The ‘next-generation digital front door,’ Blaze understands and responds to patient queries with natural language processing and conversational AI
Orbita, a leading provider of intelligent virtual assistants and workflow automation for healthcare, introduced Orbita Blaze to revolutionize provider websites by combining an intuitive and user-friendly “find care” experience with the convenience of a healthcare-specific chatbot. Blaze uses conversational AI to pose questions and probe for details that help patients find what they are looking for, then guides them to the most appropriate provider and facility.
Most healthcare websites are fraught with functionality shortfalls. In fact, 78% of people who said they switched providers in 2021 did so because of poor healthcare navigation, including difficulty using digital tools like the website. While 43% of patients prefer to use a provider’s website search function, the process can be overwhelming and frustrating. Often, patients do not know where to start or what terminology to use to ensure an accurate search (e.g., a traditional search feature may not be able to interpret “stomachache” if it expects the more clinical “abdominal pain” descriptor).
“Patients want a healthcare experience that mimics the convenience they enjoy in other areas of their lives – finding information through predictive search on Google, for instance, or scheduling an appointment as easily as they make dinner reservations on OpenTable,” said Orbita CEO Patty Riskind. “Representing the next-generation digital front door, Orbita Blaze triggers hyper-personalized dialogs to ensure patients find what they’re looking for, thus improving the patient experience, increasing conversions and reducing leakage.”
Blaze eliminates barriers to care by transforming the entire website into an intuitive virtual assistant to improve navigation and patient access. It takes the chatbot out of the bottom right-hand corner and initiates a conversational interaction from the search bar or any link on the website. Blaze empowers patients to ask their questions in layman’s terms and delivers precise results that account for a variety of factors and provide the best possible care options based on the individual’s circumstances.
The technology features a symptom checker that determines the level of urgency, while an algorithm identifies and suggests locations for timely care based on distance, wait times and the patient’s insurance. Blaze engages and educates patients throughout this entire process thanks to an extensive knowledge base and advanced cognitive search technology that can decipher a vast range of vocabulary and phrases.
