Healthcare virtual assistants are keeping records straight for doctors and patients

Think of it as Alexa for your health records. Through the Apple Health app, which is undergoing pilot testing, patients can aggregate their health records from a variety of institutions to create a more comprehensive view of their health, due to the collaboration between Apple, healthcare organizations and EHR vendors. Data from EHRs can connect to the app, making it easier for patients to see their records. The companies Epic and Nuance recently announced the first commercial availability of virtual-assistant enabled workflows through both Epic Haiku and Epic Rover. Epic Haiku is a smartphone-based EHR application used by clinicians, while Epic Rover is a mobile app used by clinicians, nurses and others for documentation and medication scanning. Doctors using Haiku can access the voice-enabled EHR virtual assistant to retrieve schedules, as well as patient information and visit summaries. Nuance, a software technology company that provides artificial intelligence and speech recognition applications, has for years developed virtual assistants for a variety of major companies, including Audi, Domino's and USAA.