Amazon Echo’s Alexa Has Great Potential in Healthcare

I bought an Amazon Echo this week and have been enjoying using it in the kitchen. I can ask, “Alexa, what time is it in Germany?” and it will tell me. Or I can say, “Alexa, play music by the Beatles,” or ask, “Alexa, how many ounces in a cup?” and it will let me know. It’s remarkably easy –and not at all frustrating– to use. The whole family is enjoying it.

Naturally I started almost immediately to think of healthcare uses, so I wasn’t at all surprised to pick up the Boston Globe yesterday and see that my friends from Boston Children’s Hospital are a step or two ahead. Chief Innovation Officer John Brownstein and clinical innovation director Dr. Michael Docktor have launched a KidsMD app for the platform and are testing out uses for Echo in the OR, ICU and bedroom.

Although the article lays out some of the potential for Echo, overall I find it too dismissive, highlighting a software glitch, voice recognition problem and asserting that “another layer of technology might frustrate staff.” The article ends with a quote from a Children’s engineer whose own kids aren’t interested in speaking with Alexa. None of this reflects my family’s experience...