Artificial Intelligence technology and machine learning have revolutionized the healthcare industry. Robust AI solutions have enabled healthcare providers to support patient diagnosis and help enhance patient care and health outcome levels.
This is also true for the field of oncology. Cancer care delivery has been improving with the development of new drugs and therapeutics. Now care can be delivered beyond the walls of hospitals with the implementation of remote care technology and Electronic Medical Records (EMR) Software.
The Role of AI-powered Chatbots in cancer care
AI-powered healthcare chatbots play a significant role in cancer care by providing support, information, and personalized assistance to patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals. Chatbots can support cancer care in the following ways:
- AI-driven chatbots can be used by healthcare organizations to provide accurate information and education to patients. Access to readily available information about cancer care, and supportive care can greatly empower patients throughout their care journey.
- Chatbots can help patients with symptom management by offering guidance and intervention strategies.
- Patients suffering from cancer require emotional support to battle the deadly disease. Bots can provide that kind of emotional support by providing compassionate responses and listening to the patient.
- Healthcare organizations have leveraged AI-enabled chatbots to manage follow-up visits and send automatic reminders to patients. This helps to streamline the scheduling process and also combat the issue of patient no-shows.
- Chatbots can help improve medication adherence by reminding them to take their medications on time. Timely intake of medication can boost health outcome levels.
- By checking eligibility requirements and delivering pertinent information, chatbots can assist in matching suitable patients with active clinical trials and research activities. This can improve access to innovative medicines while also promoting cancer research.
‘Penny’ Chatbot to Enhance Cancer Care
To enhance cancer care Penn Medicine uses an AI-powered chatbot, Penny. Penny is an algorithmically propelled intelligent chatbot aiming to improve medication adherence and manage toxicities to deliver high-quality patient care.
Penny leverages text-based, two-way interactions to assist patients through complex schedules and reduce any chances of mistakes through chemotherapy courses.
What can chatbot Penny do?
The AI-driven chatbot can address any issues with medication adherence and dosing. The chatbot sends medication reminders twice a day to patients so they take their medications without delay.
The chatbot also started a weekly survey to identify patient-reported symptoms aiming to resolve the toxicities which could arise with oral anti-cancer agents.
Results of the AI Chatbot
The following positive results were achieved by using the bot in the field of oncology:
- 4,000 medication-related messages were exchanged.
- 93% of the messages were correctly interpreted.
- Patient engagement in symptom assessment was raised.
Moving ahead
Chatbots in healthcare offer many benefits to both providers and patients. They can reduce waiting time, and assist clinicians by providing them with quick access to critical information.
While AI-enabled chatbots provide vital support in cancer care, they are not designed to replace human healthcare professionals. Instead, they supplement existing care by giving cancer patients with accessible, timely, and personalized help.
