Healthcare Chatbots: Benefits, Use Cases, and Top Tools

Healthcare chatbots, acknowledging the varied linguistic environment, provide support for multiple languages. This inclusive approach enables patients from diverse linguistic backgrounds to access healthcare information and services without encountering language barriers. The integration of chatbots stands out as a revolutionary force, reshaping the dynamics of patient engagement and information dissemination. Here, we explore the distinctive advantages that medical chatbots offer, underscoring their pivotal role in the healthcare landscape. Thorough testing is done beforehand to make sure the chatbot functions well in actual situations. The health bot’s functionality and responses are greatly enhanced by user feedback and data analytics.

The search terms were derived from previous reviews and informatics experts interested in mental health issues [13]. Further, search terms related to mental disorders were derived from the Medical Subject Headings index in MEDLINE. The search strings utilized for searching each bibliographic database are shown in Multimedia Appendix 2. Of 1048 citations retrieved, we identified 12 studies examining the effect of using chatbots on 8 outcomes.

Healthcare professionals and new decision-making conditions

They analyze user data and preferences to suggest suitable wellness activities and lifestyle changes. Gathering user feedback is essential to understand how well your chatbot is performing and whether it meets user demands. Collect information benefits of chatbots in healthcare about issues reported by users and send it to software engineers so that they can troubleshoot unforeseen problems. If you want your company to benefit financially from AI solutions, knowing the main chatbot use cases in healthcare is the key.

As computerised chatbots are characterised by a lack of human presence, which is the reverse of traditional face-to-face interactions with HCPs, they may increase distrust in healthcare services. HCPs and patients lack trust in the ability of chatbots, which may lead to concerns about their clinical care risks, accountability and an increase in the clinical workload rather than a reduction. Pasquale (2020, p. 57) has reminded us that AI-driven systems, including chatbots, mirror the successes and failures of clinicians. However, machines do not have the human capabilities of prudence and practical wisdom or the flexible, interpretive capacity to correct mistakes and wrong decisions. As a result of self-diagnosis, physicians may have difficulty convincing patients of their potential preliminary, chatbot-derived misdiagnosis. This level of persuasion and negotiation increases the workload of professionals and creates new tensions between patients and physicians.

• LeadSquared’s CRM is an entirely HIPAA-compliant software that will integrate with your healthcare chatbot smoothly.
• Big hospitals have dedicated insurance help desks where a bevy of staff answer queries from harried bystanders of patients, who are often short on time.
• This practice lowers the cost of building the app, but it also speeds up the time to market significantly.
• They serve as round-the-clock digital assistants, capable of handling a wide array of tasks – from answering common health queries and scheduling appointments to reminding patients about medication and providing tailored health advice.
• It is one of the well-enjoyed advantages of chatbots in the US healthcare industry or any industry for that matter.

The confidentiality, privacy, security, liability,

competency, and licensure of the overseeing clinicians also currently remain unaddressed

concerns. New use cases, such as clinician decision support, automated data entry, or

management of the clinic, remain to be addressed. Seamless integration of chatbots into EHR systems involves compliance with healthcare standards like HL7 and FHIR.

By adhering to strict security measures, chatbots ensure that patient privacy remains intact throughout every interaction. Chatbots are proving to be invaluable assets in healthcare, enhancing efficiency and patient satisfaction. Their diverse applications signal a significant shift towards more technologically integrated healthcare solutions.

Top Health Categories

A big concern for healthcare professionals and patients alike is the ability to provide and receive “humanized” care from a chatbot. Fortunately, with the advancements in AI, healthcare chatbots are quickly becoming more sophisticated, with an impressive capacity to understand patients’ needs, offering them the right information and help they are looking for. Two-thirds of the chatbots in this review used predefined rules and decision trees to generate their responses, while the remaining chatbots used artificial intelligence. In contrast to rule-based chatbots, artificial intelligence chatbots can generate responses to complicated queries and enable users to control the conversation [13]. Artificial intelligence chatbots can exhibit more empathetic behaviors and humanlike filler language than rule-based chatbots [19].

