Content: Royal Philips (Philips) has collaborated with American healthcare solution provider Orbita to develop an AI-based conversational virtual assistant for Philips’ consumer health and patient support applications. Developers and non-technical workers can use Orbita’s conversational platform to create and manage cloud-based virtual assistants that can be deployed to web and mobile chat apps, smart speakers, interactive voice response (IVR) services, and short message services (SMS), as well as custom devices.

Nature of Disruption: Orbita offers Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) -compliant chatbots and voice assistants for various healthcare applications. OrbitaENGAGE is a virtual assistant for ‘digital front door’ applications that provides care throughout the patient journey. OrbitaASSIST is a voice-enabled virtual assistant that offers remote and in-facility patient support. Similarly, OrbitaCONNECT is a personalized virtual assistant that promotes pre-and post-visit outreach by helping patients manage their health and treatments in-facility or at home. The virtual assistant increases efficiency and reduces cost, allowing a user to enable real change across the organization per Orbita.

Outlook: The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the adoption of telehealth services such as AI-enabled voice services, virtual assistants and chatbots. Telehealth services provide continuous access to healthcare, thereby improving clinical efficiency and enhancing patient engagement. It guides patients and helps to deal with the situation remotely while communicating with physicians through virtual channels. Philips intends to utilize Orbita’s conversational virtual assistance platform to develop an integrated telehealth solution that allows healthcare providers to deliver on the quadruple aim of better health outcomes, increased efficiency throughout the health continuum, better patient and staff experiences, and lower cost of care.

This article was originally published in Verdict.co.uk