Our medical group is beginning implementation of a non-blacklisted EMR.  We have 3 or so docs who would like to use voice recognition.  
Thanks to all of the forum contributors - I've perused the archives for hours and had most of my questions answered.  Still have a few Q's though.

Q1: My reading of the forum has led me to believe that DNS Pro + Knowbrainer provides more advanced speech recognition (because it's on the 11.5 version) than the current Dragon Medical Practice Edition and at a lower cost.  Are their any downsides to the DNS Pro + Knowbrainer approach when compared to DMPE for use with a non-blacklisted EMR?

Q2: I've read that DNS Pro can be used on up to 5 machines.  Is this one user on up to 5 machines (ie. does each user need a separate license) or for multiple users (even if more than 5) as long as its limited to use on 5 machines?

Q2:  Does the Medical Practice Edition also allow use on up to 5 machines or does it require per-user licensing?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Andrew

Not currently using speech recognition software 

Andrew,

DNS 11.5 has a couple of additional bells and whistles which are useful, but it also contains additional bloat, such as the use of the iPhone as a wireless microphone and being able to automatically post dictation to Facebook and Twitter, all of which I consider to be a waste of time and equivalent to buying a new laptop with all the bloatware that such contains. As regards accuracy and performance, there is no difference between DNS 11.5 and DMPE 11.0. That is, there are no accuracy or performance tweaks in DNS 11.5.

Also, KnowBrainer adds some interesting and perhaps useful macros, but simply combining DNS 11.5 Professional and KnowBrainer saves you time by not having to create some of the macros that Lunis has already done for you, but it doesn't add any additional functionality or features to the capabilities built into DNS 11.5 Professional Re: Advanced Scripting.

If you read this before I revised it, but I apologize. I wanted to restate what I said originally, so I'm editing it after the fact.

DNS 11.5 Home, Basics, Premium, Professional, and Legal all allow you to INSTALL on up to five computers (i.e., 5 activations). As far as use is concerned, ONLY YOU, the original purchaser, are permitted to create user profiles on any of those five computers and ONLY you are permitted to use it on any of those five computers. Colleagues, friends, other doctors, business partners, employees, etc. are neither licensed nor authorized to use YOUR copy of DNS regardless of how many machines you've installed it on period. It is a violation of the End-User License Agreement (EULA) if you allow anyone other than yourself to create user profiles on any of these five installations or use your license to use DNS on any of these five installations period. If anyone other than yourself wishes to create user profiles on any of these five installations, then they must by either their own copy or an additional license period. In other words, you cannot buy one copy of DNS, install it on five computers and assume that anyone can use DNS on any one of those five computers. That is a violation of the End-User License Agreement pure and simple.

You're splitting hairs here. The End-User License Agreement is the same for all versions and all flavors of Dragon NaturallySpeaking. The restrictions noted above do not change because the version changes. In the case of DMPE (Dragon Medical Practice Edition 11.0) the word is that this particular version of DNS only allows FOR INSTALLATION on four computers vs. five for the other versions. Don't ask why because no one knows absolutely for sure, but the scuttlebutt is that the Dragon folks are more protective of the medical version and have experienced more abuse and violation of the End-User License Agreement in the past by doctors. Regardless, if you purchased DMPE, then you are the only one who can create user profiles and use it regardless of how many computers you install it on or which computer you are using it on. Anyone else must purchase their own licensed copy or license.

There are only two conditions to the End-User License Agreement that you need to pay attention to:

1. Any copy of DNS that you purchase regardless of version is licensed to, and only to, YOU. You are the only one who is authorized to use such (i.e., create user profiles or install on multiple machines). If you install DNS on up to five machines, only you are licensed to use such, create profiles on any of these machines. You are not permitted to use any of these machines simultaneously. In other words, you can go from examining room to examining room if you are a doctor and use the particular machine in each location. However, the EULA permits you to use only one computer at a time.

2. You may create as many user profiles as you wish according to the limitations of your hardware in terms of being able to store such because user profiles can get quite large. However, any profiles that you create on any computer on which you have installed your purchased and licensed copy of DNS must be YOUR user profiles and you are the only person authorized to use such under the EULA.

The bottom line is that if you want every doctor and or employee at your place of business to be able to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking, then each of them must purchase their own copy (licensed) of DNS or an additional license. Notice that I said EACH. Allowing anyone else to create a user profile on any of these installations of YOUR copy is a major violation of the End-User License Agreement (EULA).

Don't assume: (a) that if you violate the End-User License Agreement you won't get caught, (b) regardless of what anyone else has said, don't assume that the End-User License Agreement is not supportable in a court of law.

If you get caught violating the End-User License Agreement, you can be subject to any or all of the following: 

1. Nuance can issue an order to cease and desist, as well as require that you prove to Nuance 's satisfaction that you have done so by obtaining a court injunction against you, which simply means that you must prove to the courts that you have done so and the courts have the right to inspect your place of business to ensure that you have done so.

2. Nuance can revoke your license to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking, refund your money, and prohibit you from ever using Dragon NaturallySpeaking again.

3. Nuance can take you to court and recover any monetary damages and court costs.

Chuck Runquist
Technical Project Manager
VoiceTeach LLC
Home of VoicePower®: We don't make Dragon NaturallySpeaking, we make it better!

"The problem with communication is the illusion that is has occurred."- George Bernard Shaw

Well, the short answer to this, DMPE allows for installing on 4 machines (as opposed to 5 for any other version), but does so on a per-user license. So you need to buy as many licenses as there are people actively dictating. (And a few copies to install from as long as you don't exceed four installs for each, so keep a record of your installs.)

Rüdiger

Well, it's past the point where we can make any changes in the code, but we can still make changes to the Easter Egg!

Thanks again Chuck and Rüdiger for your perfectly targeted answers.  I guess you guys aren't new at this.

I have no intention of violating the EULA by trying to buy fewer licenses.  I develop medical references for mobile devices and web-based access so feel strongly about adherence to licensing terms.  I just didn't find this explained clearly enough elsewhere and didn't want to be the spendthrift who bought 3 copies when only 1 was needed.

Thanks also for clarifying the decision between DMPE and Pro + Knowbrainer.  Very helpful.

Andrew 

Andrew, 

There's a lot of good info in this thread, but just to add two obvious points: Dragon Medical Practice Edition contains a medical vocabulary that you'd have to re-create or purchase separately if you were to use a "regular" version of Dragon instead of the Medical edition. Regarding licenses: Nuance has a solid group/enterprise licensing division. Give them a call if you're interested in purchasing a Professional (Pro, Legal, or Medical) version of Dragon for a group, and they might be able to work something out with you. Nuance's tech support and sales team catches a lot of ...flak around here (and deservedly so when compared with the specialized service and expertise that a dedicated individual can offer), but their enterprise licensing team is, in my humble opinion, rather accessible and flexible.

Cheers,

Eric Wright At work: DNS 12 Pro. At home: DNS 11.5 Pro,  KnowBrainer 2011, and Utter Command by RedStart Systems; Dragon Dictate 3 for Mac

Appetite for Dictation - My Blog

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