A report by Precedence Research noted that the market value for AI chatbots in healthcare stood at $4.3 million in 2023. It’s just that healthcare has received a powerful tool, mastered it, and plans to use it in the future. Furthermore, these chatbots play a vital role in addressing public health concerns like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. By offering symptom checkers and reliable information about the virus, they help alleviate anxiety among individuals and ensure appropriate actions are taken based on symptoms exhibited. In addition to providing information, chatbots also play a vital role in contact tracing efforts.

How to create chatbot for healthcare?

Overall, the integration of chatbots in healthcare, often termed medical chatbot, introduces a plethora of advantages. From heightened patient interactions to streamlined healthcare processes, these chatbots play a pivotal role in delivering efficient, accessible, and patient-centric care in our technologically advancing healthcare landscape. It is important to consider continuous learning and development when developing healthcare chatbots. The health bot uses machine learning algorithms to adapt to new data, expanding medical knowledge, and changing user needs. In the first stage, a comprehensive needs analysis is conducted to pinpoint particular healthcare domains that stand to gain from a conversational AI solution. Comprehending the obstacles encountered by healthcare providers and patients is crucial for customizing the functionalities of the chatbot.

For instance, they can handle insurance verification and claims processing seamlessly, eliminating the need for hospital staff to manually navigate through complex paperwork. By streamlining these processes, chatbots save valuable time and resources for both patients and healthcare organizations. Patients no longer need to wait on hold or navigate complex websites to access their medical records or test results.

By choosing Moon Technolabs, healthcare providers can trust that they are integrating a tool that is not only technologically advanced but also sensitive to the needs of patients and healthcare professionals. Our commitment to excellence and innovation positions us at the forefront of healthcare chatbot development. This automation not only saves time for both patients and healthcare providers but also ensures continuous medication management, crucial for chronic conditions. The integration of chatbots for prescription refills showcases the evolving landscape of healthcare technology, prioritizing patient needs and operational efficiency.

Although alliance establishment early in traditional therapy is

predictive of favourable outcomes,28 little is today known regarding how patients feel supported by chatbots and how

alliance develops and affects psychiatric outcomes. Evidence brought forth in the

literature review conducted by Scholten et al.28 and Bickmore et al.29 suggest patients may also develop transference towards chatbots, leading to

unconscious redirection of feeling towards chatbots. Scholten et al. further state that

alliances are better formed between patients and chatbots with relational and empathetic

behaviour, suggesting that patients may be willing to interact with these chatbots even if

their function is limited. Designing chatbot functionalities for remote patient monitoring requires a balance between accuracy and timeliness.

The chatbot provides users with evidence-based tips, relying on a massive patient data set, plus, it works really well alongside other treatment models or can be used on its own. Now that you have understood the basic principles of conversational flow, it is time to outline a dialogue flow for your chatbot. This forms the framework on which a chatbot interacts with a user, and a framework built on these principles creates a successful chatbot experience whether you’re after chatbots for medical providers or patients. You do not design a conversational pathway the way you perceive your intended users, but with real customer data that shows how they want their conversations to be. Machine learning applications are beginning to transform patient care as we know it. Although still in its early stages, chatbots will not only improve care delivery, but they will also lead to significant healthcare cost savings and improved patient care outcomes in the near future.

Findings regarding the effect of chatbots on positive and negative affect were conflicting. While one study concluded that chatbots improved the positive and negative affect at the 2-week follow-up [29], another study did not find any significant influence of chatbots at the 2-week follow-up [28]. The population of interest was individuals who use chatbots for their mental health, but not physicians or caregivers who use chatbots for their patients. Eligible interventions were chatbots operating as standalone software or via a web browser. Chatbots that were integrated into robotics, serious games, SMS, or telephone systems were excluded. The current review also excluded chatbots that relied on human-operator generated dialogue.

Half of the included studies (6/12) examined the effect of using chatbots on the severity of depression [27-32]. Of these 6 studies, 4 studies were RCTs [27-30], and the remaining 2 studies were pretest-posttest quasiexperiments [31,32]. Four studies were conducted in the United States [28-30,32], and each of the 2 remaining studies was conducted in multiple countries [27,31]. The severity of depression was measured using PHQ-9 [28,29,31,32], Beck Depression Inventory II [27], and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [30].

