Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE IMPLEMENTATION IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Digital Health
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Unwell in America
  • Opinion
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Events & Awards
    • Awards
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
      • - Leaders to Watch
    • Women in Healthcare
      • - Luminaries
      • - Top 25 Women Leaders
      • - Women to Watch
    • Digital Health Transformation Summit
    • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Digital Health
    • - Future of Staffing
    • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
  • Multimedia
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • Data Center
    • Data Center Home
    • Hospital Financials
    • Staffing & Compensation
    • Quality & Safety
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Data Archive
    • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
    • Surveys
    • Data Points
  • MORE+
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Patients
October 25, 2021 09:00 AM

Cedars-Sinai, Houston Methodist to deploy new tools from Amazon

Jessica Kim Cohen
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Amazon Alexa - Cedars Sinai

    Amazon on Monday unveiled a new voice offering for hospitals and health systems, representing yet another step in the Seattle tech giant's push into healthcare.

    Amazon's Alexa voice assistant next month will offer applications designed for patients to use during a hospital stay as part of Alexa Smart Properties, a division that sells Alexa devices and voice tools to property owners to deploy and centrally manage throughout their organizations. That includes apartments, hotels and senior-living facilities.

    BayCare in Tampa, Florida; Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles; and Houston Methodist are among health systems that are implementing tools from Alexa Smart Properties.

    The new offering grew out of work Amazon did with hospitals and health systems during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Liron Torres, global leader for Alexa Smart Properties.

    Download Modern Healthcare’s app to stay informed when industry news breaks.

    Particularly early in the pandemic, healthcare organizations installed Alexa devices in patient rooms so that patients could communicate with staff without being in the same room as one another—decreasing physical contact and reducing the number of times clinicians might need to don and doff personal protective equipment during a shortage of such supplies.

    "Initially, when [hospitals] reached out to us, we enabled the solution in COVID wards," Torres told Modern Healthcare. "Both patients and staff really liked it."

    Download Modern Healthcare’s app to stay informed when industry news breaks.

    The new offering adds to Amazon's expanding roster of healthcare efforts, including Amazon Care, a medical care service it's selling to employer health plans, and Amazon Pharmacy, a business that lets customers purchase prescriptions that are delivered directly to their homes. Last year the company unveiled a health-tracking wearable called Amazon Halo.

    Alexa has been a core part of Amazon's effort to play an intermediary role—trying to link consumers to traditional healthcare organizations in more convenient ways.

    Amazon in 2019 released an Alexa application for pharmacies, through which patients could manage their medications and refill prescriptions. The company that same year opened a program for health systems, insurers and companies to create their own voice applications that handle patient data through Alexa while meeting HIPAA compliance.

    Multiple health plans have launched programs to let members ask for information through voice assistants, including Amazon's Alexa and Google Home devices.

    While voice assistants have the opportunity to make health information easier to access, some researchers have called into question how accurately they can parse patient requests. A May study published in the journal Frontiers in Digital Health found Google Assistant outperformed Alexa and Apple's Siri at recognizing popular generic and brand name medications.

    With the new Alexa functionality, hospital and health system executives can deploy voice applications across Alexa devices in their organizations, giving patients access to tools that let them call a nurses' station, control devices in their room and request information about the facility, such as how to order food or view a cafeteria menu.

    That's in part through connecting to communications systems—like Vocera and Aiva Health, according to Amazon—that are already in use at an organization.

    "It's a total gamechanger for enhancing our hospital experience," said Peachy Hain, Cedars-Sinai's executive director of medical and surgical services, in a news release. "Patients can use Alexa to connect with their care team and stay entertained as soon as they settle in, while care providers can streamline tasks to make more time to care for those patients."

    Torres declined to share specific pricing details of the offering but said the cost will depend on the size of the deployment and which tools an organization implements.

    Most applications that a patient would use through the Alexa Smart Properties offering are anonymous, which means the patient's identity isn't linked to the interaction, Torres said. In cases where a patient's identity is important—like for tools that track a patient's medications—hospitals would develop their own tools through Alexa's program for "HIPAA-eligible" applications.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    Pills
    Patients complain some obesity care startups offer pills, and not much else
    Doctor with patients in a clinic waiting room
    Doctors drop patients not seen in a few years
    Most Popular
    1
    More healthcare organizations at risk of credit default, Moody's says
    2
    Centene fills out senior executive team with new president, COO
    3
    SCAN, CareOregon plan to merge into the HealthRight Group
    4
    Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan unveils big push that lets physicians take on risk, reap rewards
    5
    Bright Health weighs reverse stock split as delisting looms
    Sponsored Content
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Digital Health
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Unwell in America
    • Opinion
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Events & Awards
      • Awards
        • Nominate/Eligibility
        • 100 Most Influential People
        • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
        • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
        • Excellence in Governance
        • Health Care Hall of Fame
        • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
        • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
        • Top 25 Innovators
        • Diversity in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
          • - Leaders to Watch
        • Women in Healthcare
          • - Luminaries
          • - Top 25 Women Leaders
          • - Women to Watch
      • Conferences
        • Digital Health Transformation Summit
        • ESG: The Implementation Imperative Summit
        • Leadership Symposium
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
      • Galas
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Digital Health
        • - Future of Staffing
        • - Hospital of the Future (Fall)
      • Webinars
    • Multimedia
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • Data Center
      • Data Center Home
      • Hospital Financials
      • Staffing & Compensation
      • Quality & Safety
      • Mergers & Acquisitions
      • Data Archive
      • Resource Guide: By the Numbers
      • Surveys
      • Data Points
    • MORE+
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing