Giving Compass' Take:

• Hospitals are starting to use more voice assistants for bedside care, data analytics and record keeping. 

• What are the controversies behind using voice assistants in healthcare? Will big companies such as Apple and Amazon start to market their products for specific hospital use? 

• Learn more about using AI in healthcare.

At first it was a novelty: Hospitals began using voice assistants to allow patients to order lunch, check medication regimens, and get on-demand medical advice at home.

But these devices, manufactured by Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and others, are now making deeper inroads into patient care. Hospitals are exploring new uses in intensive care units and surgical recovery rooms, and contemplating a future in which Alexa, or another voice avatar, becomes a virtual member of the medical team — monitoring doctor-patient interactions, suggesting treatment approaches, or even alerting caregivers to voice changes that could be an early warning of a health emergency.

Read the full article about using voice assistants in hospitals by Casey Ross at STAT News