Today we’re going to talk about the basics of Dragon Medical One.  To open Dragon Medical one, double click on the Dragon Medical one icon on your desktop.  

Your username is unique to you.  The username's are created in the Nuance Management Center, which is usually managed by your IT staff.  The first time you login you will need to type in your username, but after that Dragon will remember your previous sign on (See image above).  

Any USB microphone or device that is plugged into your system will appear under the microphone section (See image below).  

English is the only language the dragon understand and you can pick from 13 different specialties.  If your specialty is not listed, pick the one closest to your specialty or just select general medicine.

You will know that dragon is open by seeing the dragon bar floating on your screen (See image above).  

This bar can be moved around your screen as needed.  The dragon bar can be minimized but there is some benefit of leaving it visible as you will be able to see when your microphone is green and on (See images below).

There are several microphone icons you will see, the red microphone usually appears when using a dragon dictation PowerMic II or III. this icon will also appear with a Phillips, Grundig or Olympus microphones.  If you are using PowerMic mobile, you will notice an orange Square cell phone icon.  This icon will turn red once the connection is made between your cell phone and Dragon Medical One.  The third thing you may see is a microphone icon that is light blue.  This usually appears when using a USB device, such as a headset.  For this device the commands “wake up” and “go to sleep” will turn on and turn off your microphone. The microphone will turn Green when it is on and listening.

If you begin dictating without having your cursor placed in your electronic medical record or any other program such as Microsoft outlook, Microsoft Word, or an Internet webpage, the dictation box will open.  This is dragon's version of the notepad.

When dictating and Dragon, speak naturally and in full sentences, saying all of your punctuations with your voice.  You do not need to wait for the text to render.  Anytime your microphone is on, dragon is listening so be careful of extraneous words.  Dragon is trained to ignore the “uh’s” and the “Um’s”.

Dragon Medical One offers a wide range of commands designed to assist you in correcting or editing your words.  Getting familiar with the basic commands will assist you in increasing your productivity.  

When giving a command in Dragon, give that command as if you were training a dog.  A slight pause with your voice, a natural comma and then speak the command.  Try not to leave any space between the command and the word or words you are selecting.  

For example,

"Patient is a 45-year-old male who comes in with hypertension, hyperlipidemia and gout."  

If I made a mistake and the patient is 35 rather than 45, I would say, "select 45".

Dragon highlights the number 45 allowing me to now say, "35".  The age has been corrected.  

You are able to select several words at one time by saying select "patient through hypertension".  The next words I say will replace the highlighted words.  The command, "deselect that" we will remove the highlighting.  

You can say the commands “insert before” a word and “insert after” a word to add words to previously dictated statement.  When resuming dictation, "end of field" can be used to place your cursor at the end of your text.

Most providers prefer to dictate directly into their Electronic Medical Record, rather than the dictation box.

Using Dragon Medical One, you will be able to expedite your patient documentation and increase your productivity.

We discuss the use of AutoTexts and Step by Step Commands in subsequent Quick Reference Guides.