AI In Orthodontics: Improving Patient Service

Welche vier Persönlichkeitstypen gibt es?

You may have heard the phrase “the customer is always right”. While this statement might hold true for common businesses, healthcare is a little different. Customers in a healthcare facility are diseased bodies seeking health in their messiah. Thus, they deserve all the empathy and good intentions of a doctor. This is a major reason for paying special attention to patient service. Moreover, the prognosis of a treatment directly relies on the level of the patient’s trust in the doctor.

Most patients determine the quality of treatment based on the quality of service care provided by the clinic staff. In most of the advanced countries, an evident hurdle to the delivery of optimal patient service is long waiting times. The longer a patient waits, the poorer their response is. Thus, multiple factors influence the delivery of patient service. According to a study, a patient’s perception of quality of service depends on the following factors:

  • Waiting time
  • Patient safety
  • Clinical procedure
  • Quality of outcome
  • Staff competency
  • Personalized attention

Traditionally doctors have adopted steps to manually enhance patient service. However, the ideal way of doing it today is by taking help from artificial intelligence.

How AI Improves Patient Service?

AI can revamp different facets of patient service. Let’s see how AI ensures the highest quality of patient services:

Augments Staff Performance

Coordination between the staff is a prerequisite for better patient outcomes. Staff members perform better when they are given duties according to their capabilities. Studies show that job stress (due to poor management) is directly linked to decreased quality of nursing care. Major contributors to stress are workload, long working hours, and relationships with supervisors.

Research shows that scheduling programs based on open-source AI platforms, quickly generate nursing roster schedules. The method is highly efficient and economical, ensuring optimal quality of patient care. With suitable working hours, orthodontic clinic staff members are capable of delivering better patient care.

Moreover, specialized AI-based programs (for smartphones) are being designed to counter nursing burnout symptoms. One such program i.e., Nurse Healing Space used mindfulness meditation, laughter therapy, storytelling, etc. to effectively reduce job stress. This greatly enhanced the quality of patient care.

Boosts Operational Efficiency

The advent of virtual assistants and chatbots has made life easier for all. It is recommended that all orthodontic clinics adopt virtual assistants to answer common queries regarding diagnosis and treatment. Most of the advanced clinics now offer online appointment bookings to facilitate the patient. AI-powered chatbots can reduce the volume of calls received for basic queries. The freedom of staff from these duties allows the delivery of personalized care. According to a study, AI-based virtual assistants (VA) and chatbots offer multiple benefits including:

  • Enhanced information accessibility
  • Reduced workload
  • Better patient engagement
  • Cost effectivity

Another study advocated the use of chatbots alongside human guidance in healthcare. It concluded that chatbots and VAs can be integrated into clinical practice. This step can greatly improve patient outcomes and refine staff/doctor workflow efficiencies. Despite the perks and accuracies of AI, most patients prefer AI usage in conjunction with human interaction.

Streamlines Communication

Communication is the key to a good patient-doctor trust relationship. Research suggests that the doctor-patient relationship is a two-way relationship i.e., a dyadic construct. Quality of communication is a significant influencer of trust in the doctor. AI ameliorates the communication between patients, healthcare providers, and other stakeholders (like insurance companies).

By improving access to information and streamlining communication, AI minimizes hassle in technical procedures. The latest research concludes that AI augments the doctor-patient relationship which can partly be attributed to enhanced diagnostic accuracy. Reports show that these effects of AI incorporation positively impact operational effectiveness and health outcomes.

Patient Engagement Improvement

You can expect to see better patient engagement with the provision of personalized care. The world of medicine is now shifting towards the impartion of precision orthodontics. AI acts as a helping hand in this transition.

Accurately designed AI algorithms are revolutionizing healthcare. Patients across the globe are frequently using AI to translate medical knowledge into understandable, layman’s language. The machine learning algorithms are capable of catering to individual medical needs and fostering greater patient engagement.

The use of AI continues to improve patients’ understanding of the condition. The general public is unable to understand the provided radiological/cephalometric reports. Nowadays, interpretation of the reports is done with AI. This increases the patient’s confidence and trust in the doctor. All these steps eventually lead to improved patient service.

Improves Patient Satisfaction

AI is being employed in orthodontics to perform numerous tasks. According to a study, AI performs orthodontic tasks with utmost precision which leads to increased patient satisfaction. Patients are satisfied with intelligent clear aligner systems, AI-enhanced bracket placements, and the fabrication of orthodontic appliances (using additive manufacturing) and robot-assisted orthodontics. Moreover, when the quality of patient care is enhanced, patients report greater satisfaction.

Saves Costs

The implementation of AI works best for both the doctor and the patient. Automated procedures under AI’s supervision can reduce patient expenses. For example, patients can communicate with the doctor via AI-powered teledentistry. Thus, there is no need to visit the clinic. Minimal visits to the clinic save traveling costs. Moreover, streamlined communication with the healthcare staff allows patients to communicate with the staff when absolutely necessary.

Final Word

Artificial intelligence and machine learning implementation in orthodontics benefit the orthodontist. However, the advanced algorithms can significantly improve patient service as well. Factors like waiting time, staff competency, personalized treatment, etc. influence patient’s perception of service. AI improves patient service by augmenting staff performance. By automatically scheduling staff responsibilities, AI ensures maximum nursing output.

Orthodontic clinics that employ virtual assistants and chatbots report boosted operational efficiency. Machine learning algorithms streamline communication between patients, doctors, and insurance providers. This boosts patient’s trust in the services. Many patients now use AI to translate medical information to understable data. This builds confidence among patients. These steps improve patient satisfaction and save costs which eventually leads to better patient service.

References

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