M*Modal announced Wednesday that the University of Virginia Health System will use the Franklin-based company's M*Modal Fluency Direct and M*Modal Catalyst for Quality programs to speech-enable electronic health record systems. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Using M*Modal's cloud-based Natural Language Understanding speech engine, UVA medical staff and informatics professionals will be able to quickly and accurately capture clinical narratives for improved billing, productivity and patient care.

"Electronic medical records have significant potential to help us improve the care we provide for our patients," Mark Andersen, interim chief of technology services and health information for UVA Health System, said in a release. "Comprehensive documentation of the care we provide is vital for a variety of reasons."