While many have gotten used to having Amazon's Alexa voice technology fulfill requests like playing a favorite album or telling a joke, that technology is now being used to help hospital patients and physicians alike.
Clearwater-based BayCare Health System has implemented a voice technology system called Aiva across 14 of its hospitals, using Alexa to allow patients to fulfill a variety of requests like changing the TV station, asking a nurse for water and more.
"It's a kind of obvious, 'Why wouldn’t you do that?'" said Craig Anderson, BayCare director of innovation. "And that's a good indicator of the technology that could improve both the physician and patient experience."
Anderson met representatives from Aiva in Chicago, later seeing the system in action at a health conference in 2018. After seeing it deployed, Anderson knew he wanted it in his own hospitals.
"We’ve always felt that the best health care technology does its work in the background, giving clinicians more freedom and patients more control," Sumeet Bhatia, founder and CEO of Aiva, said in a statement. Aiva was part of the Los Angeles-based hospital Cedars-Sinai, which runs an accelerator.
A multiyear contract has been signed, and to Anderson's knowledge BayCare is the first to be using this technology in the Tampa Bay region. No financial details were disclosed.
Patients use an Alexa device in their rooms for requests, which then are routed through Aiva's technology system to appear on BayCare nurses' hospital-issued iPhones. Anderson also worked with the hospital TV provider to ensure Amazon was connected, so patients can turn the television on or off, change channels and volume all with simple commands. Those who wish not to use the device can mute it.
"A lot of our patients have Alexa or are walked through it by a nurse, and it's an instant satisfier in the terms of entertainment," Anderson said. "But where it really shines is for clinical communication. They can ask anything from their nurse and that routes directly to the right care team."
The technology is currently being deployed at St. Joseph’s Hospital-North in Lutz, with the hopes to be deployed through all 14 of BayCare's hospitals by the end of 2021.
"I really think this is bringing a very well-known technology into the hospital experience," Anderson said. "By doing that, we can show our patients and nurses we're doing more and more each day to make their day, better whether they're staying with us or working with us. This is a great technology that touches both of those populations and brings them closer together."
