/ en Sun, 27 Apr 2025 21:16:12 -0500 Tue, 31 Aug 21 06:30:00 -0500 /aha-center-health-innovation-market-scan/2021-08-31-alexa-what-your-future-health-care <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-8"> <p><img alt="Alexa, What Is Your Future in Health Care? A patient speaks to an Echo smart speaker platform and Alexa artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant and an Echo Show 10." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0a04bc50-7cf2-4cca-a0a4-0e07f5a9c87d" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/ms_083121_item1_Amazon_620_1998852.jpg" width="620" height="381"></p> <p>Amazon has a huge desire to disrupt health care, and one of its most powerful weapons in this effort is an unassuming device that has gained unrivaled access to consumers.</p> <p>The Echo smart speaker platform and Alexa artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant now reside in more than 50 million U.S. homes and Amazon says it has about 70% of the voice-assistant market. With ever-increasing frequency, consumers are asking Alexa questions about their health and wellness as some hospitals and health systems race to build programs for the platform to engage with patients.</p> <p>Amanda Goltz, who leads business development for Alexa Health and Wellness at Amazon, notes that millions of Americans now use Alexa to refill prescriptions, schedule doctor visits, access daily care plans set up by their physicians and more. But in a <a href="https://matter.health/live" target="_blank">recent talk hosted by the Chicago-based innovation incubator Matter</a>, Goltz said that health care voice technology applications are only scratching the surface of their potential.</p> <h2>Voice Applications in the Pandemic</h2> <p>During the pandemic, Amazon expanded health care voice applications, placing Echo devices with Alexa in about 200 hospitals, including COVID-19 isolation units to help staff and patients communicate with each other at a safe distance. The deployment was facilitated under emergency HIPAA guidance from the Department of Health & Human Services.</p> <p><img alt="A women speaks into a Amazon Echo Show 5. ChristianaCare developed an Alexa skill to help 250,000 seniors with their daily care plans at home." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="0227622d-ac82-4a79-8add-760746cd6496" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/ms_082121_item1_Amazon_quote_390_1998854.jpg" width="309" height="353" class="align-right">Amazon is using what was learned from this and other health care experiences to advance its products and to learn more from clinicians about best-use cases for voice technology. While noting that Alexa won’t be used to diagnose or treat patients and that Amazon doesn’t plan to pursue FDA regulatory review for those purposes, Goltz says the voice assistant can help physicians with tasks like ordering, assisting staff and more.</p> <p>Next month, Amazon plans to release results from a trial conducted with ChristianaCare on the Alexa skill it developed to help 250,000 seniors with their daily care plans at home. The integrated delivery network built a comprehensive home health skill on Alexa that enables seniors to ask their home health coaches what they’re supposed to do that day and receive instructions.</p> <p>The skill changes dynamically each day based on information in the electronic health record about each patient’s care plan instructions, such as whether medications, dosing or timing have changed; physical therapy and occupational therapy exercises or visits; visits from home nurses or home care aides; wound care checks, etc.</p> <p>Goltz encourages hospitals and health systems to explore ways to use voice technology to engage with patients at home. Free natural language understanding and machine learning tools are available through <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/" target="_blank">Amazon’s Alexa developer console</a>. The site also provides story boards, tutorials and links to agencies that can help health care organizations build multiconversational terms to collect the data needed to deliver the experience they want for both patients and clinicians.</p> <h2>3 Keys to Developing a Voice Strategy</h2> <h3>1. Begin with a great use case.</h3> <p>The best use case is something that is hands-free and can be done more easily by voice than an app or website. A New England children’s hospital developed a skill called My Daily Check-in to assist parents in caring for their children after surgery. Alexa can deliver the hospital’s post-surgical care instructions daily, including what to look for when examining the surgical site and more.</p> <h3>2. Offer a new service.