Data, facts and instruments on the German health system
What it’s about
As initial experience shows, work in GP and specialist practices benefits noticeably in several respects and especially in day-to-day business from the use of digital voice assistants instead of the conventional telephone.
The benefits at a glance
- Increased efficiency: digital voice assistants streamline workflows in a medical practice. Instead of taking calls and manually recording information, voice assistants record and document important information. This allows staff to focus on actual medical care and reduces administrative work.
- Time saving: By using voice assistants, recurring tasks can be automated. Patients can, for example, make appointments, reorder prescriptions or call up information on opening hours. This relieves staff of repetitive phone calls and enables optimised appointment utilisation.
- Increase patient satisfaction: Practices are available 24/7 through digital technology to answer simple questions or provide information. As a result, patients receive answers faster and feel better cared for. Furthermore, voice assistants can also send reminders for doctor’s appointments and thus also reduce the no-show rate.
- Cost reduction: The automation of tasks and the reduction of “manual interventions” lead to cost savings, because fewer employees are needed for telephone answering and administration.
Conclusion
Digital voice assistants do not generally replace all telephone calls. In certain cases, it is still necessary for patients to communicate directly with medical staff. Nevertheless, voice assistants offer a clearly noticeable added value in many areas of patient administration and communication.
R2049 