Mobile chatbots to automate intake for telehealth and in-person visits, while maintaining COVID-19 social distancing and safety protocols.
Oakland, CA — August 12, 2020
LifeLink today announced that Memorial Health System selected the company to provide advanced conversational technology that virtualizes the waiting room experience for every patient who has an appointment with their physicians. LifeLink-powered artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots communicate through intuitive, natural language-based mobile messaging to help patients confirm appointments, screen for COVID-19 symptoms, complete intake forms, provide timing updates, and check in for visits. The mobile solution supports both in-person and telehealth appointments.
Memorial Health System (MHS) is a community-based, not-for-profit corporation serving the people and communities of central Illinois through five hospitals, behavioral health and home services units, and Memorial Physician Services — a network of physicians that handles more than 300,000 patient visits each year.
“As patients get back to seeing their physicians for care, we must find ways to virtualize that experience to keep everyone safe, but there’s a bigger opportunity at hand,” said Jay Roszhart, president of MHS’ ambulatory group. “We’re always looking for ways to improve our patient experience. LifeLink chatbots virtualize the entire intake process on mobile devices, which will ultimately do away with the need for waiting rooms and will make the patient’s visit more efficient.”
The virtual waiting room chatbot solution digitizes processes that were previously handled through manual, one-off phone calls, paper forms, and in-person interactions. Now patients simply converse with a digital agent on any smartphone or personal device. Key capabilities include:
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Reminder and confirmation messages are sent ahead of appointments
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Intake and consent forms are digitized into conversational workflows and completed before arrival
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Chatbots educate patients about COVID-19 protocols and conduct a risk assessment
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On the day of appointment, the bot provides timing updates and alerts when it is time to enter the office and go directly to the exam room
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Integration into the hospital’s electronic health record (EHR) and scheduling systems for full process automation
“The COVID-19 pandemic has created an opportunity and urgency to improve digital patient engagement,” said Greg Johnsen, CEO of LifeLink. “The MHS team understands that technology is the path forward and it must be mobile, interactive, and simple. Conversational chatbots are designed to engage and help patients navigate their care. Today, we’re addressing waiting rooms, but MHS has identified several other improvement opportunities that we are excited to be part of.”
“We were among the first providers to successfully launch conversational chatbot screeners from LifeLink as the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread,” Roszhart added. “Now it’s time to take patient engagement innovation to the next level. The waiting room presents a significant opportunity to reduce costs and streamline operations, all in the context of delivering a better, safer patient experience.”