</h3> <p>Voice and video (which can be displayed on Echo 10 versions) can communicate and show new services or connect patients with products and services to help them on their health care journey.</p> <h3>3. Change skills frequently.</h3> <p>Be prepared. Voice-assistant skills have to be updated far more often than apps or websites because Alexa and other voice assistants need to have fresh and new content. This can be something as simple as a health care tip of the day, such as a prompt to ask your doctor if you need to take a daily vitamin D supplement.</p> </div> <div class="col-md-4"> <p><a href="/center" title="Visit the AHA Center for Health Innovation landing page."><img alt="AHA Center for Health Innovation logo" data-entity- data-entity-uuid="7ade6b12-de98-4d0b-965f-a7c99d9463c5" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/logo-aha-innovation-center-color-sm.jpg" type="file" class="align-center"></a></p> <a href="/center/form/innovation-subscription"><img alt data-entity-type data-entity-uuid src="/sites/default/files/2019-04/Market_Scan_Call_Out_360x300.png"></a></div> </div> </div> .field_featured_image { position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } .featured-image{ position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } Tue, 31 Aug 2021 06:30:00 -0500 Voice Technologies /aha-center-health-innovation-market-scan/2020-03-10-alexa-can-now-answer-questions-about-1500-most <div class="container row"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-8"> <p><img alt="Amazon Alexa puck stock" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="368bf202-1dcb-4f1f-b075-a63a7b760ca0" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/ms_031020_item2_amazon_alexa_190_1002192.jpg" width="190" height="127" class="align-right">Amazon continues to grow its partnerships with health care technology companies as it expands its access points with consumers. The latest move: a deal with drug and medical database company <a href="https://www.fdbhealth.com/company/press-releases/2020-03-03-first-databanks-authoritative-drug-information-helps-answer-customer-questions-on-amazon" target="_blank">First Databank (FDB)</a> that will allow <a href="https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/alexa" target="_blank">Amazon’s Alexa voice-assistant</a> users to ask for information on the 1,500 most commonly prescribed drugs in the U.S.</p> <p>The initiative will leverage concise clinical drug information authored specifically for Alexa by FDB clinicians, based on their reviews of the most relevant content from each company’s proprietary drug information monographs. The project also provides custom content that allows consumers to ask about a drug’s effects — interactions, side effects, precautions and the drug’s class. The custom data file will provide information in English and Spanish and will be updated regularly.</p> <p>The feature adds a new dimension of care management to Amazon’s HIPAA-compliant voice assistant, which now has a 70% share of the U.S. home voice assistant market, according to <a href="https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/amazons-alexa-can-now-answer-simple-queries-about-drugs/573398/" target="_blank">Healthcare Dive</a>. FDB officials argue that the information provided by the service will lead to improved medication adherence, a reduction in adverse drug events and better patient outcomes.</p> </div> <div class="col-md-4"> <p><a href="/center" title="Visit the AHA Center for Health Innovation landing page."><img alt="AHA Center for Health Innovation logo" data-entity- data-entity-uuid="7ade6b12-de98-4d0b-965f-a7c99d9463c5" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/logo-aha-innovation-center-color-sm.jpg" type="file" class="align-center"></a></p> <a href="/center/form/innovation-subscription"><img alt data-entity-type data-entity-uuid src="/sites/default/files/2019-04/Market_Scan_Call_Out_360x300.png"></a></div> </div> </div> .field_featured_image { position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } .featured-image{ position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } Tue, 10 Mar 2020 01:15:00 -0500 Voice Technologies /aha-center-health-innovation-market-scan/2019-10-01-innovative-devices-engage-patients-their-health .field_featured_image { position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } .featured-image{ position: absolute; overflow: hidden; clip: rect(0 0 0 0); height: 1px; width: 1px; margin: -1px; padding: 0; border: 0; } <div class="container row"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-8"> <p><img alt="Innovative Devices Engage Patients in Their Health — at Home and on the Run. A woman accesses a standalone desktop device with a touch screen to access medical care." