Tana, a Healthcare Chatbot to Help Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic at a University Hospital in Argentina

Abstract

A Chatbot or Conversational Agent is a computer application that simulates the conversation with a human person (by text or voice), giving automated responses to people’s needs. In the healthcare domain, chatbots can be beneficial to help patients, as a complement to care by health personnel, especially in times of high demand or constrained resources such as the COVID-19 Pandemic. In this paper we share the design and implementation of a healthcare chatbot called Tana at the Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires. Considering best practices and being aware of possible unintended consequences, we must take advantage of information and communication technologies, such as chatbots, to analyze and promote useful conversations for the health of all people.

National survey for pediatricians in Argentina: Vaccination in daily practice, perception of knowledge and barriers

“…In this sense, the implementation of the electronic vaccination registry for all individuals is critical to ensure the quality, timeliness, and availability of data for pediatricians, patients, and their families. 17,18 In addition, frequent barriers to vaccination were identified linked to the vaccination center, healthcare staff, and families; this demonstrates, as in other studies, 19 that multiple causes are associated with low vaccination coverage and that they should be addressed comprehensively.…”

A State-of-the Art Survey on Chatbots Technology Developments and Applications in Primary Healthcare Domain

“…Public Health application chatbots across many countries and languages other than English were used to reach millions of citizens and all relevant institutions, in order to deliver education of citizens, surveillance and detection of contacts, risk assessment, and dissemination of information, allowing the organization of health systems while promoting cooperation, community, involvement, and accountability of citizens through collective actions [15,[37][38][39]. Healthcare Evolution, which includes Health 4.0 through telemedicine and artificial intelligence, is emerging toward customization and models based on value, which are connected by integrity into the business models that accompany people throughout life, by customization of healthcare, based on the optimization of determinants by reducing the follow-up effects of different health conditions [7].…”

“…Although many countries are developing and using chatbots as app interfaces focused on treating health conditions, during the COVID pandemic, different coordinated efforts were made between industry, governments, and nongovernmental actors to integrate communication strategies to reach millions of users. This was achieved by different approaches and uses to collect and disseminate information on patients, the virus and the situation of health systems, diagnostic support, guidance on conversions of health systems, and vaccination strategies and carry out telehealth actions [14,[37][38][39].…”

“…news and reports were provided on pandemic as well as details of symptoms and measures to discount public health systems [15,39].…”

Alcances y limitaciones de la teleconsulta en pandemia de covid-19: relatos de profesionales de la salud del primer nivel de atención de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

“…Resultó una herramienta valiosa a la hora de promover el distanciamiento social y evitar la sobrecarga del sistema sanitario durante la pandemia, principalmente para permitir la continuidad de las consultas ambulatorias programadas (o no) y sortear las dificultades para acceder al sistema de salud, especialmente en el ámbito público (12) . Hubo varias experiencias nacionales publicadas, se desarrolló un consultorio de teledermatología del Hospital de Agudos José María Ramos Mejía (12) , se instauró seguimiento ambulatorio de pacientes covid-19 en Misiones (13) y en un hospital privado ubicado en La Matanza (14) , se implementaron teleconsultas para embarazadas y madres en Córdoba (15) , se diseñó e implementó un chatbot de atención médica (16) , y se reportaron teleconsultas cardiológicas en el Hospital El Cruce Néstor Kirchner (17,18) , y de pacientes con enfermedad vascular crónica en el Hospital Italiano (19) .…”