Inova, a nonprofit healthcare provider in Northern Virginia and the Washington, D.C. metro area, has teamed up with artificial intelligence (AI)-powered communications platform for healthcare Hyro and AI-powered customer experience provider NICE.

The collaboration is aimed at improving patient and staff satisfaction leveraging digital technologies to enhance the patient and team member experience, streamline operations, and improve care services.

According to the healthcare provider, Inova’s newly upgraded NICE CXone platform will now feature Hyro’s AI-powered voice and chat assistants to automate regular tasks such as answering common questions and managing appointments.

This would in turn improve operational efficiency by streamlining patient communications. Additionally, patients and staff will have 24/7 access to information and self-services such as appointment management, prescription refills, and clinic details.

Inova chief information and digital officer, and executive vice-president Matt Kull said: “By integrating Hyro’s advanced AI capabilities with the NICE CXone platform, Inova is taking a significant step forward in revolutionising the way we engage with patients and team members.

“With Inova contact centre agents handling more than 250,000 patient calls each month, this technology will allow for a more personalised patient experience through intuitive conversational interfaces, and improve team member productivity, ensuring that we continue to deliver the exceptional care and service that patients have come to expect from Inova.”

Inova has 24,000 team members who serve more than one million patients annually. It serves via hospitals, primary and specialty care practices, emergency centres, and outpatient services.