More than 92 per cent of surgical patients at the North Bay Regional Health Centre who used an AI program to answer their questions said they were happy with the process – and the answers they received. Participating patients had round-the-clock access to a conversational AI feature within SeamlessMD. Access began in the spring, “offering patients a safe, clinician-approved AI assistant as part of their care,” the hospital said in a news release Aug. 28. SeamlessMD has been customized by the North Bay hospital. The tool dubbed ‘Seamless Answers’ has been modified “to provide surgical patients with the information needed to prepare for, and recover from, surgery,” the release said. The AI program answers questions for 10 types of surgeries, including orthopedics, urology, general surgery and pediatrics. “Patients who have questions about their recovery outside of business hours usually turn to tools like ChatGPT or Google,” the hospital said. “But these tools can make errors when answering because (they) know nothing about the patient’s specific procedure, medications or care instructions. Seamless Answers was built to close that gap for patients.” Advice approved by physicians They are drawn from medical databases approved by physicians at the North Bay hospital and are available in multiple languages. “Every answer cites its source and links back to the original page so patients can read the full instructions,” the release said. “When a question falls outside the approved content, patients are directed to contact their care team.” Since going live this past spring, 48 per cent of patient questions have been asked outside business hours – overnight or on weekends – filling a critical gap for patients. “Of the patients who have tried Seamless Answers, 92 per cent have found it helpful,” the hospital said. “As one patient shared, ‘Very helpful. Better than Google.’ Another patient said. ‘Always felt less panicked because of responses received.’”
