What is the best microphone for medical dictation?

The best microphone for medical dictation is one that sits close to the speaker and is supported by your software. For most clinics that means a dedicated dictation microphone or a close headset, not the built-in microphone of a laptop. Accuracy depends on the audio the recognizer receives, so the microphone is one of the cheapest levers you have.

Our guide to medical dictation covers the software side. This question covers the hardware.

A distant microphone raised the error rate in one study

Distance changes what the recognizer hears. In one study, a single distant microphone gave a word error rate about 3.2 times the close-talking rate ¹. That is a rough ratio, because the speech and rooms in the two conditions differed. A close microphone raises the speech relative to the room, which matters most where there is fan noise, doors and corridor talk. Our glossary entry on noise-canceling microphones explains the design that helps.

Dragon Medical One's recommended devices include the SpeechMike

One institutional IT page lists the devices Nuance "has tested and recommends" for Dragon Medical One, including the Nuance PowerMic and the Philips SpeechMike ². That page is undated, so check the current list before you buy. The same page warns that "microphone quality can vary between manufacturers and can greatly affect speech recognition quality" ³.

Philips says the SpeechMike is the official successor to Nuance's PowerMic 3 and PowerMic 4 ⁴. The SpeechMike Premium Touch is the model Philips describes with a "decoupled studio-quality microphone" and a "built-in noise reduction filter" ⁵. These are the manufacturer's claims, so the test in the last section is what settles it for your speakers.

One US reseller lists the SpeechMike Premium Touch SMP3700 at $369 ⁶. Prices vary by seller and model.

Headsets work when they sit in the right place

A headset is a practical choice when a clinician moves around the room. Nuance's guidance for a Dragon headset is to keep the microphone element "about an inch from the side of your mouth, but not touching it" ⁷.

Bluetooth headsets need a caution. Apple says that when Bluetooth switches to its second mode, audio quality is reduced until the microphone is no longer in use ⁸. For dictation, prefer a wired headset or a dictation microphone over wireless earbuds.

The options compared

For the laptop case, see our question on whether a laptop microphone is good enough. For headsets, see the question on wireless headsets.

Test the microphone on your own notes

1. Check the current compatibility list on the vendor's page for your software version. The Stony Brook list is a starting point, not a final answer.
2. Set the distance. Keep a headset element about an inch from the side of the mouth, and keep a desk microphone at the position its guide gives. Check the input level too, because a quiet input starves the recognizer.
3. Dictate ten real notes from your specialty and count the errors. Compare the microphones on the same notes, in the same room.

It depends on the room and the workflow

A single clinician in a quiet private office may do well with a cheap wired headset or a built-in microphone at a close distance. A shared clinic with fans, doors and corridor talk needs a close microphone more than a long feature list. A clinician who needs the microphone for other work, such as a desk and a phone, may prefer a model with buttons and a foot control. Our glossary entry on the dictation foot pedal explains that option.

For the software question, see Dragon Medical One vs Dragon NaturallySpeaking. For cost, see the question on how much Dragon Medical One costs.