As new innovations continue to change the ways we work, radiology has a lot to gain from adopting new technology with confidence. But the biggest potential impact comes from deeply integrated solutions—not discrete, siloed tools that only make workflows more complex.
Previously, we’ve shared our insights on the challenges facing radiology, from workloads and backlogs to the perpetual pressure to reduce costs and find efficiencies. Today, those priorities remain critically important and the challenges faced in diagnostics only seem to intensify. Workflow gains are offset by the rise in chronic diseases and continued staff shortages – and the only way to meaningfully transform radiology is by extending the benefits of new workflows as widely as possible.
With Augnito, we’ve seen the most significant impact from AI-powered speech recognition that’s integrated with the systems radiologists and teleradiology providers already use every day.
The benefits of AI speech recognition in radiology
In the past few years, AI has been widely adopted across multiple industries and for a variety of tasks. These include data handling, generating content, and automating the routine tasks that take time away from more skilled work where the human touch is essential.
Healthcare is no different. Adopting a technology like speech recognition using AI has the potential to deliver considerable benefits, not just to individual users but entire Trusts and, ultimately, patients. These include:
- More accurate reporting
- Increased efficiency and faster workflows
- Managed security and compliance with cloud hosted solutions
- A reduced risk of errors
- More agility and the ability to report from anywhere.
However, while healthcare can unlock the same benefits as enterprises, the barriers to adoption are substantially different.
Making AI more accessible for radiology
In May 2024, The Royal College of Radiologists highlighted several major barriers to the adoption of AI. These included workforce shortfalls, outdated IT infrastructure, and educating radiologists to use new AI tools effectively. The report also emphasised the need for robust governance frameworks to bring control to the way new technologies are implemented, adopted and maintained.
Unlike other sectors, radiology’s adoption of AI is potentially hamstrung by the financial realities and organisational efficiencies of how healthcare works today.
In part, this can be addressed by making AI-powered solutions more accessible and adaptable. Augnito, for example, integrates sophisticated AI into a refreshingly straightforward and easy to use frontend. Radiologists can start with Augnito on any device with little or no training and, since Augnito is hosted in the cloud, there’s no need to be limited by an existing IT infrastructure.
Simultaneously, the time-savings achieved by Augnito lead to direct cost savings – on average, switching to speech recognition for reports (as opposed to slow manual transcription) creates an efficiency gain of around 5%. This could save £100,000s across an entire Trust, resources that can be repurposed into addressing the more fundamental barriers to transformation like legacy IT.
Integrating AI speech recognition with RIS/PACS
Another way we’re making AI more accessible in radiology is through our longstanding partnerships with leading Picture Archiving & Communication System (PACS) and Radiology Information System (RIS) providers.
Augnito has been integrated by Hexarad into its radiology reporting platform, empowering radiologists with a faster, more flexible way of reporting, reflecting Hexarad’s forward-thinking approach and position as Radiology Technology Innovator of the Year. In practice, Hexarad’s improvements to radiology workflows are positively impacting patients. An implementation in North West Anglia created time savings of up to 80 minutes per patient and Hexarad enables 30% more MSK scans per hour with its streamlined workflow including Augnito.
Similarly, Augnito is integrated with Intelerad’s PACS reporting, bringing voice recognition options into the reporting process. Intelerad’s InSight PACS is an established leader in the space, recognised Best in KLAS for the UK and Ireland PACS category in 2024.
At this year’s UK Imaging and Oncology (UKIO) congress 2024 in Liverpool, representatives from Intelerad and Hexarad presented discussions on trends, best practice, and the future of radiology. They were joined by other high-profile Scribetech partners with Augnito embedded into their solutions, including:
- Aptvision Ltd, with their e-referral portal, delivering better patient outcomes, reducing workloads for medical staff
- CIMAR UK Ltd, who recently joined forces with NHS England to deliver the AI Development Platform Pilot at Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust that will enable the deployment of AI in medical imaging across the NHS
- Fujifilm Healthcare UK, who have integrated Augnito into their Universal Reporting module and presented this at UKIO along with new ultrasound imaging innovations and live demonstrations on its DeepInsight AI technology
- Magentus, with a new Managing Director at their UK helm and a team supporting more than 25 million imaging events each year across 700+ locations with its Cris Radiology Information System
- OpenRad Services UK Ltd – Biotronics 3D, showcasing its cloud-based, Augnito speech enabled remote reporting platform that includes the functionalities of a PACS, RIS and diagnostic 3D visualisation as distinct subscription packages with secure access from anywhere and from any device.