As a computer application that uses ML to mimic human conversation, the underlying concept is similar for all types with 4 essential stages (input processing, input understanding, response generation, and response selection) [14]. First, the user makes a request, in text or speech format, which is received and interpreted by the chatbot. From there, the processed information could be remembered, or more details could be requested for clarification. After the request is understood, the requested actions are performed, and the data of interest are retrieved from the database or external sources [15]. We’ve already mentioned the main benefits of using chatbots in healthcare, but here are some examples of their applications in the sector. The results of these studies show that there is potential for effective, enjoyable mental

health care using chatbots.

Mental health chatbots like Woebot, Wysa, and Youper are trained in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which helps to treat problems by transforming the way patients think and behave. These healthcare-focused solutions allow developing robust chatbots faster and reduce compliance and integration risks. Vendors like Orbita also ensure appropriate data security protections are in place to safeguard PHI.

Epistemic probability concerns our possession of knowledge, or information, meaning how much support is given by all the available evidence. Following Pasquale (2020), we can divide the use of algorithmic systems, such as chatbots, into two strands. First, there are those that use ML ‘to derive new knowledge from large datasets, such as improving diagnostic accuracy from scans and other images’.

Data availability

Jayanti Katariya is the CEO of Moon Technolabs, a fast-growing IT solutions provider, with 18+ years of experience in the industry. Passionate about developing creative apps from a young age, he pursued an engineering degree to further this interest. Under his leadership, Moon Technolabs has helped numerous brands establish their online presence and he has also launched an invoicing software that assists businesses to streamline their financial operations. Chatbots are playing a pivotal role in recommending wellness programs tailored to individual health needs.

Dr. Liji Thomas is an OB-GYN, who graduated from the Government Medical College, University of Calicut, Kerala, in 2001. Liji practiced as a full-time consultant in obstetrics/gynecology in a private hospital for a few years following her graduation. She has counseled hundreds of patients facing issues from pregnancy-related problems and infertility, and has been in charge of over 2,000 deliveries, striving always to achieve a normal delivery rather than operative. “What doctors often need is wisdom rather than intelligence, and we are a long way away from a science of artificial wisdom.” Chatbots lack both wisdom and the flexibility to correct their errors and change their decisions. “The answers not only have to be correct, but they also need to adequately fulfill the users’ needs and expectations for a good answer.” More importantly, errors in answers from automated systems destroy trust more than errors by humans.

These chatbots are not meant to replace mental health professionals but to complement their work. The feedback or experiences shared by different customers can help improve your services, products, or make your website enhanced for your visitors. Say, for instance, if your online store or LP (Landing Page) has a good amount of organic traffic pouring in but fails to convert, you can figure out what is actually wrong with the help of chatbots. They apply methods from cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and various other therapy approaches in their interactions with users. Chatbots often deal with sensitive patient data that require strong security measures to ensure confidentiality and compliance with regulations like HIPAA. So it’s crucial to store data safely, encrypt it, and control who can see it to protect patient details.

The Rule requires that your company design a mechanism that encrypts all electronic PHI when necessary, both at rest or in transit over electronic communication tools such as the internet. Furthermore, the Security Rule allows flexibility in the type of encryption that covered entities may use. Rasa is also available in Docker containers, so it is easy for you to integrate it into your infrastructure.

Enhancing Your Customer Service with Interactive How-To Demos

This becomes especially useful in situations where immediate human interaction is not possible. Chatbots in healthcare offer round-the-clock availability, a crucial benefit in emergency situations. This non-stop service ensures patients always have access to medical guidance, significantly enhancing care delivery. Such availability is pivotal in modern healthcare systems, reflecting the transformative impact of technology.

