By just saying, “Alexa, open Texas Children’s Urgent Care,” you will now be able to access wait times and available hours immediately from your Amazon smart device. The feature was developed to make retrieving information about your local urgent care more convenient and hands-free.
Alexa is a widely popular digital assistant built into smart devices, answering questions and performing a multitude of tasks in millions of homes across the country.
Paola Alvarez-Malo, Vice President of Innovation, wanted to explore how to leverage the popularity of Alexa and connected with Information Services Applications Architect Brian Warwick.
“It gets information that’s already out there, and it’s quick, easy and very helpful,” Alvarez-Malo said. “Innovative ideas often come from two people with a common interest connecting and helping each other think through the possibilities. The partnership with IS and Texas Children’s Urgent Care is a great example of how we can work together to bring new ideas to life.”
Warwick had previously built the online Texas Children’s Urgent Care wait times and had already begun to explore how to extend that build to Alexa as a means to demonstrate the use of new technologies.
“I think it’s something that definitely sets us apart from other children’s hospitals and what’s being offered right now,” Warwick said. “I believe we are the only one that is actually pulling real time Epic data, so I’m pretty proud of it.”
By just saying, “Alexa, open Texas Children’s Urgent Care,” you will be able to access wait times and available hours.
“This skill is another way that Texas Children’s is enhancing patient experience through innovative tactics,” President of Texas Children’s Pediatrics and Urgent Care Kay Tittle said. “We look forward to its expansion and how this skill will allow our urgent cares to provide even more efficient services.”
As the first phase of this process rolls out, the information services team plans to include more features and add more locations to the skill. We would love your feedback to determine how we can make Alexa more effective for all patients.
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