Amazon’s Alexa Is Taking a Cautious But Determined Step into Healthcare

According to Amazon, Alexa now fully complies with the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that protects the privacy of healthcare data and has announced that it has partnered up with a number of healthcare providers that will allow the company to provide health services. Among them we can count Express Scripts, Cigna and the Boston Children’s Hospital.

The company introduced new healthcare skills to its Alexa assistant, which have been tested during a trial that involved patients at Cedars-Sinai. The skills in question let the patients ask the virtual assistant for help with tasks such as booking appointments, accessing their post-discharge instructions, checking the delivery status on a prescription and more.

“Boston Children’s Hospital has long believed that voice technology has the potential to substantially improve the healthcare experience for both consumers and clinicians. We began this journey with one of the first Amazon Alexa skills from a hospital four years ago and are thrilled to participate in the initial launch of Amazon Alexa’s HIPAA-eligible service for developers.” Chief Innovation Officer for the Boston Children’s Hospital, John Brownstein said “The My Children’s Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) skill, launching today, allows patients and caregivers to easily share recovery progress with their care team post-surgery. We believe it is just one example of how voice technology can extend the care and support of our patients beyond the four walls of the hospital.”

The present and future skills will only be created by HIPAA-compliant business associates and developers.