EMERGENCY?
What do you do when you face any emergency?
Call an ambulance, right?
But the line is busy. No one is picking up.
Now what? You quickly need to take action.
Do you need to visit the doctor? Do you need to admit the patient to the hospital?
What if you're the patient?
99% of emergencies occur when we do not have the information.
Keeping this information handy - is what chatbots can help us with.
Healthcare chatbots handle patient inquiries, furnish essential information, and schedule appointments, freeing up medical personnel's time to concentrate on critical emergencies.
Let's do an open heart surgery on how the healthcare industry needs technological innovation.
What is a Healthcare Chatbot ?
Healthcare Chatbots represent AI technology in the healthcare industry. They are conversationalists that run on the rules of machine learning and development with AI technology.
Here’s how healthcare chatbots transforming the industry
- Efficiency - Healthcare chatbots improve the efficiency of healthcare services by reducing the workload of healthcare workers.
- Personalization - Based on the patient’s medical history and symptoms, they provide personalized recommendations for medicines, exercises, food, etc.
- Accessibility - They make healthcare services more accessible to people living in remote or underserved areas.
- Innovation - They are changing the way patients engage with healthcare providers & access patient information - leading to advancements in virtual healthcare & telemedicine.
- Cost-effectiveness - Routine tasks like scheduling appointments, medication reminders, capturing patient data, medical assistance, etc can be automated, bringing the cost of healthcare down by a big margin.
Why Healthcare Chatbots are on the Rise ?
- Improved patient experience - Scheduling appointments online, getting medical advice whenever you need it, timely medication reminders, etc.
- Integration with Electronic Health Records (EHRs) - This enables all healthcare providers access to patient data anytime, anywhere - for better patient care & engagement.
- Partnerships with healthcare providers - This solves for accessibility of any and every service provider at your fingertips.
- Improved AI and NLP technologies - Technology enables providers to share accurate and personalized medical advice - making it a trustworthy source of information for all people.
- Growing demand for virtual healthcare - You can now access a variety of healthcare services online, such as booking doctor's appointments, ordering medicines, getting prescriptions, checking symptoms, and more, all from the convenience of your own home.
World-renowned healthcare companies like Pfizer, the UK NHS, Mayo Clinic, and others are all using Healthcare Chatbots to meet the demands of their patients more easily.
What are the benefits of healthcare chatbots?
Here are some of the main benefits of chatbots in healthcare:
1. Availability around the clock
Health crises can occur unexpectedly, and patients may require urgent medical attention at any time, from identifying symptoms to scheduling surgeries.
However, healthcare providers may not always be available to attend to every need around the clock. This is where chatbots come into play, as they can be accessed by anyone at any time.
2. Provides critical information instantly
In healthcare, every second counts. Chatbots provide quick and helpful information that is crucial, especially in emergency situations.
In the event of a medical emergency, chatbots can instantly provide doctors with patient information such as medical history, allergies, past records, check-ups, and other important details.
3. Personalized care
One of the main benefits of chatbots in healthcare is personalised care as it provides a clear path to find solutions, instead of having patients searching for symptoms on your website which may leave them feeling frustrated and without the help they need.
However, with the use of a healthcare chatbot, patients can receive personalized information and recommendations, guidance through their symptoms, predictions for potential diagnoses, and even book an appointment directly with you. This provides a seamless and efficient experience for patients seeking medical attention on your website.
4. Collects data for future reference
While a website can provide information, it may not be able to address all patient queries. That's where chatbots come in - they offer a more intuitive way for patients to get their questions answered and add a personal touch.
Chatbots gather user information by asking questions, which can be stored for future reference to personalize the patient's experience. With this approach, chatbots not only provide helpful information but also build a relationship of trust with patients.
5. Improved patient engagement
While healthcare professionals can only attend to one patient at a time, chatbots can engage and assist multiple customers simultaneously without compromising the quality of interaction or information provided.
Chatbots also enable patients to connect with professionals through online consultations like video calls, texts, emails, and more. This not only scales engagement but also gives medical professionals more time to focus on patients who require their attention the most.
6. Cost-effective
By automating routine tasks such as appointment scheduling, medication reminders, and other administrative tasks, chatbots can significantly reduce costs associated with healthcare services.
7. Reduced wait times
With chatbots, patients can receive immediate medical advice and assistance, reducing wait times and solving their queries in real time. This is especially helpful for those seeking urgent medical attention or has time-sensitive health concerns.
8. Improved accuracy & consistency
Lastly one of the benefits of healthcare chatbots is that it provide reliable and consistent healthcare advice and treatment, reducing the chances of errors or inconsistencies.
Patients can trust that they will receive accurate and up-to-date information from chatbots, which is essential for making informed healthcare decisions.
What are the Use Cases of Chatbots in healthcare?
After knowing the benefits of chatbots in healthcare, it is essential to know the main applications of chatbots in the healthcare industry:
1. Schedule appointments
Patients can book appointments directly from the chatbot, which can be programmed to assign a doctor, send an email to the doctor with patient information, and create a slot in both the patient's and the doctor's calendar.
With this feature, scheduling online appointments becomes a hassle-free and stress-free process for patients.
2. Check for symptoms
Patients can quickly assess symptoms and determine their severity through healthcare chatbots that are trained to analyze them against specific parameters. The chatbot can then provide an estimated diagnosis and suggest possible remedies.
With the chatbot remembering individual patient details, patients can skip the need to re-enter their information each time they want an update. This feature enables patients to check symptoms, measure their severity, and receive personalized advice without any hassle.
3. Provide support
Healthcare chatbots can be a valuable resource for managing basic patient inquiries that are frequently asked repeatedly. By having an intelligent chatbot to answer these queries, healthcare providers can focus on more complex issues.