The integration of Augnito Voice Services into these partners’ platforms reflects the continued growth of Augnito AI powered speech recognition across radiology. While Scribetech has been an approved NHS solutions provider for over two decades, it brought Augnito to the UK market as a disruptive technology with a view to democratise the use of speech recognition across the continuum of care through Augnito’s value advantage – a better and more cost effective way for healthcare professionals to leverage the cloud and AI, to easily transform their patient data workflows. Now, 30 months later, Scribetech supports more than 2,000 UK radiologists who have switched to Augnito – through the company’s partnerships and direct channels. This year’s UKIO theme and message ‘Vision and Values: Putting People First’ resonates with the positive effect and impact that Augnito has had and is having on radiologists, and on patient imaging and diagnostics.
Learn more about Augnito
Interested in becoming an Augnito Spectra reseller, or an Augnito Voice Services integration partner? Contact us. See how Augnito makes cloud-based AI benefits more accessible to radiologists. Request a demo.
[London, 31 January 2023] – Scribetech has been re-appointed to the NHS Commercial Solutions Framework Agreement for the provision of digital dictation, speech/voice recognition, outsourced transcription and associated services in all four of the authority’s lots.
Scribetech (UK) Ltd has been re-awarded its third consecutive listing, since 2010, on the NHS Commercial Solutions Framework following the contracting authority’s comprehensive information gathering and tender evaluation process.
Scribetech will see its Textflow digital dictation solution and Augnito voice-AI speech recognition products offered to all NHS organisations.
The four lots under the NHS Commercial Solution framework agreement for which a product or services provider is invited to tender include: Products and/or Services Catalogue; In-house and Outsourced Digital Dictation Service Solution, Outsourced Transcription Service Solution, and Managed Service Solution.
Formed in 2007, and based in the South East of England, the NHS Commercial Solution Framework is a non-profit procurement shared services hub providing collaborative solutions and end-to-end services that combine data analytics and its dedicated category specialists’ in-depth knowledge of supply markets to address stakeholder needs. Categories include: corporate services, digital, estate and facilities, pharmacy, workforce and staffing, and clinical. These services are offered and provided across the NHS and the wider public sector, supporting acute, mental health, community, ambulance trusts, and commissioning organisations.
To date, NHS Commercial Solutions has saved in excess of £230 million for its customers, based on year one project savings alone.
Scribetech has long been recognised as a pioneering clinical transcription services and medical documentation company that has consistently ranked top on multiple NHS Framework contracts since 2005. “We are extremely pleased with the NHS Commercial Solutions award. It validates not only Scribetech’s vision and our digital dictation technology and voice-AI capabilities, but the ability to provide NHS organisations with cost-effective solutions that really do address many of the core issues that confront medical professionals on the healthcare frontline, such as improving efficiency and accuracy, as well as optimising clinical workflows, resources and budgets.” commented Shiraz Austin, Co-Founder of Augnito and Managing Director at Scribetech (UK) Ltd.
“Scribetech was founded to provide acutely accurate, efficient, cost-effective, outsourced and in-house services and technology to support NHS clinical transcription. Augnito was developed as a result of 20 years of hands-on-experience delivering such services. Combining our digital dictation, transcription and speech recognition voice-AI offering as an augmented clinical administration solution is where we believe NHS organisations will start to see their digital transformation garnering the positive results they critically need across all care departments” concluded Austin.
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Notes to editors
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About Scribetech Textflow and Augnito
Visit https://www.scribetech.co.uk/ for more details.