Microsoft has just unveiled Dragon Copilot, a groundbreaking voice-activated AI assistant designed to revolutionize the healthcare industry. This innovative tool combines the capabilities of Microsoft’s existing dictation solution, Dragon Medical One, and ambient listening solution, DAX Copilot, into a single, powerful assistant. Dragon Copilot aims to help clinicians reduce their administrative workload, allowing them to focus more on patient care.
Dragon Copilot can draft clinical notes, referral letters, post-visit summaries, and more, all while pulling information from various medical sources. This new AI assistant is expected to significantly cut down the time clinicians spend on documentation, which currently averages around 28 hours per week.
By streamlining these tasks, Dragon Copilot aims to alleviate burnout and improve overall healthcare outcomes. Dragon Medical One is a cloud-based clinical documentation solution developed by Nuance Communications, designed to help healthcare professionals streamline their documentation process with advanced speech recognition technology.
Dragon Medical One’s origins can be traced back to Dragon Systems, a company founded in 1982 by James and Janet Baker, pioneers in speech recognition technology who developed the first commercial product. Nuance Communications acquired Dragon Systems in 2000, continuing to enhance the technology and establish itself as a leader in the field. Dragon Medical One was launched as a cloud-based solution that allows healthcare professionals to dictate clinical documentation directly into electronic health records (EHRs) using their voice.
The solution offers features such as advanced speech recognition, automatic accent detection, audio calibration, and built-in voice control, enabling clinicians to dictate notes, format, correct, and navigate documentation with natural language commands. Recognized for its effectiveness, Dragon Medical One has received several awards, including Best in KLAS for five consecutive years (2021-2025) and ranked #1 in speech recognition and clinical intelligence solutions.
Used by over 600,000 clinicians worldwide, Dragon Medical One has become an essential tool in the healthcare industry, significantly reducing documentation time and improving patient care. The solution integrates seamlessly with various EHR systems, supporting a wide range of clinical and administrative workflows, thus enhancing productivity and efficiency.
Its continued development and widespread recognition underscore its importance in modern healthcare.
Dr. David Rhew, Microsoft’s global chief medical officer, emphasized the potential benefits of this technology, stating that it will enable clinicians to concentrate on their patients rather than administrative tasks. Microsoft acquired Nuance Communications, the company behind Dragon Medical One and DAX Copilot, for approximately $16 billion in 20211. This acquisition has positioned Microsoft as a major player in the AI scribing market, which has seen rapid growth as healthcare systems seek solutions to address clinician burnout.
Dragon Copilot is accessible through a mobile app, browser, or desktop, and integrates seamlessly with various electronic health records. Clinicians can use natural language to edit their documentation and prompt the assistant further, making it a versatile and user-friendly tool1. For example, doctors can ask questions like, “Was the patient experiencing ear pain?” or “Can you add the ICD-10 codes to the assessment and plan?”.
WellSpan Health, a healthcare provider with 250 locations and nine hospitals across central Pennsylvania and northern Maryland, has been testing Dragon Copilot with a group of clinicians. Dr. David Gasperack, chief medical officer of primary care services at WellSpan, reported that the assistant is easy to use and more accurate than previous offerings1.
Dragon Copilot will be available in the U.S. and Canada starting in May, with plans to expand to the U.K., the Netherlands, France, and Germany in the following months. Microsoft has not disclosed the cost of Dragon Copilot but assures that the pricing structure is competitive1.
Dragon Copilot represents a significant advancement in healthcare AI, offering clinicians a powerful tool to streamline their workflows and improve patient care.
