The healthcare chatbots are coming. Be afraid. Or not.

Paddy Padmanabhan is founder and CEO of Damo Consulting, a growth strategy and digital transformation advisory firm that works with healthcare enterprises and global technology companies, and author of The Big Unlock: Harnessing Data and Growing Digital Health Businesses in a Value-Based Era. My first instinct on being hit with the flu (after consulting Dr. Google, of course) was: I'm fine, I don't need to go to an ER. I need to speak with my primary care physician (PCP), get him to prescribe some meds, have someone pick it up for me, stay hydrated and ride it out for the next few days. I typed out a message via the myChart app on my iPhone (I had also lost my voice, so I was in no shape for a phone conversation) to my PCP, gave him a brief run-down of my symptoms, and waited. I had to wait two days before I received an answer -- from an administrative staff member, who asked me to call their after-hours service.