As voice technology becomes more mainstream, organizations -- including healthcare -- are looking for ways to incorporate the technology into their operations and marketing strategies. While healthcare has been slow to adopt voice technology, it has begun to catch up to other industries. One type of use in healthcare is providing information to patients before and after hospitalization/procedures. 
Lowell General Hospital in Massachusetts is currently engaged in a pilot program with Amazon’s Echo voice assistant to provide information to patients before and after knee replacement surgery. Patients receive a lot of information before and after these procedures and it’s important that these instructions be followed carefully to achieve an optimal outcome. Once the patient leaves the hospital, the one-on-one support is gone. Alexa can fill in the gap.
Before going to the hospital, information about preparing for the procedure is loaded into the service. When the patient is ready for discharge, post-operative information is loaded. Post-op content helps with managing recovery, medications, diet, exercise, sleep and follow-up doctor visits. The service may be able to integrate with the patient’s medical record, which can help to personalize post-op instructions. Patients can do a daily check of their care plans and the hospital can adjust those plans as needed.
Knee replacement surgery is the first use case because of its detailed, specific post-operative care plans. As part of the pilot program, the hospital will assess how often the platform is accessed from home and look at measurable outcomes such as hospital readmissions.
Is your organization using voice technology for patient care?