AI chatbots for
healthcare businesses:
The unobvious benefits
you don't want to miss
Dr. Gleb Basalyga
PhD, Senior Machine Learning Engineer at Modsen
Chatbots need no introduction. A friendly pop-up window offering assistance and navigation by engaging users in a conversation has become a fact of life. But their powers stretch far beyond simply answering predefined questions.
The integration of artificial intelligence into chatbots has opened up a new chapter in the development of the healthcare industry, transforming the way medical services are delivered and received. What do AI assistants have to offer healthcare business owners?
Fact digest
In 2023, the estimated value of the global healthcare chatbots market reached USD 972 million.
The healthcare chatbot market is projected to witness a compound annual growth rate of 24% from 2023 to 2030.
90% of businesses have experienced expedited complaint resolution by using bots.
37% of AI start-up founders believe that virtual assistants will become the primary consumer application for AI.
By 2023, chatbots had saved businesses over 2.5 billion customer service hours.
AI chatbots VS their non-AI alternatives
Not all chatbots are made equal. Conversational assistants based on artificial intelligence offer healthcare businesses an incomparably wider range of features to benefit from.
Continuous learning
AI chatbots stand out by their ability to learn and adapt, provided by advanced NLP algorithms that understand and interpret user input more accurately, and ML models that enable bots to continuously improve over time.
Complex scenarios handling
AI-powered assistants can handle a broad spectrum of queries and scenarios, including complex conversations, seamless topic switching, and provision of nuanced personalized responses which is indispensable for healthcare client servicing.
Context-based conversations
AI chatbots enhance the user experience by providing coherent and relevant conversations by maintaining context throughout an interaction with a user, understanding previous data, and incorporating that information into subsequent responses.
Greater autonomy
AI bots are more than just chat interfaces. They're becoming true digital assistants capable of autonomous decision-making for query resolution. They can handle tasks end-to-end, from understanding the user's request to providing a solution, without requiring constant human oversight. We're still far from letting them off the leash but with the appropriate kinds of tasks AI chat agents already cope brilliantly under zero supervision.
AI assistant benefits: Customer's perspective
The value AI chat assistants bring to healthcare service users grows bigger with every coming year, introducing an unseen level of convenience, personalization, and accuracy. Here's a squeeze of benefits your clients will experience if you decide to go for AI chatbot incorporation:
Reliable source of health-related data
The web is full of misleading, controversial, and unchecked healthcare data people sometimes take at face value. Providing your customers with access to accurate and factual medical information will empower them to make timely informed decisions and avoid critical health-related mistakes.
Round-the-clock availability
Healthcare concerns might rise at any hour and sometimes they can't afford delay. AI chatbots provide nonstop assistance, allowing patients to ask for medical advice and get prompt answers to troubling questions without regard for traditional working hours.
On-the-spot symptom assessment
Googling the symptoms when feeling slightly unwell? Bad idea. Who hasn't almost fainted seeing the range of fatal diseases you've probably developed according to the first search results. AI chatbots offer a more risk-free solution by assessing the provided symptoms, suggesting a preliminary diagnosis based on accurate medical data, and giving personalized recommendations for further medical care if required.
“Providing your customers with access to accurate and factual medical information will empower them to make timely informed decisions and avoid critical health-related mistakes.”
Medication control
AI assistants can act as medication supervisors. This holds tremendous value for seniors who are increasingly reliant on regular medicine intake to avoid dangerous health conditions or chronic disease bouts. Bots can send daily reminders based on personal medication schedules and warn about potentially negative or neutralizing drug interactions.
Remote patient monitoring
Off-premises patient supervision has been gaining traction for over a decade and AI chatbots allow for a new spiral in the service. They enable remote monitoring of key health metrics, providing patients with data-based health insights and signaling in case any abnormalities are spotted. Combined with IoT technology, AI chatbots significantly improve at-home patient treatment and enhance the efficiency of elderly care.
Personalized health guidance
Educating your customers about their health has never been easier. Virtual AI assistants offer personalized wellness tips and recommendations based on a patient's health profile, making the treatment process more effective and fostering preventive care.
