Digital Teammate FAQ

Introducing TOH’s new Digital Teammate: an innovative, AI-powered digital assistant, here to support TOH staff with their workload and help patients throughout their health-care journey.

Powered by generative AI, the Digital Teammate will empower health-care providers and enhance patient autonomy, improving the overall patient experience.

What does that look like?  TOH is exploring how the Digital Teammate can help patients throughout their hospital experience, such as answering questions, providing directions and sharing helpful resources.

Right now, as we test this innovative technology, you can ask the Teammate questions about the Ottawa Hospital’s new campus.

What is a Digital Teammate?

The Digital Teammate, an AI-powered avatar, is designed to provide human-like conversational interactions while providing helpful information to patients and staff.

Why is TOH testing a Digital Teammate?

The Digital Teammate is being tested in stages so that we can make improvements before it is fully implemented. During this first stage, we’re using the AI avatar to answer questions related to TOH’s new campus.

Following any interaction with the Digital Teammate, people will be invited to provide feedback about their experience, which will inform the next round of project development.

TOH is exploring how the Digital Teammate can help patients throughout their hospital experience, such as answering questions, providing directions and sharing helpful resources.

Is this AI technology safe?

TOH is approaching AI carefully to ensure the Digital Teammate aligns with the safety and privacy laws and standards in health care. It has undergone extensive testing and training to be a valuable resource for patients and staff. As always, patient safety, consent and privacy are of utmost importance.

During this test phase, the Digital Teammate will only be able to access information related to The Ottawa Hospital’s new campus and cannot answer any questions outside that scope. The Teammate can’t access medical records, or any other information about the hospital.

How does the Digital Teammate work?

When someone interacts with the Digital Teammate, it scans information about the new campus to answer any questions as accurately and efficiently as possible. Unlike open-AI products like ChatGPT, the Digital Teammate can only access information provided by TOH; it is not combing the internet for answers, it is sourcing information directly from approved resources. The Digital Teammate utilizes video and audio processing, large language models, and real-time animation to work.

How will the Digital Teammate help patients?

TOH is exploring how the Digital Teammate can help patients throughout their hospital experience, such as answering questions, providing directions and sharing helpful resources.

The Digital Teammate is being tested in stages so that we can make improvements before it is fully implemented. During this first stage, we’re using the Digital Teammate to answer questions related to TOH’s new campus. 

What happens if the Digital Teammate cannot answer a question?

When asked about anything unrelated to TOH, the Digital Teammate will remind users that their purpose is to provide TOH-related assistance only. It also can only provide publicly available information related to the new campus, and its knowledge base will grow as the project evolves.

Is there a plan to expand the use of AI at TOH in the future?

We are taking a careful and responsible approach to using AI, while everyone continues to learn about the technology. It is important to expand in a way that meaningfully helps clinicians and patients.

AI is used in a few areas of our hospital, including Ambulatory Care and Medical Imaging. For example: our Radiologists use AI imaging platforms in breast imaging and lung screening.

Why is AI used in health care?

Like other sectors, there are many benefits to using AI in health care. Using AI can help streamline workflows, improve access to and quality of care, and reduce administrative burdens and wait times. It also allows staff to focus more on delivering or supporting patient care, by reducing time spent on manual tasks.

Last updated on: June 13th, 2024