Artificial Intelligence-based patient follow-up with voice automation leads to a 70% reduction in nursing phone call time

• The virtual clinical assistant LOLA allows us to make automated calls after hospital discharge, reducing the care burden on healthcare professionals.
• LOLA has demonstrated an average of 95% patient engagement, with a patient satisfaction rating of 4.8 out of 5.

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Madrid, February 07, 2023. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a major impact on European healthcare. In fact, although the high peaks of the pandemic are now behind us, a large part of European healthcare systems are currently facing a crisis in their model, causing problems such as a lack of personnel or increased infrastructure load. Meanwhile, there continues to be an incessant growth in the demand for services. 

One of the countries that is suffering most intensely from this crisis is Portugal, where the healthcare system is experiencing a collapse due to a combination of three factors: a lack of professionals, an increase in demand, and growing waiting lists. All this is causing many professionals, especially nurses, to look for work in other countries in search of better conditions, which only aggravates the problem. In fact, according to the 'Global report on quality of life and professional burnout of physicians', published by Medscape, which has analyzed the situation in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and Portugal, it is in the latter where we find the highest burnout levels among healthcare professionals, affecting 38% of those surveyed.

Faced with this reality, many healthcare centers across the country are making enormous efforts to find solutions that will alleviate the high care pressure on healthcare professionals, while continuing to provide high-value care to patients. In this quest, the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions that automate routine tasks has become of key importance. These tools based on remote assistance have proven to optimize care, reduce bureaucratic tasks and facilitate patient follow-up tasks; but, at the same time, they favor the user, as they save the number of trips to the hospital, in turn allowing for a greater reconciliation between their illness and their day-to-day life. In fact, Portuguese patients are among the European citizens who value these advantages the most.

With the aim to reduce the daily burden on professionals and improve patient care, LOLA - the virtual clinical assistant, has landed in the Portuguese market. This solution, created by the Spanish company Tucuvi, uses conversational technology to automate the follow-up of patients at home, with an emphasis on maintaining a very human and empathic touch. In this way, it is responsible for calling patients in preparation for a colonoscopy or surgery, as well as for post-surgical, post-discharge or chronic patient follow-up. 

After its success in several European healthcare systems, Tucuvi has reached the Portuguese market, with the aim of reducing the high care pressure suffered by nurses and doctors. This is another step forward for this leading company in the sector, which is now committed to expansion. The first hospital to integrate it into its portfolio of services was the Hospital CUF Cascais. The managers of this center have opted for this solution in order to be able to continue providing excellent follow-up after hospital discharge without overloading their clinical teams. If the virtual assistant detects any signs of alarm, the clinical team is notified and will act accordingly. The project has been driven by the Innovation, Operational Transformation Office (OTO) and Nursing teams at CUF Cascais Hospital, according to which, "Tucuvi will increase the capacity of healthcare professionals while providing high-value care to patients."

In the words of Maria Gonzalez, CEO of Tucuvi: "Healthcare systems are facing an unprecedented challenge: a high demand for care, with an increasingly aging population, while experiencing a global lack of healthcare professionals. Healthcare technology and, in particular, automation and decision support tools, play a fundamental role in enabling valuable, personalized and timely healthcare for all patients, helping and relieving the workload of clinical teams.”

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The impact of automation on healthcare

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Tucuvi's previous experience has shown that the use of this tool frees up 70% of the nursing teams' time. In addition, it has managed to reduce the average length of hospital stay by 26% compared to traditional healthcare. All this, with patients having an average of 95% engagement with LOLA calls.

Notably, the information gathered from the conversations between patients and LOLA is structured using Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithms, and healthcare professionals are whenever any symptom or issue is detected that requires their intervention. 

The advantages of automated systems are widely proven and fit the needs of all players in the industry. In this regard, small clinics value sustainable patient support while maintaining their competitiveness. For their part, major healthcare providers, such as hospitals or medical centers, see automation as a great opportunity for revenue generation and cost reduction; but, above all, as a key tool to improve communication with their patients. 

In fact, approximately 40 percent of the tasks performed by healthcare support occupations can be automated, as can approximately one-third of those performed by healthcare professionals and technical occupations. 

With this goal, Tucuvi's conversational technology focuses on ensuring consistency and accuracy in communication with patients outside the hospital. This is achieved by automating processes such as follow-up after surgery, preparation for endoscopy, chronic follow-up, or the necessary forms prior to a consultation or surgery.

To do this, the patient converses with LOLA in a natural way over the phone, without apps, without internet, and without complex or new devices. This is why patients who have already used this tool have shown a satisfaction rating of 4.8 out of 5.

In addition, the disruptive HealthTech technology is CE marked by the Spanish Medical Agency, certifying it as a medical device, and complies with the most robust data protection standards. Thus, it complies with ISO27001 and the National Security Scheme, in addition to the most accurate NLP algorithms on the market, following the HL7 interoperability standards (FHIR, HL7V2). All this allows "LOLA" to be interoperable through APIs quickly and easily, including easy integration with existing medical records and telemedicine solutions.

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REFERENCES: 

https://www.medicosypacientes.com/articulo/la-european-junior-doctors-pide-accion-inmediata-para-prevenir-colapso-sanitario-en-europa

https://elpais.com/sociedad/2022-10-01/portugal-intenta-salvar-una-sanidad-publica-en-estado-critico.html

https://elpais.com/internacional/2022-01-29/portugal-una-sanidad-necesitada-de-cuidados-intensivos.html

https://www.medscape.com/slideshow/2019-global-burnout-comparison-6011180?faf=1

https://www.elsevier.es/es-revista-medicina-familia-semergen-40-articulo-grado-satisfaccion-pacientes-unidad-salud-S1138359321000563

https://www.hipaajournal.com/workflow-automation-in-healthcare-improves-roi-and-health-outcomes/

https://blog.curogram.com/automated-patient-comms-improves-heatlh

https://www.providertech.com/automation-and-communication-in-healthcare/

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