There is no doubt that the introduction of the vocal interface with devices such as the Amazon Echo/Alexa and Google Home is revolutionizing many industries.   This trend also includes healthcare.  As you know, developing Alexa Skills is one of my hobbies in retirement.  A good number of them are focused on health.  I thought I’d state a few use cases over the next few posts, and invite readers of this blog to suggest others.

One use case I think worthwhile is using Alexa to gather some information from the patient at home before their visit to the doctor.  In addition to the usual information, I think it could include information about the patient’s support system as far as the closeness of friends and relatives, and their short-term and long-term goals.  I think such a conversation would be more conducive to gathering this kind of information rather by answering questions on a computer screen.  My rationale for including this information is that it would help build a personal relationship between physician and patient.  Given the pressure on physicians to see as many patients as possible, there is less time to probe for this kind of information during the office visit.  If they are already available for the physician to read in the electronic medical record, then they would be able to, at the very least, acknowledge them at the visit.  When I practiced medicine many years ago, I was able to take the time to find out more about my patients rather than just their physical findings.  I truly enjoyed that aspect of practicing medicine immensely.

I’ll be looking forward to your comments and suggestions for other use cases.

Thanks,

Dr. Bob