Hi,

With the recent announcement of the end of life of Dragon Medical Practice Edition, many users have been contacting us about whether or not they should upgrade or purchase version 4 or switch to a subscription based software like SayIt.

There’s no concrete answer however if you don’t have a specific reason to switch to a cloud based voice recognition system at this time, you are better off purchasing Dragon Medical Practice Edition 4 and the main reason is cost.

Unfortunately, DMPE4 is the last desktop medical speech recognition program available where you can just purchase it outright. After March 31, 2021, if you want to use a medical based speech recognition software, you’ll have to go to a subscription product like SayIt. Now, SayIt is a great product and we are excited to sell it but not everyone likes the idea of now having to pay every month for something when they may have had their current software for the last 5-6 years and only paid once. Sure the technology has gotten better and continues to improve but speech recognition is not an exact science and it’s still not 100% accurate. Cloud based services do add some additional features and increased mobility like being able to use your iPhone as a microphone. easy setups, cloud profiles etc…but not everyone needs that.

Should I purchase Dragon Medical Practice 4 with it’s end of life coming? Lets look at this practically:

The product will still be supported until March 31, 2022 so you’re going to get at least one more year with support. After that, it’s not like the product will stop working. It will continue to work as it always has. We still have clients running Dragon Small Practice Edition which is well over 10 years old. The things to consider is if you ever have to replace your computer or reinstall, you may not be able to activate the software. If there is a major Windows version update, there is a possibility that it may stop working.

Look at is this way. Even if you are only able to get two years out of the software, you’ll still be further ahead financially than if you switch to a subscription based software right now. Realistically, you will most likely get more than 2 years. Likely a good 2-4+ years unless you really like to keep your computers up to date in which case you could upgrade your computer(s) in February 2022, reinstall Dragon on your new computers and you will be good for the foreseeable future.

This post is not meant in any way to deter anyone who likes being on the cutting edge of technology and is ready to make the jump to the cloud. It’s just for the users who are unsure whether the time is right or maybe because of the recent pandemic, users looking for the most financially responsible option for now.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at any time.