Amazon’s virtual assistant is now HIPAA-compliant, the company said April 4 in a blog post announcing the launch of six new Alexa skills designed to help consumers manage their healthcare.
The suite of skills was introduced through an invite-only program that enables developers to build Alexa skills that transmit and receive protected health information, according to the blog.
“Six new Alexa healthcare skills from industry-leading healthcare providers, payors, pharmacy benefit managers and digital health coaching companies are now operating on our HIPAA-eligible environment,” the post read. “In the future, we expect to enable additional developers to take advantage of this capability.”
The new skills include:
- Express Scripts, which allows members to check the status of a home delivery prescription and request Alexa notifications when their prescription orders are shipped.
- Cigna Health Today, which aims to help eligible Cigna employees manage their health improvement goals and earn personalized wellness incentives.
- My Children’s Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS), a skill developed by Boston Children’s Hospital that allows parents and caregivers of kids in the ERAS program to provide hospital officials with recovery updates and receive information about post-op appointments.
- Swedish Health Connect, which helps consumers find an urgent care center near them and schedule a same-day appointment.
- Atrium Health, a network based in North and South Carolina to help patients find an urgent care center near them and schedule a same-day appointment.
- Livongo, which can remind patients of their last blood sugar reading, identify blood sugar measurement trends and provide personalized “health nudges.”
“With our industry-leading voice skills, we are meeting customers where they are—in their homes, in their cars—and making it simpler to create healthier habits and daily routines,” Stephen Cassel, senior vice president of global brand and customer communications at Cigna, said in a statement. “Through our Amazon Alexa skill, customers can simply use voice to understand the full range of their health benefits and receive personalized wellness incentives for meeting their health goals, empowering them to take control of their total health."
After graduating from Indiana University-Bloomington with a bachelor’s in journalism, Anicka joined TriMed’s Chicago team in 2017 covering cardiology. Close to her heart is long-form journalism, Pilot G-2 pens, dark chocolate and her dog Harper Lee.