-to-text medical dictation solutions?

Let’s compare Nuance DAX to Mobius Conveyor, a leading speech-to-text medical dictation software that works on Mac and PC.

What is Nuance DAX?

DAX stands for “Nuance Dragon Ambient eXperience.” It’s an AI-powered, voice-enabled software solution that automatically documents patient encounters at the point of care. 

The DAX system uses an app installed on a doctor’s mobile device to record audio from patient visits. The software automatically transcribes the entire recording using natural language processing (NLP), the same technology used by speech-to-text software. After transcribing, DAX transforms the physician-patient exchange into a formatted clinical note, including the patient’s symptoms, chief complaints, and treatment plans. 

Currently, Nuance relies on hired documentation specialists to review encounters and correct oversights by the AI. Similar to an off-site transcription service, the note is sent back to the physician for review and sign-off within 24 hrs.

While DAX seems like the natural next step in technology-assisted clinical documentation, it still has many problems. The AI can miss important details and conjure up false additions, and it has raised plenty of concerns about patient privacy. 

What is Mobius Conveyor?

Mobius Conveyor is a leading medical dictation solution that works with any computer and software. Physicians speak their dictation into the Conveyor app on their smartphone, and their words appear on a paired computer wherever they place the cursor. 

Conveyor saves doctors hours of documentation time each week by making medical dictation intuitive, secure, and entirely mobile. Like a portable keyboard, Mobius Conveyor makes it simple to dictate into any EHR on any computer without no software installations or extra hardware. 

Doctors who change hospitals or workstations throughout the day say it’s the best medical dictation solution.

Which medical dictation solution is right for you?

How does Nuance DAX compare with leading speech-to-text medical dictation solutions like Mobius Conveyor? And if you’re a busy provider passionate about efficiency and technology, which solution is right for you?

DAX is a promising concept and represents the next logical step in the evolution of AI-enabled clinical documentation. But early reports suggest there are too many problems to make it a wise choice for most providers. 

Here are five factors physicians should consider when comparing Nuance DAX to medical speech-to-text solutions like Mobius Conveyor. 

1. Portability

Because DAX records patient visits, it requires upfront integration and contractual agreements with each EMR you use. The software isn’t portable because DAX is set up within a specific EMR (so far, EPIC or Cerner), and you can’t use it anywhere else.

A single subscription to Mobius Conveyor allows you to use it anywhere – in any EMR and on any computer. You can think of Conveyor as a portable keyboard for medical dictation. It’s easy to connect and doesn’t require an IT department, let alone legal contracts, to set up. Anywhere you can place a cursor, Mobius will convey your dictation.

2. Pricing

DAX requires lengthy contracts and has a high price tag compared to premium medical dictation software. For example, Providence Health pays around $8,000 to $10,000 per year per doctor to license the use of DAX. 

Mobius, by contrast, offers a month-to-month subscription and is much cheaper. The cost of an annual subscription to Mobius Conveyor is about $1,800 or $149.99 per month. 

3. Turnaround time

When you finish seeing a patient using Nuance’s ambient solution, it can take up to 24 hours to receive a completed encounter note. Because the AI often misses important details or inserts inaccurate information, DAX relies on off-site “Quality Documentation Specialists” to edit the note. This can lead to long turnaround times and delays in closing charts. 

Speech-to-text technology disrupted the old medical dictation workflow that required sending recordings to an off-site transcriptionist and waiting a day or more to complete the encounter. Solutions like Mobius Conveyor eliminate turnaround time and help clinicians close charts while the essential details are fresh.

4. Accuracy

When integrating new technology for clinical documentation, providers’ most significant concern is accuracy. Dictation is much faster than typing and can be just as accurate. But if you have to revisit a chart later or spend several minutes catching and correcting errors, those time savings are lost. 

DAX will immediately generate a note after a recorded visit, allowing physicians to edit it directly. But Nuance reports that even after a provider has completed 1,000 encounters through DAX, they still send more than 50% of their notes back to be edited by a human reviewer. 

As an automated speech-to-text dictation solution, Mobius Conveyor is instant and accurate. You will notice immediately if the NLP mistypes a word and can edit accordingly in real time. 

5. Limitations

Eliminating EHR documentation from doctors’ to-do lists is a worthy ambition. Wouldn’t every provider prefer to simply see patients and have clinical notes generated automatically by AI? 

While Nuance is working towards this vision, DAX only completes certain portions of the visit. As the provider, you’ll still need to type or dictate specific fields like orders, diagnoses, etc. Your days with the EHR aren’t over. 

For most physicians, a streamlined dictation workflow will be much easier and more efficient than Nuance DAX.

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