Sometimes, feelings and emotions are easier to describe to people that we don`t know. Does that mean that people are avoiding judgment and shame? Or, is it just easier to talk to your shrink instead of your friends?
The world is changing, and chatbots are leading the way, as they are taking the health industry into the 21st Century.
Chatbots as Health Assistants
Today, even though we are still in the early stages, you can find several chatbots that can serve as health assistants. They still can`t operate or give you a prescription drug, but what they can do is that they may help to save you and tell you when it’s time to go to the doctors.
Until now, hospitals had non-interaction with clients. The patient could look at their website, find some information, and it ended there. The best practice that they had to advance their communication with clients was the Frequently Asked Questions page, but you couldn’t` find all the answers there.
On the other hand, chatbots are asking and replying to questions and interacting with users by offering them help and giving solutions to the questions that they have.
The First Pioneers of Chatbots in Health
Today, chatbots can interact with users, and according to a few simple questions and answers, can diagnose your problem and tell you if you need to go to the doctor or if you are just feeling tired.
Chatbots can also help you by scheduling an appointment with your doctor, as we all know how hard it can be to wait on the line and not to be sure what kind of appointment you need. Chatbots can change all of that.
Get Fast Information
Today, users want to receive information fast, and the healthcare industry is not left out. Chatbots are there to interact and give quick information to the users by engaging and being personal but also by providing information in real time.
Chatbots are more than a person to interact with in the health department, as they offer more than that. As we already said, chatbots can`t replace experienced doctors, but what they can do is to help you to schedule an appointment with the doctor you need or give you the contact for a person in the department that you need.
To make things easier, chatbots can help you to pay your hospital bills or even send messages and notifications as a reminder for patients to take their medication.
Just think of a chatbot as a personal virtual nurse.
Chatbots Implemented in the Healthcare System
Many hospitals saw the opportunity of chatbots and implemented them into their health systems. Hospitals in Europe are using chatbots as a helpline, and that way, they have preselected no emergency calls and messages and help people the best way with no need to stay on the line.
Depression, the Silent Death to the Modern World
Some people can`t talk about their intimacy and going to a psychiatrist can also be inconvenient for them as not so many people can speak in front of a stranger about their feelings, not to mention the financial aspect of the entire situation.
Chatbots can help here, as well.
Legal and Ethical Issues
Thankfully, chatbots can listen well. Of course, promising real medical results from a chatbot can introduce new legal and ethical issues.
In this situation, what a chatbot can do is to help you and organize your life better, give you more activity, send you motivation quotes and pictures, and check in on you from time to time via personal notifications and messages.
It`s a good start; maybe people are depressed because they work all the time and have no time to talk to their friends. But now, they can talk with a chatbot anytime that they want to.
We are moving to an era where chatbots can be more and more present in our lives. From ordering coffee to asking to refill our pills.
We are not there yet, but chatbots can take a big part in health administration, as they can streamline transfer requests, payments and doctor appointments.
Chatbots using Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing can have human-like conversations, and people will feel more and more confident in using them.
Posted by Maya S.