The healthcare industry is under constant pressure to meet the needs of patients and employees. Current inefficiencies in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) have culminated in extended wait times for hospital admission, difficulties in arranging appointments, and critical staff shortages.
Against this backdrop it’s more prudent than ever to drive digital transformation and create extraordinary experiences throughout the healthcare ecosystem.
To address these challenges, healthcare providers are realising the significance of artificial intelligence (AI) as a force multiplier, with its ability to automate routine tasks and streamline healthcare operations.
The emergence of this technology is revolutionising healthcare via a wide range of applications, ranging from analysis of medical images to the prediction of treatment outcomes. AI is also being leveraged to improve hospital operations through patient scheduling, predictive maintenance of medical equipment and real-time patient monitoring.
Additional use cases include better engagement with patients and freeing up staff by automating routine tasks, made apparent with technologies such as Conversational AI (CAI).
Enhancing experiences
In fact, CAI presents a key use case, with virtual assistants bringing value through automated conversations with patients, healthcare providers, health insurance payers, and life sciences companies. This has enabled a range of exciting applications that provide greater convenience to patients, while enabling healthcare providers to streamline their work.
The emergence of these solutions enables healthcare providers to improve the overall patient experience through greater access to care and enhanced patient engagement.
More specifically, Conversational AI can automate appointment scheduling, medication refills, patient reminders, lab results tracking, and medical history recording. This enables healthcare professionals to focus on providing high-quality care rather than continuously addressing routine tasks.
Furthermore, CAI can improve patient engagement by providing personalised and convenient interactions. Patients can use CAI to receive real-time information about their health conditions, access educational resources, and receive guidance on self-care.
CAI can also assist in managing chronic conditions not only through reminders on medications, but also advice on lifestyle changes and monitoring overall health. This increased engagement can lead to better patient outcomes and increased satisfaction.
Moreover, these solutions can enhance patient retention by providing continuous support, reliable healthcare information and personalised care. For private healthcare providers, patients who have positive experiences with CAI are more likely to continue using the service and remain loyal, which is crucial to meeting performance KPIs.
Improving the bottom line
By automating tasks such as appointment scheduling and administrative paperwork, CAI solutions enable healthcare providers to optimise their operations and reduce labour costs. According to data from Juniper Research, annual cost savings from the adoption of AI virtual assistants in healthcare were expected to reach $3.6 billion globally by 2022, presenting an increase from the estimated $2.8 million in 2017.
CAI can also facilitate efficient utilisation of healthcare resources, such as directing patients to the right department or person quickly, managing patient flow in hospitals, or triaging patients based on their symptoms or conditions. Employee recruitment, onboarding, and training can all be facilitated through virtual assistants too. This can all result in cost savings and improved resource allocation.
Further direct benefits for employees include enhanced productivity and more time to focus on patient care, increasing job satisfaction and tenure, and empowering them to deliver exceptional patient experiences.
Your Conversational AI prescription
The potential for innovation in healthcare becomes more apparent as the conversation around AI and virtual assistants continues. By leveraging Conversational AI, healthcare organisations are already enjoying a range of benefits, not only in reducing the amount of routine work, but in providing an optimal service for their patients.
With its natural language processing capabilities, leading technology can understand medical terminology and provide accurate information about diseases and treatments to both doctors and patients in a conversational format in 100+ languages. What’s more is that this care is convenient and secure, with support beyond business hours to offer patients more control over their health and wellness by delivering lab, test, and procedure outcomes and recommended next steps – all when they want it.
It’s time to start driving real operational advantages and improve access to care, boost patient experience and generate better health outcomes.
By Serkan Ibrahim, Vice President, Europe, Kore.ai