Vocera Communications announced it collaborated with Amazon to build a Vocera skill for Alexa. The skill leverages a set of technologies from Alexa Smart Properties and will be HIPAA-eligible for healthcare customers. The Vocera skill for Alexa will expand the Vocera ecosystem to provide a hands-free and immersive voice experience to patients and families. The new Vocera skill for Alexa is designed to make it easier and faster for patients and families to get information about their stay and reach the right care team members with simple voice requests spoken to an Amazon Echo in the patient’s room. The intelligent solution is also designed to reduce unnecessary interruptions to the care team and minimize cognitive overload among clinicians.
“We believe the intuitive and accessible nature of voice and Alexa has the potential to help and delight customers in many scenarios, in and outside of the home,” said Liron Torres, Head of Alexa Smart Properties, Amazon. “We’re excited to work with Vocera and extend the voice experiences customers already love to healthcare systems, and give care providers new ways to save time and personalize care for their patients.”
The Vocera skill for Alexa will advance the patient experience offered in hospitals and health systems. Patient requests will be delivered to the appropriate team member on their device of choice, including the Vocera Badge, Smartbadge, or Vina smartphone application. The Vocera skill for Alexa will recognize keywords and phrases and use Vocera Engage software to determine the appropriate person to receive the message, thereby reducing interruptions and streamlining workflow.
Verbal updates to patients about the status of each request will help put patients at ease, knowing their requests are heard and being resolved. Common questions from patients that do not need clinical intervention, such as visitor hours, will be answered automatically through the Vocera skill. Patient requests for assistance will be prioritized for relevance, automatically escalated as needed, and delivered with contextual information to team members who are available and can take action, improving response times and patient care.
“Vocera has more than 20 years of experience in voice communication technology; and with more than 50 clinicians on staff, we understand the benefits of hands-free communication and how it protects and connects patients and care teams,” said Dave Lively, Senior Vice President of Product Management at Vocera. “We are excited to collaborate with Amazon to advance the power and convenience of voice communication to elevate the patient experience, improve safety, and save valuable time for nurses and other care team members.”