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="6367f3b8-ba44-45a6-a45c-3ebc32bdd7fb" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/ms_100119_item1_Innovative_technology-620.jpg" width="620" height="412"></p> <p>Technology is helping consumers engage with their health as never before, opening new avenues to promote wellness and help them comply with their doctors’ orders. Two recent examples: a companion robot to help consumers — particularly the elderly — with medication adherence and wireless earbuds that connect to a voice assistant to monitor things like distance run and calories burned.</p> <p>In the rapidly growing robot assistant market, home products giant <a href="https://www.stanleyblackanddecker.com/" target="_blank">Black & Decker</a> has teamed with <a href="https://www.pillohealth.com/" target="_blank">Pillo Health</a> to launch <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pillo-health-and-blackdecker-partner-to-deliver-smart-home-care-companion-300921592.html" target="_blank">Pria</a>.</p> <p>This voice-command device can schedule as many as 28 medication doses, provide alerts and dispense proper dosages. It includes a built-in camera and uses facial recognition and artificial intelligence to maintain security while sharing information through a mobile app that can be monitored remotely by a caregiver. It retails for $750, which includes a <a href="https://www.okpria.com/" target="_blank">one-year subscription through Black & Decker’s website</a>; thereafter subscribers pay a $10 monthly fee to gain access to mobile apps, video calls and check-ins for caregivers.</p> <p>As with many pill dispenser systems, Pria’s distributors tout the peace of mind the system offers to users and loved ones who care for them, noting that the device is part of smart home devices to help seniors live more independently. But the device goes a step further in enabling caregivers to place a video call into the home through an app and schedule remote reminders or check-ins that Pria can deliver on their behalf, notes a <a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech/new-robot-offers-home-monitoring-and-medication-dispensing" target="_blank">FierceHealthcare report</a>.</p> <p>Black & Decker is a financial backer of Pillo Health and will handle sales and distribution of Pria, which the tech company first announced at a conference last year. Pillo Health will market Pria to health care providers and other organizations focused on improving the health and wellness of patients at home. Still to be answered, however, is when or if information captured through Pria and its app can integrate with electronic health records to aid providers with such things as improving care coordination and patient monitoring.</p> <p>Also trying to capitalize on today’s more health-conscious consumers, Amazon reportedly is developing a new pair of Alexa-powered wireless earbuds that double as a fitness-tracking device. Named Puget, the earbuds are expected to include a built-in accelerometer to monitor activities like distance run, calories burned and running pace, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/23/amazon-plans-alexa-earbuds-with-fitness-tracking-echo-with-subwoofer.html" target="_blank">CNBC recently reported</a>, citing an unnamed source directly involved in the project.</p> <p>While this may be a small step for Amazon, it could signal the company’s desire to develop other products to help patients better manage their health. The Alexa access angle fits with Amazon’s strategy to place the voice-assistant in locations beyond the home. The report notes that the earbuds support talking to the voice assistant outdoors. Consumers will need an Apple or Android phone to use the earbuds, because they don’t include built-in cellular connectivity.</p> </div> <div class="col-md-4"> <div class="external-link spacer"><a class="btn btn-wide btn-primary" href="/center/form/innovation-subscription" title="Click here to subscribe to the AHA Center for Health Innovation Market Scan weekly newsletter.">Subscribe to Market Scan</a></div> <p><a href="/center/form/innovation-subscription" title="Read more Market Scan articles."><img alt="Market Scan logo" class="align-center" data-entity- data-entity-type="file" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/market-scan-logo.jpg" uuid="31df76fd-ac54-49e1-8e7d-dd92814e202c"></a></p> <p><a href="/center" title="Visit the AHA Center for Health Innovation landing page."><img alt="AHA Center for Health Innovation logo" data-entity- data-entity-uuid="7ade6b12-de98-4d0b-965f-a7c99d9463c5" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/logo-aha-innovation-center-color-sm.jpg" type="file"></a></p> </div> </div> </div> Tue, 01 Oct 2019 01:01:00 -0500 Voice Technologies