Last year, I posted about Alexa being able used to access complex health information. Microsoft, on the other hand, has taken a different approach to the use of a chatbot/AI for healthcare. Instead of the chatbot being able to access your health record, why not have it answer routine questions patients have prior to an appointment?
With this goal in mind, Microsoft has created the Microsoft Healthcare Bot, which is a service that allows healthcare organizations to streamline their processes, and take some of the workload off of their staff. What I like about this service is that it allows for “basic” questions to be answered – issues like clinic hours, when results can be expected, or whether to fast before a blood test, can all be answered. It also has a built-in escalation system, where if a patient needs more information, or if they can’t get the answer they need, the AI will pass them on to a person who can answer their questions with the current transcript, ensuring a smooth patient experience. So the idea is that these will address easier questions where a quick response is possible, thus freeing up staff time to deal with more complex or technical concerns.
Now, there are definitely concerns with such an approach. Perhaps most importantly, the “personal” touch of someone reassuring patients prior to their test, and putting their mind at ease, is something that a chatbot is not equipped to handle. On top of that, there are security concerns, which is why these programs are being developed to be in compliant with regulations like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Quest Diagnostics is a company that has started using the Microsoft chatbot already, and the following was reported from Venturebeat:
Multibillion-dollar diagnostic services provider Quest Diagnostics piloted a bot that helped people who visited the website during call center hours find testing locations, schedule appointments, and get answers to non-medical questions, such as whether to fast before a blood draw and when to expect results. (It autonomously handed exchanges off to human reps in the event it became confused or wasn’t able to help with something.) In a survey Quest Diagnostics conducted post-deployment, 50 percent of respondents said they vastly preferred to engage with such a chatbot than a website search box or FAQ section. (emphasis mine)
So from the above, there’s definitely a need for this service in the healthcare space. I’ve used similar services for non-healthcare related applications and I’ve appreciated the speed with which I can have my issue resolved – often well before I would have been able to talk to a person. It also allows me to do this, but if something else needs my attention, I can minimize it and come back to it later, which is obviously not an option when you are chatting with someone else.
Now one thing to note is that this is all part of a more holistic play for the healthcare space by Microsoft. Specifically, their cloud-based platform (Azure) allows for users to modify their chatbot to suit their company, as well as plug into their other offerings. To that end, Healthcare NExT (New Experiences and Technology) will be Microsofts in-house division focused on bringing together different data sources, AI, research and technology to “transform patient and clinician empowerment.” It’s an ambitious goal, but as we move from data warehouses to data lakes (and then to data <insert newest metaphor here>), we need to have a common set of tools and programs that can make the most of this information; otherwise we’re no further ahead than where we were 10 years ago – just instead of filing cabinets we have file servers. One of the ones I’m most interested in is Project InnerEye, which promises to allow for quicker radiotherapy planning for physicians through 3D generation of scans in minutes rather than hours.
For those who want to give the Healthcare Bot a try, it’s available here on Thoughtstuff.
