Effective communication is a big challenge in healthcare, especially for patients who speak languages other than English. In the past, people who did not speak English well often had trouble getting preventive care and early checkups. This caused fewer screenings and later diagnoses.
A clear example comes from WellSpan Health. They did a study in Pennsylvania and Maryland to see if multilingual AI agents could help increase colorectal cancer (CRC) screening for Spanish-speaking patients. The AI called patients in their preferred language, gave them educational information, and helped them request fecal immunochemical test (FIT) kits.
The results were different:
By talking to patients in their own language, the AI helped more people join preventive care programs. This showed that technology could help, not hurt, people who speak other languages.
Language preference was a strong factor in predicting who would take the FIT test. Spanish speakers were twice as likely to participate than English speakers, even after considering age and time spent on calls. This suggests that AI tools that can easily switch languages may make care fairer across different groups.
Besides cancer screenings, multilingual AI is also used in mental health. These AI tools have longer conversations with Spanish-speaking users than with English-speaking ones. They change how they talk based on culture and language, helping users understand health information better and feel more supported. Experts like Arjun Mahajan and Dylan Powell say that AI voice agents can change their language to fit different patients, making the experience easier to relate to.
AI can also keep track of past doctor visits and electronic health records (EHRs). This lets the AI give advice that fits each patient and reminds them to take medicines. This helps build lasting care relationships that used to happen only during visits to the doctor’s office.
Doctors and healthcare staff in the U.S. spend a lot of time on paperwork. Doctors spend about 15 to 18 minutes with each patient, but almost half their time is spent on notes and other tasks that are not direct patient care. This leaves less time to talk with patients. It can cause communication problems, unhappy patients, and lower quality care.
Generative AI voice agents offer a better option than old chatbots. Unlike bots with set answers, these AI agents can have smooth conversations, understanding meaning and feelings. They ask questions to clear up confusion and change how they talk based on each patient. By handling phone tasks like setting appointments and sending reminders, these AI agents give staff more time to do harder jobs.
Tests with AI voice agents have been positive. For example, one AI assistant collected COVID-19 screening information with 97.7% accuracy, similar to humans. In that test, 87% of people said the AI did a good or excellent job. Cancer patients who used AI to report symptoms had fewer emergency visits and lived longer, showing that this tech helps more than just communication.
Still, there are problems to fix. Sometimes the AI talks slowly or background noise makes it hard to hear. It can also miss when a person finishes talking, causing interruptions. Trust is another issue. Patients want to know when AI is involved, have their culture respected, and be able to talk with a real person if needed.
For medical office administrators and IT managers, AI phone systems like those from Simbo AI help make work faster and easier. These systems use smart language processing and safe AI tech to handle phone calls coming in and going out. AI agents can talk with patients in many languages, confirm appointments, and remind patients about screenings. This lowers the number of calls staff must handle themselves.
Using AI phone systems also helps with money matters. By quickly confirming appointments, fewer patients miss visits. When patients get reminders in their language, they respond better, leading to more screenings and better health results. This reduces claims being denied because services were missed.
The AI can link up with Electronic Health Records and management software. It can add answers from patients right into their records, helping staff spend less time writing down information and making fewer mistakes.
Besides office tasks, conversational AI can support clinical work by gathering info before visits. Patients can report symptoms ahead of time. This makes doctor visits more focused and helps doctors make better decisions. AI can write notes quickly, so follow-up is easier and more consistent.
Using AI in healthcare means following strict privacy laws, especially HIPAA in the U.S. AI systems must keep data safe, encrypt it, and stop unauthorized access. Multilingual AI must also respect different cultures around privacy and sharing information.
The FDA is playing a bigger role in checking AI medical devices. More than 1,000 AI tools have FDA approval, including those with conversational features. But AI voice agents that give clinical advice have complex rules depending on what they do and their risks. Clear rules and ongoing monitoring are needed for patient safety and trust.
Success with multilingual AI in the U.S. matches findings from other countries with similar problems. In India, where many languages are spoken and technology is limited, local AI tools have made AI more reachable for doctors and developers. Using local AI cuts costs, protects data better, and fits cultural needs more closely.
For U.S. healthcare leaders, this offers lessons in making AI cheaper and easier to grow. Investing in AI platforms that can change languages easily can help reach more patients while keeping costs down. Training staff on using AI and talking with patients about it also helps with using this tech well.
To grow the use of multilingual AI agents, more research is needed. Studies should check how well they work long-term, especially for preventive care and managing long-lasting diseases. Tracking bad effects, patient happiness, and how workflows change will improve these tools and guide better use.
Healthcare in the U.S. is changing with AI tools that meet the needs of diverse patients and administrative demands. Clinics that begin using multilingual AI agents can improve access, cut down gaps in care, and make operations run smoother. This leads to fairer and more efficient healthcare for many people.
Simbo AI builds phone automation and answering services for healthcare offices. Their AI systems manage calls with patients in many languages. They give information about screenings, schedule visits, and write down patient answers. All this fits into healthcare workflows. By making communication easier and reducing paperwork, Simbo AI helps healthcare providers focus more on patient care.
By using advanced AI that respects language choices and culture, healthcare offices can take steps toward solving problems of fairness and access while working better and making patients happier.
Simbo is using AI agents to automate all phone related workflows. Connect now to know more.
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