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Hitachi Vantara (Hitachi) > Case Studies > Healthcare Nonprofit Transforms Patient Experiences With Smart Hospital Solution
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Healthcare Nonprofit Transforms Patient Experiences With Smart Hospital Solution

Technology Category
  • Automation & Control - Human Machine Interface (HMI)
Applicable Industries
  • Finance & Insurance
  • Healthcare & Hospitals
Applicable Functions
  • Product Research & Development
Use Cases
  • Personnel Tracking & Monitoring
  • Speech Recognition
Services
  • System Integration
  • Testing & Certification
The Challenge
The not-for-profit healthcare system aimed to build an in-room concierge system to reduce the burden of logistical questions on medical staff, improve patient satisfaction and survey response rates, and test the effectiveness of a voice user interface (VUI) in enhancing patient and caregiver interaction. The system was required to handle requests for care, provide general hospital information, and initiate a brief satisfaction survey to alert the medical center to any negative experiences in real time. It also needed to facilitate state-sponsored surveys at the end of the stay, crucial for maintaining reputation and operating certificates. The challenge was to balance technical proficiency with the integrity of protected health information (PHI), ensuring the system complied with HIPAA and applicable state regulations.
About The Customer
The customer is a not-for-profit healthcare system that provides a wide range of healthcare services through its network of hospitals, outpatient centers, emergency services, and physicians. The nonprofit aimed to improve patient experiences and satisfaction rates, reduce the burden of logistical queries on medical staff, and enhance patient and caregiver interaction through a voice user interface. They also sought to maintain compliance with HIPAA and state regulations while handling protected health information.
The Solution
The healthcare nonprofit partnered with Hitachi Vantara to implement smart hospital capabilities using Alexa development tools. A set of five skills was developed to provide in-room concierge, information services, and healthcare provider efficiencies, while accurately capturing critical patient information. The system was designed to ensure that Alexa did not access PHI, but interacted with patients anonymously. The interactions included general information, patient schedule, complaint logging, patient satisfaction, and note-taking. The most challenging aspect was compensating for language variability between staff and patients. The original scripts provided by the nonprofit were optimized using a phonetic scoring method to account for different cultural backgrounds, dialects, levels of English proficiency, and other factors while communicating complex information. The smart hospital solution also utilized Amazon Web Services offerings such as S3, Lambda, SNS, and DynamoDB for automated status, logging, and process closeout and feedback.
Operational Impact
  • The implementation of the smart hospital solution transformed patient experiences. It allowed staff to focus more on patient care by reducing the number of logistical queries they had to handle. The system also improved staff efficiency by enabling hand-free data input. It provided immediate customer feedback, allowing the medical center to take corrective action in real time in case of any negative experiences. The solution also improved survey response rates, which are critical for maintaining the healthcare system's reputation and operating certificates. Importantly, the system maintained compliance with HIPAA and state regulations, ensuring the integrity of protected health information.
Quantitative Benefit
  • Reduced logistical queries, allowing staff to concentrate more on patient care.
  • Improved efficiency of staff with hand-free data input.
  • Provided immediate customer feedback.

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