Getting answers from a chatbot: Empowering patients through artificial intelligence Public Health

Last year, I posted about Alexa being able used to access complex health information. Microsoft, on the other hand, has taken a different approach to the use of a chatbot/AI for healthcare. Instead of the chatbot being able to access your health record, why not have it answer routine questions patients have prior to an appointment? With this goal in mind, Microsoft has created the Microsoft Healthcare Bot, which is a service that allows healthcare organizations to streamline their processes, and take some of the workload off of their staff. What I like about this service is that it allows for "basic" questions to be answered – issues like clinic hours, when results can be expected, or whether to fast before a blood test, can all be answered. It also has a built-in escalation system, where if a patient needs more information, or if they can't get the answer they need, the AI will pass them on to a person who can answer their questions with the current transcript, ensuring a smooth patient experience.