Even as healthcare resources (providers and services) look to be shrinking in the near future, the demand for personalized, consumer-friendly service is increasing. People are accustomed to receiving such service from other industries, so they also expect it from healthcare. 

But if resources are in short supply, how can more personalized service be provided? AI has worked well in finance, retail and other industries, but AI adoption by healthcare has moved rather slowly. People don’t mind automation when it’s involved with retail purchases/deliveries or finances, but healthcare is different. People want human interaction where their health is involved, so it can’t be easily replaced.

Healthcare-related functions that lend themselves well to AI include scheduling, routine communications and feedback analysis. But even these functions are subject to more complex interactions that require a human’s touch.

Boston Children’s Hospital has looked to AI to assist with handling non-critical tasks. Some solutions are:

• Recording personal health information with an Alexa skill
• Evaluating disease burden of the flu and coronavirus with tracking models
• Guiding patients through the check-in process with self-serve kiosks in various locations – if needed, a live receptionist can be connected.

An optimal AI solution will have sufficient historical knowledge to answer a user’s questions, but will also have the intelligence to defer to a human when necessary.