Amazon Alexa Now Connects With Healthtap's Dr. AI Health Care Data Repository

Amazon Alexa users with health issues can now have Alexa call Healthtap's Doctor AI to help figure out what's wrong and direct them to act accordingly. Doctor AI initially supported Apple iOS and Android devices and its first voice application, Talk to Docs launched for those same devices in 2013. But support for Alexa, the smart voice-activated software that debuted with the Amazon Echo connected speaker, brings Dr. AI to home users who might not be adept at using screens. "We'd been doing text and video before, then expanded into voice and that's exciting in healthcare because we serve many populations that are older, disabled, or frail," said Ron Gutman, founder and chief executive of Palo Alto, California-based digital health company which claims 107,000 doctors in its network. Records and data from those doctors make up Dr. AI's health care data trove.