Streamlining Patient Support with a 24/7 Chatbot

In today’s fast-paced healthcare landscape, patient experience is paramount. Clinical research organizations (CROs) juggle complex protocols, tight deadlines, and a constant need to keep participants engaged. Yet, many struggle with limited support resources, leading to frustrated patients and delayed enrollment.

This was the challenge faced by one of Ross Solutions’ valued clients, a mid-sized CRO specializing in oncology trials. Patients often encountered difficulties accessing the client’s secure patient portal, navigating its functionalities, or simply had basic questions about the trial process. Limited support staff meant long wait times for answers, impacting patient satisfaction and potentially hindering recruitment efforts.

The Power of Amazon Lex

Ross Solutions partnered with the client to implement a cutting-edge solution using Amazon Lex, a natural language processing (NLP) service from Amazon Web Services (AWS). Lex enabled the creation of a real-time, always-available chatbot seamlessly integrated into the client’s existing patient portal. Here’s how it transformed patient support:

The chatbot offers 24/7 Availability, unlike human support staff. Patients can get their questions answered at their convenience, reducing frustration and improving the overall experience. It also provides Self-Service Functionality, trained to answer frequently asked questions (FAQs) and guide patients through common tasks on the patient portal, such as scheduling appointments, downloading documents, or updating personal information. This empowers patients to manage their participation more independently and reduces the strain on support staff.

For more complex inquiries or issues beyond the chatbot’s capacity, Lex employs intelligent routing based on keywords and sentiment analysis. Specifically, for requests needing dedicated attention, the chatbot automatically creates a new support ticket within the client’s existing monday.com project management platform. This ensures a clear record is created and assigns the ticket to the appropriate internal team member for a timely response. Furthermore, for urgent issues or those requiring personalized communication with the clinical research team (based on keywords or sentiment), the chatbot can trigger direct communication via email or SMS. This allows for a faster response to critical matters.

The Impact on Patient Engagement

The integrated chatbot solution delivered significant benefits for both the CRO and its patients. It led to Improved Patient Satisfaction through reduced wait times, 24/7 access, and self-service options, improving patient satisfaction with the overall research experience. It also resulted in increased efficiency as the chatbot handled routine inquiries, freeing up support staff to focus on complex issues and patient needs requiring personal attention. This led to faster resolution time through automatic ticket creation and intelligent routing, ensuring faster response times to patient issues, ultimately leading to smoother trial execution. Finally, the solution offered reduced costs by automating responses to common questions, reducing the need for additional support staff, leading to potential cost savings.

AI’s Role in Augmenting Human Capabilities

This case study exemplifies the true potential of AI in the next generation of internet-connected solutions. It’s not about replacing human workers; it’s about empowering them. By automating routine tasks and intelligently routing complex issues, AI tools like this chatbot act as a bridge, connecting patients with the right resources at the right time. This allows human staff to focus on higher-value activities that require empathy, critical thinking, and complex problem-solving—areas where human expertise is irreplaceable. This approach maximizes the value of existing workforces by freeing them from repetitive tasks and enabling them to contribute their unique skills where they have the greatest impact.

This is the key shift in how we should view AI adoption: not as a threat to jobs, but as a tool to enhance capabilities. By taking on the burden of routine inquiries and administrative tasks, AI allows human employees to focus on building stronger patient relationships, developing innovative solutions, and providing the personalized care that truly makes a difference. This synergy between human intelligence and artificial intelligence is the key to unlocking new levels of efficiency, effectiveness, and ultimately, better patient outcomes.

Beyond the Case Study: Getting Started with Chatbots

Thinking about implementing a chatbot for your business? Here are some key considerations:

• Identify Your Goals: What are you hoping to achieve with a chatbot? Improved patient satisfaction? Reduced support costs? Increased self-service options?
• Define the Scope: What questions and tasks can the chatbot handle effectively? This determines the level of training and functionalities needed.
• Integration: How will the chatbot integrate with your existing systems and platforms to ensure seamless user experience?
• Data Privacy: Your chatbot solution must comply with relevant data privacy regulations to protect patient information.

A Solution Tailored for Your Needs

The success story of our client demonstrates the power of implementing an AI-powered chatbot solution. Here at Ross Solutions, we understand that every business has unique challenges. We can work with you to design a chatbot solution tailored to your specific needs, whether you’re a clinical research organization, a medical practice, or any organization that interacts with patients and wants to offer a 24/7 support experience.

By leveraging the power of technologies like Amazon Lex, Ross Solutions can help you build a robust and user-centric support ecosystem. Contact us today to discuss a chatbot solution that streamlines user communication, improves engagement, and ultimately optimizes your entire value proposition.