Say No to Infodemic: How Healthcare Virtual Assistant Acts as a Perfect Response Assistant

 Drink warm water as it kills coronavirus in the throat itself before it reaches our lungs

Consumption of alcohol can kill this deadly virus

The outbreak of coronavirus has a direct link to China’s ongoing bio-weapon research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology

Bill Gates predicted about the coronavirus in 2015

 Under warm weather conditions, coronavirus won’t be able to thrive so with the onset of summers it will go away

 Stop eating chicken and eggs as they are infected with the virus

With the above-mentioned rumors out of many which are floating around on all social forwards and sharing, are you confused about what to believe? Don’t worry! We all are on the same boat as you.

As on 26th March, 416,686 confirmed cases, 18589 confirmed deaths and endless battle of more than 190 countries against the deadly Covid-19 has already taken up the world by storm; there is another separate battle going on among masses- dealing with fake news/rumors via WhatsApp, Facebook, and other social media channels on an everyday basis. And this 'info-demic' can be more fatal than the actual disease.

According to the researchers, scare stories, fake news, and misinformation regarding any such epidemic disease especially novel coronavirus outbreak, in this case, can lead to loss of lives. Instead of following genuine sources like NHS, WHO, state healthcare, people are believing in fake stories so often that it started impacting their everyday human behavior. In the long run, a chain of false knowledge and information can pose a threat to your loved ones and community at large.

But how to stop this?

Fighting Coronavirus Misinformation with Healthcare Virtual Assistants

With lakhs of confirmed cases, the healthcare system across the globe are working tirelessly to take care of patients and control the spread of the disease. However, on the other hand, there is a majority of the population who are yet to understand the repercussions of coronavirus, the entire transmission process, quarantine and isolation methods, the concept of social distancing, and more. In this panic-stricken situation, the WHO is taking strong actions against ‘info-demic’ by introducing their own WhatsApp helpline while researching on the cure of this disease. Further, to expedite care delivery and address the questions around coronavirus, Conversational-AI powered healthcare virtual assistants enhance digital healthcare and can make a significant difference towards keeping unnecessary panic at check with right knowledge sharing.

How Virtual Assistant Act as a Response Assistant?

1. Spreading Awareness and Right Information

Healthcare virtual assistant is primarily created to eliminate all confusion, misinformation, and panic surrounding Covid-19. Based on your accessibility and chat preference ( like smartphone, iPad, smart speakers or your desktop), the virtual assistant collates data from the WHO, CDC, NHS, Government official websites and other similar trusted sources to answer the most frequently asked questions about coronavirus:

“What is Coronavirus?”

“What are its symptoms?”

“How can I protect myself?”

“Myths about Coronavirus”

“Facts about Coronavirus”

“Travel advice”

“Latest Numbers”

“News and Press”

and more...

Like the above-mentioned FAQs, Virtual assistants can be trained based on custom content or can be integrated with third-party trusted sources to disseminate the right information among people.

2. Pre-Screening and Health Records

Anyone who sneezed once or twice and assumed already that they might be the ‘potential suspect’ of a certain infection can be equally dangerous as those who neglected all warning symptoms in the beginning. The intelligent virtual assistant asks prospective patients some symptomatic and at risk questions to determine the next preventive measures for them. They may ask about -

 - Age of the person

 - Initial symptoms a person is experiencing

 - Validating with the verified symptoms of the particular infection

 - Travel history of a person

 - Any existing health concerns or issues like asthma, diabetes, heart diseases, hypertension, etc

 - If it matches with the warning symptoms, virtual assistant suggest further course of action as per the healthcare guidelines given by the WHO, the Government, the Local State Government, District health officials, etc

 - If it doesn’t match with the actual symptoms of the disease or a particular case requires further observation, then what kind of preventive measures they can take to protect themselves and their family.

3. Scheduling Virtual and Physical Appointments

With the rise in the number of coronavirus affected cases, the healthcare professionals around the world are working beyond their specific duty hours to render utmost care to the patients. Every hospital or isolation center situated worldwide is facing the extreme challenge of limited medical resources that will be sufficient to support a huge population which includes sufficient beds at hospitals, safety kits like hand gloves, masks, and special protective gears, respiratory ventilators, emergency medicines, etc.

Healthcare virtual assistants by identifying the condition of the person and the severity of the discomfort they are experiencing can schedule appropriate consultation. In case of mild symptoms and preliminary examination, virtual consultation with a healthcare professional can save a lot of time, reduce pressure on doctors (who are limited in number) and also keeps a person in safe isolation at home by not exposing one to a vulnerable environment outside. In case, if the condition of the person demands physical appointment, then the virtual assistant can check the hospital database and schedule the appointment ( as agreed upon by the user) as per the available slots.

4. Quick handover to Healthcare Experts

Healthcare virtual assistants are programmed in such a way that they can easily understand and answer the most frequently asked questions. However, on a case-to-case basis, if a certain person’s medical condition needs further attention and requires more technical knowledge-based answers about a specialized field, a virtual assistant can help the patient by connecting with the available healthcare person.

Meanwhile, the virtual assistant also shares the patient history with the doctor so he/she can suggest the best advice based on the health condition of a patient, saving latter time by answering only those questions which give them speedy resolution.

5. Patient Reminders and Healthcare Related Alerts

Patient's compliance and further restrictions as imposed by doctors can be challenging if they are not followed properly. In the case of Covid-19, the first 14 days and quarantine measures are taken during those days are as crucial as someone staying in hospital isolation wards following similar preventive methods. 

For instance, in one of the recent cases in South Korea, the potential Covid-19 suspect who chose to ignore all appropriate safeguards and freely roamed around by visiting all public places when doctors strictly imposed quarantine for that person. Later, the person tested positive for coronavirus and we can see it's after repercussions, how it blew out as a community transmission with numbers of the affected person staggering every hour. Virtual Assistant sends timely alerts to the patients about their medicines, precautions they should take and other health-related issues a patient should remember for a faster recovery.

Key Takeaways

Prevention and education about the Covid-19 is the need of an hour and AI-Powered Virtual Assistant is one such potent medium that can shatter all myths and break the chain of wrong news regarding coronavirus. Healthcare systems, doctors, caregivers, government officials along with people can leverage the intelligent virtual assistant to fight back against the deadly virus faster than the outbreak.

Remember, we all are in this together!

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