Chatbots must be regularly updated and maintained to ensure their accuracy and reliability. Healthcare providers can overcome this challenge by investing in a dedicated team to manage bots and ensure they are up-to-date with the latest healthcare information. Chatbots are a cost-effective alternative to hiring additional healthcare professionals, reducing costs. By automating routine tasks, AI bots can free up resources to be used in other areas of healthcare. Since the 1950s, there have been efforts aimed at building models and systematising physician decision-making. For example, in the field of psychology, the so-called framework of ‘script theory’ was ‘used to explain how a physician’s medical diagnostic knowledge is structured for diagnostic problem solving’ (Fischer and Lam 2016, p. 24).

With all the data provided by the bot, users can determine whether professional treatment is needed or over-the-counter medications are enough. For example, a bot can answer questions such as which documents are necessary to receive treatment, what the payment tariffs are, how much is covered by the insurance, or what are the business hours. You can foun additiona information about ai customer service and artificial intelligence and NLP. That way, a chatbot works like a one-stop-shop for answering all the general questions in seconds. Patients don’t need to call the clinic or spend time navigating the website to find the information they need.

This is followed by the display of possible diagnoses and the steps the user should take to address the issue – just like a patient symptom tracking tool. This AI chatbot for healthcare has built-in speech recognition and natural language processing to analyze speech and text to produce relevant outputs. Chatbots are software developed with machine learning algorithms, including natural language processing (NLP), to stimulate and engage in a conversation with a user to provide real-time assistance to patients.

Patients can naturally interact with the bot using text or voice to find medical services and providers, schedule an appointment, check their eligibility, and troubleshoot common issues using FAQ for fast and accurate resolution. Hyro is an adaptive communications platform that replaces common-place intent-based AI chatbots with language-based conversational AI, built from NLU, knowledge graphs, and computational linguistics. Informative chatbots provide helpful information for users, often in the form of pop-ups, notifications, and breaking stories. Furthermore, hospitals and private clinics use medical chat bots to triage and clerk patients even before they come into the consulting room.

They provide preliminary assessments, answer general health queries, and facilitate virtual consultations. This support is especially important in remote areas or for patients who have difficulty accessing traditional healthcare services, making healthcare more inclusive and accessible. Chatbots will play a crucial role in managing mental health issues and behavioral disorders. With advancements in AI and NLP, these chatbots will provide empathetic support and effective management strategies, helping patients navigate complex mental health challenges with greater ease and discretion.

Being able to reduce costs without compromising service and care is hard to navigate. Healthcare chatbots can help patients avoid unnecessary lab tests and other costly treatments. Instead of having to navigate the system themselves and make mistakes that increase costs, patients can let healthcare chatbots guide them through the system more effectively. Early research even suggests that chatbots can improve upon some doctors’ style of communication.

And the best part is that these actions do not require patients to schedule an appointment or stand in line, waiting for the doctor to respond. As for the doctors, the constant availability of bots means that doctors can better manage their time since the bots will undertake some of their responsibilities and tasks. As you can see, chatbots are on the rise and both patients and doctors recognize their value. Bonus points if chatbots are designed on the base of Artificial Intelligence, as the technology allows bots to hold more complex conversations and provide more personalized services. This bot uses AI to provide personalized consultations by analyzing the patient’s medical history and while it cannot fully replace a medical professional, it can for sure provide valuable advice and guidance.

Thus, as a formal model that was already in use, it was relatively easy to turn it into algorithmic form. These expert systems were part of the automated decision-making (ADM) process, that is, a process completely devoid of human involvement, which makes final decisions on the basis of the data it receives (European Commission 2018, p. 20). Conversely, health consultation chatbots are partially automated proactive decision-making agents that guide the actions of healthcare personnel. As conversational AI continues advancing, measurable benefits like these will accelerate chatbot adoption exponentially.

If you’re planning to implement a chatbot to boost your operations, there’s a lot you’d expect it to offer. Since that totally depends on how you design it, we’ve brought you the top benefits of chatbots in healthcare industry that indicate how healthcare chatbots should work. Telemedicine uses technology to provide healthcare services remotely, while chatbots are AI-powered virtual assistants that provide personalized patient support. They offer a powerful combination to improve patient outcomes and streamline healthcare delivery.