Healthcare is one industry where self-service has become pivotal today considering the humongous treatment costs, thereby prompting individuals to self-diagnose their symptoms and track their vitals. Voice being the most natural, flexible and rapid method of communication, is drastically changing the way we can easily address health issues. It is potentially the next wave in the technology platform shift and will radically change the way we interact with technology.
As millions of people all over the world are using voice assistants in their everyday life, multiple health-related voice assistants have been introduced during the past few years and the global health virtual assistant market is expected to reach $3.5 billion in 2025. It is seen as a massive opportunity because consumers are willing to use voice assistants, which make the provider and patient interaction easier and more effective.
Voice plays a number of roles in healthcare processes, including, but not limited to
- Disease management
- System tracking and journaling
- Medication adherence
- Data collection and cost reduction
- Prompting patients to schedule appointments
- Helping them prepare for procedures
- Standardizing care information provided before or after treatment
- Asking questions during the care process
These real-time insights into patient wellness lead to improved, personalized care thereby shaping patient behavior and promoting better health practices.
The ability of voice technology to convert speech to text for creating documents, reminders, flag issues and predicting suggestions has been a boon for physicians, with tremendous impact in the area of data localization or regional languages.
A number of Apps have already been developed and many more are underway. They help in Patient Engagement & Communication, Diagnostics, Gaining Access to First Aid, Helping those with Disabilities, Adherence to Medication, Insurance Purchase and Claim Management, Tips for a Healthy Lifestyle and much more.
In spite of the few challenges as of now, such attentive and thorough patient care using artificial human responses represents a new horizon of healthcare.
Click below to find out more about the key opportunities, challenges and most successful use cases of voice assistants.
