AI system listens to patients' concerns

Parking, long waiting times and difficulties in registering for a specialist’s outpatient service are the top issues annoying patients, officials from Shanghai No. 6 People’s Hospital said on Monday.

In order to have better understanding of patients’ demand and dissatisfaction, the hospital is the first in the city to adopt an AI system to call discharged patients to ask for their dissatisfaction and seek their suggestions.

The system calls patients and uses human voices to talk to them and get their comments on all aspects of hospital services. The system converts the patients’ responses into written words.

Previously, such survey was conducted through letters, with less than 10 percent of patients responding. 

The hospital invited a computer company to jointly develop an AI system to not only save hospital officials' time but also improve efficiency.