Patient Engagement

This month, companies including Oracle, Medtronic, Atropos, Elation, LeanTaas, Palantir and more released artificial intelligence and virtual reality enhancements that offer health systems a menu of efficiency tools. 

A new tool can provide healthcare customer service representatives with real-time financial data on patients to guide more empathetic conversations about payment options, says RevSpring President Nicole Rogas.

Seventy percent of calls require no human intervention. Data is free of human error. Providers save more than two hours per day. Staff no longer are tied up on calls and patients are kept out of phone trees – no one is placed on hold.

Kyruus Health's technology helps simplify the process of searching for care via multiple online sources by determining patients' desired location and type of care, explains Gen Conlin, the company's senior director of clinical services.

Providers need to listen more carefully to patient feedback, and to be more discreet in how they respond online to avoid potential HIPAA violations, a broad new analysis of review scores shows.

The app – with features galore and other apps intertwined – has seen a fivefold increase in daily use, with data showing that it meets the goal of being a central part of how patients and families interact with the health system.

These additions come while work is underway to consolidate the app with similar apps from other public healthcare clusters.

A VR tool at Moffitt Cancer Center helped relieve a patient's anxiety about undergoing treatment by enabling him to experience a simulation of the procedure. Dr. Sarah Hoffe, Moffitt's interim chair of GI oncology, shares more.  

Fostering a culture of transparency, accuracy, and respect for patient data may be key to fully realise AI's potential in healthcare, says a healthcare data analyst.

Also, New Zealand's Healthline is introducing a new GP booking capability.