The role of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare is changing how medical experts and staff do their everyday duties and deliver medical care. Nowadays, computer applications like chatbots can communicate with humans in normal language, is one of the useful AI technologies widely used by both healthcare patients and providers. In order to fulfill their daily tasks like making appointments, replying to inquiries, and managing documents.

This platform is widely used by individuals for monitoring healthcare activities and to help healthcare professionals to focus on more complex tasks by taking care of routine duties. As they improve this AI assistance, chatbots will be highly helpful in the medical field. In this blog, we’ll explore both merits and demerits of healthcare chatbots and will see how they’re shaping the future of healthcare.

Merits of Healthcare Chatbots

Reduces Wait Times and Costs

Through asking and responding to common questions, chatbots can handle first interactions with patients, making doctors' duties easier. This was especially helpful during the COVID-19 epidemic, when chatbots used a number of searches to screen individuals for symptoms. Time was saved, fewer workers are required, and the process was quickened up. Improving daily healthcare even beyond the pandemic, chatbots like Ada, Youper, and Buoy they help patients with finding basic health data, making appointments, offering 24-hour support, checking symptoms, and reducing hospital visits at a low cost.

Personalized Services and Improved Engagement

Offering pleasant discussions and personalized assistance, chatbots help patients stay involved in their care. People find it easy to follow their medical regimens once they get follow-up notifications and advice customized to their specific needs. Along with increasing outcomes, this platform improves the bond between patients and their healthcare providers. Chatbots simplify the healthcare process while freeing up doctors' time by offering quick answers and making and managing appointments. Along with it, in order to avoid follow-up calls, a chatbot sends a daily message to a post-op patient to inquire about activity and pain.

Helping with Insurance Issues

As chatbots continue to stay active during medication, they can help patients in quickly and easily getting their health insurance claims accepted. In addition to saving time and money by simplifying the claims and payment process, they can suggest the most suitable insurance plans for the condition of the patient.

Post-Treatment Feedback Collection

After treatment, collecting feedback from patients has become easier by healthcare chatbots. They send short, specific messages inside of lengthy forms, asking about the patient's symptoms and experience. Any serious issues receive trigger alerts for further treatment, and replies are saved instantly in the clinic's system. WotNot's WhatsApp chatbot was used by Saba Clinics in Saudi Arabia to carry out this process. Three hours after discharge, it sent out feedback inquiries to more than 400,000 patients, obtaining 175,000 responses (85% open rate, 41% reply rate).

Demerits of Healthcare Chatbots

Data Privacy Concerns

There are serious privacy and security issues when handling information about patients. Healthcare chatbots must follow rules such as HIPAA, safeguarding data with secrecy, safe storage, and explicit approval. Chatbots and other AI technologies can raise further issues. Users may accidentally share private health or business data when they enter it. To maintain privacy, businesses like JPMorgan Chase, Verizon, and Amazon have limited their use. According to OpenAI's privacy policy, in particular situations the user information may be disclosed with partners, law enforcement agencies, or third-party organizations. So medical professionals need to choose AI systems that offer a high level of patient privacy security.

Complex Medical Queries

Complicated medical queries that need specific knowledge can be challenging for healthcare chatbots to deal with. They might offer wrong or poor responses due to the application of established procedures and rules, especially when managing rare illnesses or complex symptoms. This is why chatbots need to be properly developed and used in partnership with professional doctors.

Misinformation

Chatbots in healthcare settings can be dangerous. Misunderstanding a patient's health condition can result in death or serious harm. It can be dangerous while using the incorrect medication. Due to the sudden shifts in medical information, these chatbots can offer incorrect or outdated information. So the best way for secure and effective treatment is to combine AI with human support.

Business Logic Rules

One ethical issue in the healthcare industry is that technology often dominates human interaction. Doctors' decisions can be affected by chatbots, especially when dealing with difficult situations that include major moral issues. Over-reliance on chatbots can lead healthcare organizations to value generating income above patient care. Organizations can be able to handle healthcare in ways that harm ethics and the real goal of patient care as a result of this profit-driven approach.

Future of Healthcare Chatbots

Chatbots have a future in the healthcare industry, with their ability to provide quicker and more individualized care. Better AI and understanding of languages will allow them to react to complex medical queries and collaborate with technological devices and medical data to monitor the well-being of patients. Chatbots are going to make care simpler and less expensive, particularly for people who need it most, by supporting scheduling therapy, supporting mental health, and remotely monitoring patients. Chatbots will help patients in gaining control of their wellness as public trust in technology grows. Although issues like privacy and chatbots will grow crucial for improved and easier access to healthcare as AI advances.