Voice First Health Wrap-Up for 2018

VFH Episode 22

In this special episode for the New Year 2019, Teri takes a look back at some of the episodes of the year, where he had the opportunity to ask each of the guests what voice first health means to them.

Teri has interviewed CEOs, thought leaders, researchers, industry leaders, developers and all kinds of people that are working the voice first health space.

Voice First Health Podcast, Episode 15: Dave Kemp

Dave talked about how the hearables industry is transforming as a result of voice technology entering that industry.
Dave is part of Oak Tree Products which provides medical supplies and devices to the hearing technology industry.
He runs the Future Ear Blog where he documents the technological breakthroughs that are occurring in the hearables niche.

What Voice First Health Means to Dave:

There are so many efficiencies to be had here. The area for improvement is all the clerical work in the actual medical setting from how doctors record notes to the healthcare administration processes.
Capitalizing on the new efficiencies to make the whole medical system more efficient.
He thinks the smart assistant will eventually be a person’s personal nurse. Through voice analyzation, they will be able to understand a person’s state of health. Amazon has a patent based on Alexa being able to tell if a person is sick based on the inflection of their voice and it would prompt them to seek medical help.

Voice First Health Podcast, Episode 16: Erum Azeez Khan

Erum spoke about creating voice applications for the aging population and specifically seniors living in senior living campuses. She also talks about how voice technology is affecting those seniors.

What Voice First Health Means to Erum:

They look at how much caregivers can do through voice without having to go to the screen because when they look at a screen, their attention is directed away from their patient or the resident under their care.
They focus on human-centric design to make connections stronger.
Voice First helps strengthen relationships. It’s a way to stay engaged with other people and the tasks at hand. It’s also a way to create transparency because it’s a multiplayer experience.

Voice First Health Podcast, Episode 17: Dr. John Loughnane

Dr. Loughnane, the Chief of Clinical Innovation and the Medical Director of Life Choices Palliative Care Program at Commonwealth Care Alliance, spoke about some of the fascinating and impactful work that they are doing in the voice first health space.

What Voice First Health Means to Dr. Loughnane:

It means patients having the ability to engage with augmented care from their medical/social/behavioral health providers in a way that they’ve never been able to deliver in the past.

Voice First Health Podcast, Episode 19: Brian Roemmele

Brian has been studying voice technology for decades. He is one of the most eminent thought leaders in voice technology.
Brian talked about his vision of the future of having a truly voice first assistant.
Voice technology is extending the “usable lives” of the aging population and creating opportunities for children to learn about their world. People are able to inform themselves, reach out into the world, get access to podcasts and get access to information that they would not have had access to because the user interface is not getting in the way.

What Voice First Health Means to Brian:

Elderly people are becoming isolated because of the reality of societal existence as we are today. We used to live communally as big families but now we separate ourselves.
The elderly don’t get to speak very often because nobody wants to talk to them anymore. Voice first technology will enable the elderly to at least create some dialogue and ask questions.

Voice First Health Podcast, Episode 20: Jim Schwoebel

Jim is the founder and CEO of Neurolex, a company that is using speech analysis to detect health conditions using the data that is wrapped in the wave forms that we create every time that we are uttering a word or phrase.

What Voice First Health Means to Jim:

It’s looking within voice and using that information to improve healthcare through our work.

Voice First Health Podcast, Episode 21: Stuart Patterson

Stuart is the CEO of Lifepod, a company that has created a product that allows proactive conversations from Alexa to a senior living in their home may need some extra help, guidance, and reminders in their daily activities.

What Voice First Health Means to Stuart:

He is always excited by the possibility that a caregiver can support and monitor their patient or parent from a distance, whether it’s a short or long distance.