For healthcare to keep up with evolving consumer expectations, it’s time for the industry to advance its patient engagement strategy—incorporating emerging channels, like voice.

The WellBe virtual assistant features voice recognition technology used to connect all family members at any time with health care experts and health care decision-makers. The device also allows people to easily track their health habits, such as whether they took their medication.

devices, manufactured by Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and others, are now making deeper inroads into patient care. Hospitals are exploring new uses in intensive care units and surgical recovery rooms, and contemplating a future in which Alexa, or another voice avatar, becomes a virtual member of the medical team — monitoring doctor-patient interactions, suggesting treatment approaches, or even alerting caregivers to voice changes that could be an early warning of a health emergency.

"Healthcare is at a tipping point with voice," said John Brownstein, chief innovation officer at Boston Children's. "We haven't seen it transform any industries. Healthcare could be a leading vertical in voice apps."

Livongo on Thursday announced a new voice-based tool for hypertensive patients that works with Amazon Lex and Amazon Polly. The tool will deliver what the company calls Health Nudges to help users better manage hypertension.

While it’s hard not to roll your eyes at voice assistants getting added to every single thing in the smart home, a Los Angeles hospital is actually putting Amazon Alexa to good use. About 100 patient rooms at Cedars-Sinai will now be equipped with Amazon Echos to help patients and caregivers interact more efficiently.

One senior living management company is looking to capitalize on voice technology in its skilled nursing settings to distinguish itself in the market — and to gain some efficiencies in an industry plagued by worker shortages.

The Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is looking to “transform” electronic health records (EHRs) by leveraging voice and AI technology to allow EHRs to naturally interact with physicians to find relevant information and hopefully enhance patient care.  

A new wave of younger healthcare IT executives are rising up to take on leadership roles in the industry. Here’s a glimpse of some of the new rising stars in healthcare information technology who are likely to guide the industry over the next 10 to 20 years.

…Mayo Clinic is looking to leverage its presence on voice assistants to be the go-to source for health information, exploring how voice technology could help patients adhere to postdischarge instructions or a diagnostic tool.

The explosion of this technology is changing patient interaction with physicians, hospitals, and the entire healthcare landscape in general.

Voice-driven artificial intelligence (AI) can help cure the time shortage on both ends of the spectrum. For patients, interactive voice apps can inform and teach better than the current system of handouts, pamphlets, and self-driven research on sites like WebMD. For doctors, voice apps can improve on old dictation systems, take direction to complete tasks like recording notes, and ease the complex process of billing.

“Voice technology — more properly referred to as voice-first technology — is exploding,” says Bradley Metrock, CEO of Score Publishing, the Nashville, Tennessee-based organizer of the Alexa Conference, a gathering of developers and enthusiasts in the voice community. “We've seen a glimpse of the future, and voice in healthcare will be a growing area of emphasis for years to come.”

Meditech and Nuance are teaming up to combine AI-powered voice technology with EHRs.