Almost every industry sector is undergoing digital transformation in 2022. To reduce manual load and slash operational costs, organizations rely on new-age technologies. Most organizations are moving towards hyper-automation where the human touch is minimal. One of the industry sectors undergoing digital transformation is the healthcare industry. AI tools for digital transformation in the healthcare industry are now no more a far-fetched idea. Among all the automated solutions, virtual nursing assistants are gaining hype in 2022. Healthcare organizations always look for ways to enhance patient care. Virtual nursing assistants can bring a paradigm shift to patient care. Many smart organizations around the world have already started using virtual nursing assistants to enhance patient care. Read on to know the role of virtual nursing assistants in revolutionizing patient care.

Understanding virtual nursing assistants

What do you understand about virtual nursing assistants? A virtual nursing assistant isn’t a human-size robot that takes care of the patient. Who knows if it may happen in the future when robots become nurses? For now, virtual nursing assistants are AI-powered apps, chatbots, and interfaces that take care of any particular patient. Virtual nursing assistants can collect information regarding patient health daily. The doctor does not have to visit the patient physically to collect information regarding the health status. With wireless straps and seamless monitoring, virtual nursing assistants can collect information regarding the patient’s health. Virtual nursing assistants can even identify the underlying problem in the body based on the symptoms. 

They can forward the health reports to the assigned doctor or surgeon. Apart from monitoring health status, virtual nursing assistants also have the power to schedule doctor appointments. Patient care isn’t everything operating on the body. It is about collecting routine information, analysing symptoms, mapping improvement, and more. All these tasks can take more time on behalf of the doctor or surgeon. With virtual nursing assistants, healthcare professionals can save time and focus on the key vulnerabilities of the patient. AI in healthcare IT solutions has given rise to virtual nursing assistants. Apart from AI (Artificial Intelligence), ML (Machine Learning) algorithms are also used to develop virtual nursing assistants. Now that you are familiar with virtual nursing assistants, let us see how they can revolutionize patient care.

Virtual nursing assistants can be customized

Virtual nursing assistants can be generic without being affiliated with any particular healthcare organization. For example, many AI-enabled apps help patients to know their health status. Such apps are not affiliated with any particular healthcare organization. However, it does not mean that a healthcare entity cannot launch its virtual nursing assistant. Healthcare organizations spend funds on research activities like predictive analysis, drug discovery, and others. Similarly, they can spend some funds to develop a virtual nursing interface or an app for their patients. The best part is that a healthcare organization can customize the AI-enabled app or interface based on their requirements. A brand can associate its name with the virtual nursing assistant to boost its reputation. 

The use of artificial intelligence in healthcare has immense potential. A healthcare organization can even create a nurse avatar for patients. The AI-enabled nurse avatar can even respond to common queries asked by patients and doctors. Healthcare organizations may not get such customizability with any other new-age technology. Some healthcare organizations think that AI in healthcare IT solutions is costly and isn’t feasible. Well, the installation cost of virtual nursing assistants can be high. However, the operational costs can be decreased in the long run with the help of virtual nursing assistants. A healthcare organization can also rely on generic AI-led assistants for boosting patient care. 

Workload balancing with virtual nursing assistants

Every patient wants that the doctor listens to their problem. Sometimes, patients just want to know whether their blood-sugar level is normal or not. Patients may only want to know about their pulse rate and heart rate. Even a little time from the doctor can uplift the spirits of a patient. However, healthcare professionals struggle to devote time to each patient during the peak seasons. When there are many patients, nurses struggle to devote time to each patient as well. As a result, a patient might feel unattended and leave the hospital. Virtual nursing assistants are a great solution to prevent patient leakage during peak hours. 

With the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare, every patient can be given equal importance. Until the doctor sees a patient, virtual assistants can collect basic information such as pulse rate, height, and more. It will not only save the doctor’s time but also boost the patient satisfaction level. Nurses of a healthcare organization may not feel burned out with the help of virtual nursing assistants. Several mundane nursing tasks can be automated with the help of nursing assistants. Nurses can devote their time to high-intensity patient care tasks that need a human touch. 

Personalized patient care with virtual nursing assistants

According to the reports, AI-powered virtual nursing assistants will have a global market of around USD 20 billion by the end of 2027. It is because healthcare will become more personalized. AI in healthcare IT solutions focus especially on personalization. Everything in healthcare is moving towards personalization. For example, instead of distributing generic medicines to all patients, clinicians are now considering personal allergies before distributing medication. Similarly, patients can feel they are getting special treatment with virtual nursing assistants. 

A nurse cannot be available for a single patient 24*7. However, a virtual nursing assistant can be available for each patient 24*7. For example, an AI-enabled interface can create multiple patient profiles and attend to each patient at all times. All this will give a personalized feeling to the patient. Not to forget, nurses will also check up on the patient at frequent intervals. Virtual nursing assistants aren’t here to snatch the jobs of human nurses. They are here to make the work of nurses easier and more productive. 

With the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare, many such wonders are possible. Start using an AI-powered virtual nursing assistant to offer personalized care to your patients in 2022!