In addition, chatbots can also be used to grant access to patient information when needed.
4. Coverage and claims
Healthcare chatbots can streamline the process of medical claims and save patients from the hassle of dealing with complex procedures. With their ability to understand natural language, healthcare chatbots can be trained to assist patients with filing claims, checking their existing coverage, and tracking the status of their claims.
This provides patients with an easy gateway to find relevant information and helps them avoid repetitive calls to healthcare providers. In addition, healthcare chatbots can also give doctors easy access to patient information and queries, making it convenient for them to pre-authorize billing payments and other requests from patients or healthcare authorities.
5. Enhancing patient experience
Healthcare chatbots offer the convenience of having a doctor available at all times. With a 99.9% uptime, healthcare professionals can rely on chatbots to assist and engage with patients as needed, providing answers to their queries at any time.
6. Helping with therapy
Therapy chatbots that are designed for mental health, provide support for individuals struggling with mental health concerns. These chatbots are not meant to replace licensed mental health professionals but rather complement their work. Cognitive behavioral therapy can also be practiced through conversational chatbots to some extent.
7. Medication management
Patients can benefit from healthcare chatbots as they remind them to take their medications on time and track their adherence to the medication schedule. They can also provide valuable information on the side effects of medication and any precautions that need to be taken before consumption.
What are the different types of healthcare chatbots?
Here are five types of healthcare chatbots that are frequently used, along with their templates.
1. Healthcare appointment selector
This chatbot template provides details on the availability of doctors and allows patients to choose a slot for their appointment.
2. Personal assistance for health insurance
Health insurance is one of the most important investments we ever make. A health insurance bot guides your customers from understanding the basics of health insurance to getting a quote.
3. Dental Clinic
This is a simple website chatbot for dentists to help book appointments and showcase different services and procedures. This chatbot also assists in generating leads.
4. Patient treatment feedback
This chatbot template collects reviews from patients after they have availed your healthcare services.
5. FAQ chatbots
Chatbots have an uptime of 99.9%. So, healthcare providers can use a chatbot dedicated to answering their patient's most commonly asked questions. Questions about insurance, like covers, claims, documents, symptoms, business hours, and quick fixes, can be communicated to patients through the chatbot.
Top 20 best healthcare chatbots
Now that you know all about healthcare chatbots, here are our list of Top 20 best healthcare chatbots you can use-
1. Babylon Health
It offers medical consultations & health assessments.
2. Sensely
It can help connect with healthcare providers & help patients manage chronic conditions.
3. Buoy Health
This is a symptom checking chatbot.
4. Woebot health
It uses cognitive-behavioral therapy techniques for helping patients with mental health problems.
5. ADA health
It offers personalized health assessments.
6. Your.MD
It provides personalized health information.
7. Florence
It is a medication management chatbot.
8. Infermedica
This is a symptom checking chatbot that connects patients to various healthcare services.
9. Medwhat
It offers personalized health advice.
10. HealthTap
It connects patients with doctors for consultations.
11. K Health
It provides personalized diagnosis & treatment recommendations
12. Lemonaid Health
It provides online consultations with doctors & prescriptions delivery
13. Medici
It helps communicate with doctors for consultations & appointments
14. Lark Health
It provides personalized health coaching for chronic conditions
15. PactCare
It provides personalized support & guidance
16. HealthJoy
It offers information on healthcare benefits & provides cost-saving recommendations
17. 1 mg
It is an online medicine ordering
18. Symptomate
It is a symptom checker chatbot
19. Tava Health
It is a mental health chatbot
20. Zocdoc
It can help book appointments with healthcare providers
How to build a healthcare chatbot?
Now that you know where you can use a Healthcare Chatbot and, more importantly, why you should use one, you must also know how to build one of the best chatbots in healthcare. With Engati, you can easily build a chatbot for your healthcare service without any technical know-how. Engati allows you to build a chatbot without any coding. You can deploy your chatbot across various channels such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, and more, along with an omnichannel presence that allows you to keep track of all patient and customer conversations and makes you more accessible to patients!
Moreover, you can customize your healthcare chatbot based on your needs.
With Engati, you can choose from various chatbot templates across multiple use cases. You can also check out these templates here!
FAQs
1. How does a chatbot operate as a healthcare consultant?
With regard to health concerns, individuals often have a plethora of questions, both minor and major, that need immediate clarification. A healthcare chatbot can act as a personal health specialist, offering assistance beyond just answering basic questions.
It can provide symptom-based solutions, suggest remedies, and even connect patients to nearby specialists. Healthcare chatbots prove to be particularly beneficial for those individuals suffering from chronic health conditions, such as asthma, diabetes, and others.
2. How does a chatbot operate as a self-care coach?
Medical chatbots offer a solution to monitor one's health and wellness routine, including calorie intake, water consumption, physical activity, and sleep patterns. They can suggest tailored meal plans, prompt medication reminders, and motivate individuals to seek specialized care.
Moreover, chatbots can send empowering messages and affirmations to boost one's mindset and confidence. While a chatbot cannot replace medical attention, it can serve as a comprehensive self-care coach.
3. What is the future of healthcare chatbots?
The future of healthcare chatbots looks promising. They are likely to become ubiquitous and play a significant role in the healthcare industry.
While chatbots can never fully replace human doctors, they can serve as primary healthcare consultants and assist individuals with their everyday health concerns. This will allow doctors and healthcare professionals to focus on more complex tasks while chatbots handle lower-level tasks.
The perfect blend of human assistance and chatbot technology will enable healthcare centers to run efficiently and provide better patient care.
Visit Engati to build your very own robust healthcare chatbot and explore our starter packs to make use of the chatbot templates mentioned above!
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