Stress-free appointment booking
Consider yourself lucky if you've never had to wait for half an hour in a phone line trying to schedule an appointment or get up before 7 am to call the doctor's office before all the spots for the upcoming week are booked. AI chatbots have the potential to eliminate all the stressful and inconvenient factors of medical appointment scheduling, streamlining the process to a couple of minutes.
Emotional support
Conversational digital assistants can act as confidential outlets for patients experiencing stress, anxiety, or frustration. A five-minute talk with a bot might not substitute a full-scale therapeutical session with a psychologist or psychiatrist but it can certainly help a person feel the involvement and recommend further professional guidance.
Accessible care
All health-related questions are important but not all of them require in-person medical visits. AI healthcare assistants can reduce the need for offline consultations by providing personalized initial patient case assessments and offering custom recommendations, leading to significant cost savings.
“AI chatbots have the potential to eliminate all the stressful and inconvenient factors of medical appointment scheduling, streamlining the process to a couple of minutes.”
AI assistant benefits: Business perspective
The incorporation of a conversational AI assistant into your healthcare business holds an untapped pool of advantages capable of taking patient experience to a brand-new level. With a properly devised strategy and a seasoned AI software development vendor by your side, AI chatbot business potential will flourish to its fullest.
Budget reduction
AI bots hold significant expenditure-cutting power. Quality automation of routine patient inquiries naturally results in a lower need for administrative personnel which accounts for around 15-30% of all healthcare workers employed at a medical organization.
Extended area of patient coverage
The incorporation of digital healthcare assistants can help cover the needs of patients living in remote or underserved areas, as well as individuals who would usually skip a doctor's appointment due to financial matters. A personalized approach to patients exercised by AI chatbots allows to “pre-screen” a patient's need for an in-person visit and avoid unnecessary appointments while encouraging them to make one if the case requires.
Patient habit creation
Successful businesses know that to stay afloat long-term, their products or services must help customers create habits. By incorporating AI chatbots in the B2C interaction framework and welcoming their current and potential clients to leverage their value, businesses induce individuals to form health-related habits associated with a certain healthcare brand.
Imagine having an accessible AI healthcare assistant yourself. 24/7 qualified support, a source of personalized recommendations, and unbiased healthcare advice you can trust – once you get it, you'll never want to let it go.
Customer insights extraction
By having patient conversations, AI chatbots generate valuable data insights, enabling healthcare providers to identify health trends, enhance care delivery, and make informed strategic decisions. After all, there is no such thing as “too much data” for a business.
Business scalability support
A company’s expansion is a highly complex and costly process, which requires to prepare its internal structure for a shift before making one. AI chatbots handle increasing volumes of patient inquiries simultaneously, allowing healthcare providers to scale their services without significant changes in staffing levels.
Healthcare brand differentiation
The competition in the healthcare service delivery market is building up. Innovative, patient-centric medical organizations are what modern patients need and AI assistant is a great tool for securing such a brand reputation. Be among the technology pioneers in your region or city to take your place in one of the most perspective healthcare market niches.
“By incorporating AI chatbots in the B2C interaction framework and welcoming their current and potential clients to leverage their value, businesses induce individuals to form health-related habits associated with a certain healthcare brand.”
Regulatory compliance supervision
The healthcare industry ranks first in the list of the most heavily regulated industries worldwide. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties and reputational damages are just a few consequences of filed regulatory non-compliance. AI chatbots are programmed based on evidence-based guidelines and regulatory standards, ensuring adherence to regulatory requirements by real-time compliance monitoring. Their integration in your workflow offers an additional standard adherence shield allowing for minimizing errors, enhancing patient safety, and reducing liability cases for healthcare providers.
The final thought
AI chatbots are slowly but steadily becoming an indispensable part of the healthcare industry. The earlier your business embraces the technology, the farther ahead you'll break away from competitors hesitating to accept the new norm of healthcare business operation.
P.S. As any other emerging technology, AI chatbots have their flaws and limitations to consider before making strategic business decisions. Covering them all in another expert article.