Structured speech input for clinical data collection

This paper presents an environment for collecting clinical data using structured speech input. The system uses nomenclature terms and data consistency rules to limit the speech input to a discrete set of phrases which can be configured to support a wide range of studies. This information is stored in an event-oriented data model as strongly typed observations for subsequent distribution and data analysis. The use of speech input should result in increased efficiency during hands-busy data collection tasks. The strongly typed data, as opposed to free-form narratives, ensures a quantitative information base for analysis and clinical decision support.