Several DEM Faculty and Research Staff Develop ED Chatbot for Assessing Patient Social Needs

From UW News:

"A team led by the University of Washington developed a chatbot that could ask emergency department visitors about social needs, including housing, food, access to medical care and physical safety. The team tested it on 41 patients in Seattle and Los Angeles emergency departments. Results show that two groups of patients preferred the chatbot: patients who had less than a middle school level of health literacy and patients who appreciated establishing emotional connections."

DEM Section Head of Population Health Dr. Herbie Duber, along with Acting Instructor and Population Health research Fellow Dr. Callan Fockele, as well as Clinical research Manager Layla Anderson, led this project aimed at developing a chatbot to virtually triage ED patients about their social needs.

You can find the full article at UW News here.