Nuance Validates Ability to Automatically Extract Information from Paper-Based Files and Populate EHRs

BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) today announced that at the recent IHE North America Connectathon 2013 event in Chicago, IL, the Company successfully completed testing for extracting discrete data from paper records and automatically populating appropriate fields in medical documents. This solution conforms to the new Consolidated CDA format, and can help hospitals and physicians address certain Meaningful Use requirements for information sharing and exchange.

“We see exceptional value in incorporating this new state-of-art CLU-powered image scanning technology into our suite of computer assisted clinical documentation and coding solutions”

The healthcare industry continues to rely on paper-based information for many critical processes. According to the US Healthcare Index the US uses 4,969,875,500 sheets of paper every year just for the processing of healthcare claims and payments. In addition, approximately 60 percent of the 1.2 billion clinical documents produced in the United States each year are in unstructured form (like dictated notes or paper records), requiring manual processing to make this health data actionable. A significant portion of this paper contains information that is needed to complete electronic forms, and could easily be scanned to convert into electronic form.

“There is a tremendous amount of important clinical data contained in paper-based records,” said Michael Rich, senior vice president and general manager, Nuance Document Imaging. “By creating a method to automatically extract and manage this information, Nuance enhances the accuracy and availability of patient records. With better records, hospitals are able to improve patient care, directly impacting the bottom line for hospitals and others in the healthcare industry.”

The solution integrates Nuance’s Clinical Language Understanding (CLU) capabilities and Imaging scanning technologies to automatically extract discrete patient data from paper records and populate the appropriate fields in medical documents. In addition, for the second consecutive year at Connectathon, Nuance successfully completed interoperability testing for the transmission of patient records with several EHR systems by enabling users to convert scanned document images and securely transmit them directly into a patient’s record.

“We see exceptional value in incorporating this new state-of-art CLU-powered image scanning technology into our suite of computer assisted clinical documentation and coding solutions,” said Peter Durlach, senior vice president of marketing, product management & strategy, Nuance Healthcare. “Using Nuance to convert paper-based patient information into electronic and actionable clinical data, provides our healthcare customers with unmatched performance as they work to meet the demanding federal Meaningful Use and ICD-10 requirements.”

Results of the IHE North America Connectathon 2013 and C-CDA testing are available at: http://connectathon-results.ihe.net/. Nuance will be demonstrating the scanning and data extraction capabilities at the annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference March 3 – 7 in New Orleans, booth # 4025. For additional detail on Nuance’s testing, please read Nuance’s blog post, “EHR Trifecta: Document Scanning, CLU and Integration Standards.”

Nuance Communications, Inc.

Nuance Communications, Inc. is a leading provider of voice and language 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 devices and systems. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance’s proven applications. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.

Trademark reference: Nuance and the Nuance logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other company names or product names referenced herein may be the property of their respective owners.