Orbita, providers of software for a home healthcare systems, has developed Voice Experience Designer, a smart voice-powered home health system for physicians and patients.

Headlined by Amazon's Echo and Apple's Siri, the market for voice assistant technology has grown steadily. Nearly 65 percent of all smartphone users have used voice assistants. With the increase in users, voice assistants have evolved to become smarter and more integrated into the lives of its user.

"We are constantly looking for ways to better to serve our patients and improve their ability to maximize their wellness at home,” said John Loughnane, MD, chief of innovation at Commonwealth Care Alliance in Boston. “In 2017, we will be collaborating with Orbita as recipients of a Center for Health Care Strategies Innovation Award to bring this exciting concept to reality and positively impact our patient’s everyday experience of home-based medical care.”

Orbita’s Voice Experience Designer is made for both physicians and patients. Physicians can create personalized voice-powered applications for a multitude of treatment situations for the patient. With applications for medication adherence, caregiver coordination, pain management and patient monitoring, patients receive the support of a physician through the Voice Experience Designer.

Patients are able to ask the device for information regarding any of the implemented applications set up by the physician. Saying, "When’s my next appointment?” or, “Which medications do I need to take today?” will prompt correct answers or assistance in tasks. The device can go into the patient's schedule to find the next appointment or check medication adherence notifications.

“Instead of requiring someone to speak into a smartphone, the Echo offers an array of sensitive microphones and a built-in speaker,” said Bill Rogers, Orbita founder and CEO. “It’s ‘always on/always listening’ capabilities bring powerful advantages to home care needs. We believe that voice assistant technologies delivered through connected devices like the Amazon Echo are the future of care journey management for home healthcare. Making them mainstream requires integration with existing healthcare systems and mapping the voice experiences to established care protocols. Orbita created our Voice Experience Designer to simplify the creation of voice-powered healthcare applications that are secure, robust and fully integrated with existing systems.”