TeleHealth Services have launched iCare Navigator, a platform that uses a virtual health coach, driven by artificial intelligence (AI), to increase patient engagement in the care continuum.

iCare Navigator's virtual avatar is able to communicate with patients and provide educational tools to improve health, change behaviors and reduce readmissions and costs. By keeping patients engaged in their care through bedside TVs and mobile devices, the solution offers increased scalability and affordability for healthcare organizations.

“The inability to truly connect with the patient is why no company in our industry has fully penetrated the patient engagement market,” saidRichard Bootes, TeleHealth Services vice president of product development. “Our goal in developing iCare Navigator was to create the first interactive patient care system that uses a combination of empathy, personal motivation, game theory, family involvement and artificial intelligence to help patients be more receptive to changing their health behavior.”

Unlike conventional patient engagement systems that focus solely on providing information at the patient’s bedside, the AI-driven assistant  is able to identify how each patient in motivated and transmit their personal practices into creating more effective ways engaging patients. This personalized approach, which is integrated in each patient’s electronic medical records, results in high engagement during hospital stays and improved support when patients return home.

“iCare Navigator combines next-generation patient engagement technology with behavior modification practices to uniquely deliver improved outcomes to hospitals and enhance patient lives,” said Dan Nathan, president of TeleHealth Services. “We are excited and proud to be working with recognized industry leaders including healthcare research luminary Dr. Brian Jack. Through our collaboration, we are empowering hospitals, patients and the entire healthcare industry with a transformative system that will re-shape the future of the interactive patient engagement sector of the healthcare industry. As health systems struggle to do more with less, and with uncertainty in healthcare reform, it becomes critically necessary to focus on technology solutions that can engage patients and drive favorable outcomes.”