From 24 July, the digital assistant (chatbot) will answer questions from visitors to Amsterdam UMC. This makes it the first hospital in the Netherlands with a site with so-called 'conversational chatbot technology'. With the introduction of the conversational website, a digital assistant gives visitors an immediate answer to their question. The new solution should also help web visitors navigate the use of Amsterdam UMC's new integrated website, merging AMC.nl and VUMC.nl.

One and a half year trajectory

Amsterdam UMC opted for the chatbot technology from supplier Pex Life, with which the ASR chat bot is made. Filling the system with recognizable questions and adequate answers took eighteen months. Patients were always directly and indirectly involved in this, for example through the Patient Information Department and interviews and tests among visitors to the outpatient clinic. By analyzing all site visits and the questions that were asked for more than a year and a half, this appears to be the case with six thematic blocks more than 80 percent of all questions are answered. The seventh block 'ask your question' is intended for the digital assistant. The chatbot technology only provides answers to general, organizational, factual and facility questions. Personal medical information is not provided and processed via the digital assistant.

Technology