Chatbot breakthrough in the 2020s? An ethical reflection on the trend of automated consultations in health care PMC

However, one of the downsides is patients’ overconfidence in the ability of chatbots, which can undermine confidence in physician evaluations. In the last decade, medical ethicists have attempted to outline principles and frameworks for the ethical deployment of emerging technologies, especially AI, in health care (Beil et al. 2019; Mittelstadt 2019; Rigby 2019). As conversational agents have gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic, medical experts have been required to respond more quickly to the legal and ethical aspects of chatbots. Task-oriented chatbots follow these models of thought in a precise manner; their functions are easily derived from prior expert processes performed by humans.

• By implementing the Conversational AI solution for handling refunds, the organization witnessed a significant reduction in the number of refunds provided, ranging from 13% to 28%, depending on the channel and time frame.
• Telecom chatbots have modified the way communication service providers interact with customers.
• Standardized indicators of success between users and chatbots need to be implemented by regulatory agencies before adoption.
• In addition, health chatbots have been deemed promising in terms of consulting patients in need of psychotherapy once COVID-19-related physical distancing measures have been lifted.
• Just because a bot is a..well bot, doesn’t mean it has to sound like one and adopt a one-for-all approach for every visitor.

Studies have shown that Watson for Oncology still cannot replace experts at this moment, as quite a few cases are not consistent with experts (approximately 73% concordant) [67,68]. Nonetheless, this could be an effective decision-making tool for cancer therapy to standardize treatments. Although not specifically an oncology app, another chatbot example for clinicians’ use is the chatbot Safedrugbot (Safe In Breastfeeding) [69].

How are chatbots beneficial in healthcare?

The automated chatbot, Quro (Quro Medical, Inc), provides presynopsis based on symptoms and history to predict user conditions (average precision approximately 0.82) without a form-based data entry system [25]. In addition to diagnosis, Buoy Health (Buoy Health, Inc) assists users in identifying the cause of their illness and provides medical advice [26]. Another chatbot designed by Harshitha et al [27] uses dialog flow to provide an initial analysis of breast cancer symptoms. It has been proven to be 95% accurate in differentiating between normal and cancerous images.

The next classification is based on goals with the aim of achievement, subdivided into informative, conversational, and task based. Response generation chatbots, further classified as rule based, retrieval based, and generative, account for the process of analyzing inputs and generating responses [16]. Finally, human-aided classification incorporates human computation, which provides more flexibility and robustness but lacks the speed to accommodate more requests [17]. Chatbot solution for healthcare industry is a program or application designed to interact with users, particularly patients, within the context of healthcare services. They can be powered by AI (artificial intelligence) and NLP (natural language processing). But in the context of healthcare, such bots would allow users to schedule doctor’s appointments easily.

Chatbot use cases in the Covid-19 public health response

Their function is thought to be the delivery of new information or a new perspective. However, in general, AI applications such as chatbots function as tools for ensuring that available information in the evidence base is properly considered. In fact, if implemented correctly, they can transform the delivery of medical services and significantly impact human lives in the next 5 years.

The study focused on health-related apps that had an embedded text-based conversational agent and were available for free public download through the Google Play or Apple iOS store, and available in English. A healthbot was defined as a health-related conversational agent that facilitated a bidirectional (two-way) conversation. Applications that only sent in-app text reminders and did not receive any text input from the user were excluded. Apps were also excluded if they were specific to an event (i.e., apps for conferences or marches). Reaching beyond the needs of the patients, hospital staff can also benefit from chatbots. A chatbot can be used for internal record- keeping of hospital equipment like beds, oxygen cylinders, wheelchairs, etc.

What are healthcare chatbots?

This can help reduce wait times at busy clinics or hospitals and reduce the number of phone calls that doctors have to make to patients who have questions about their health. When using a healthcare chatbot, healthcare chatbot use cases a patient is providing critical information and feedback to the healthcare business. This allows for fewer errors and better care for patients that may have a more complicated medical history.

• Such chatbots provide information about the nearest health checkup centers, health screening packages and their guidelines.
• Further refinements and large-scale implementations are still required to determine the benefits across different populations and sectors in health care [26].
• Chatbots for mental health can help patients feel better by having a conversation with the person.
• These AI-powered chatbot can efficiently provide policy information, generate personalized insurance quotes, and compare various insurance products to help customers make informed decisions.