Healthcare Virtual Assistant Market Size & Growth 2031

Report Description

The global healthcare virtual assistant market size was USD 682 Mn in 2022 and is likely to reach USD 9432.62 Mn by 2031, expanding at a CAGR of 32.1% during 2023–2031. Increasing integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) in healthcare systems and devices for automation purposes is driving market growth. 

A virtual assistant is a digital assistant or artificial intelligence (AI)-based assistant that operates as per the user’s voice commands. A virtual assistant is programmed to perform tasks based on human commands. Chatbots, smart gadgets, and other conversational AI tools are specially designed virtual assistants to engage in voice interaction with humans. They provide voice reminders, operate on human commands, interact with other smart devices, manage the schedule for us, and reduce our workload.

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Virtual assistants are used by healthcare organizations for patient care monitoring and management. Multi-specialty hospitals and healthcare organizations manage a huge crowd on an everyday basis. The inpatient department (IPD) and outpatient department (OPD) need system automation to regulate patient appointments, emergencies, and doctors’ schedules, and aid in effective workforce management for on-duty staff.

Patients that are admitted for more than 24 hours in a hospital are handled by the inpatient department (IPD). Virtual assistants provide a personalized patient experience while keeping track of patients’ symptoms. It also provides reminders of injectables & medications by monitoring their health status. This helps hospitals to ensure optimum care for patients from the intensive care unit (ICU) and critical care units (CCU).

The outpatient care department (OPD) manages patients who do not need hospitalization. Remote patient monitoring is an important part of OPD operations where the patients are advised for rehabilitation and virtual hospitalization which is achieved by telemedicine.

Virtual assistants play a crucial role in helping chronic patients who are discharged from the hospital and manage post-discharge care effectively. It allows healthcare providers to keep track of their patients, encourages patients to take their vital readings regularly, and makes remote patient care practically possible.

Patient health status, missed routine visits, medical history, symptoms, and vital parameters are accurately recorded by virtual assistants. Virtual assistants operate through artificial intelligence (AI), which means that they are programmed to convert patient data into electronic health records, that are reliable and are stored for years on cloud storage.

The virtual assistant has the ability to repair automatically. It has fully functional & equipped workstations that work on high-speed internet. Given the right set of commands, virtual assistants fix their technical problems on their own.  They are capable of scheduling their own maintenance appointments. Virtual assistants finish their tasks for the day before the appointments and appear for the appointments on time. This is done even in remote locations, which is convenient for high-paced work environments in healthcare.

The COVID-19 pandemic positively impacted the market. The market growth is attributed to the rising number of users of virtual assistant apps & software. Virtual assistants helped patients to keep in touch with physicians & their healthcare providers for general health & well-being-related concerns during the pandemic. Many healthcare providers offered primary consultations to patients virtually, which helped patients to avoid unnecessary visits to the hospital and reduce the risk of exposure to the virus.

Healthcare Virtual Assistant Market Dynamics

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Key Trends

Rising integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare is a major market trend. Virtual assistants work as per the commands given to them. However, if the command sounds irrelevant or incorrect, the virtual assistant initiates human interaction. This helps to provide exact commands to the virtual assistant, which further minimizes human errors.

Major Drivers

Increasing adoption of interactive voice assistants (IVA) in hospitals for effective telephonic interaction is expected to drive the market during the projected period. IVA is an automated system that helps patients to resolve their fundamental queries and hospital-related inquiries telephonically.

Most healthcare providers choose IVA in order to deliver better patient care. After patients are discharged, it allows the respective clinics to keep in touch with patients through automated outcalls. Virtual assistants allow healthcare providers to take care of patients beyond the clinic by monitoring patients’ health status from a remote location.

The virtual assistant has the ability to repair automatically, which is likely to drive the market. It has fully functional & equipped workstations that work on high-speed internet. Virtual assistants fix their technical problems on their own if they receive the right command. This is done even in a remote location, which is convenient for high-paced work environments in healthcare.

Increasing adoption of interactive voice assistants (IVA) in hospitals for effective telephonic interaction is expected to drive the market during the projected period. IVA is an automated system that telephonically helps patients resolve their fundamental and hospital-related inquiries. Most healthcare providers choose IVA in order to deliver better patient care. After patients are discharged, it allows the respective clinics to keep in touch with patients through automated outcalls. Virtual assistants allow healthcare providers to take care of patients beyond the clinic by monitoring patients’ health status from a remote location.

Increasing popularity of virtual reality (VR) in healthcare is expected to drive the market in the coming years. As the name suggests, virtual reality is a set of different scenarios created inside the virtual world. It is created with the help of artificial intelligence. VR headsets showcase a three-dimension (3D) world to the user. This world is realistic and allows the user to get an audio-visual experience of different scenarios. The user’s movements are tracked inside the virtual world, enhancing the user experience.

Medical education authorities are adopting VR-based training for doctors, surgeons, and residents as a simulation. This allows them to practice the surgeries, and work on their phobias regarding the execution of their tasks. Surgeons and medical professionals prepare themselves before the surgeries to avoid any complications and errors. Furthermore, VR helps patients with a virtual therapist that guides them through rehabilitation.
 

Existing Restraints

Issues such as delayed response to human commands and frequent glitches in the operation are expected to hinder market growth. Moreover, virtual assistants require only 5G broadband speed to work efficiently. If the available internet connection is below 5G bandwidth, the smooth operation of virtual assistants becomes difficult to attain. This is a restraining factor for the market growth in many countries where 5G bandwidth is not yet developed.

Emerging Opportunities

Emerging advanced features in virtual assistants to effectively manage healthcare operations are creating lucrative market opportunities. Developed countries that have advanced technology in the healthcare domain are open to adopting the latest automation services. However, voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Microsoft Cortana are being introduced with advanced algorithms in order to suit the expeditious nature of work in the healthcare sector.

Growing research and development for making technological advancements in offline virtual assistants is expected to create immense opportunities for the key players competing in the market. The existing virtual assistants in the market operate well when connected to the internet. However, the efficiency of their offline work needs to be improved to operate flawlessly, even in the unavailability of the internet, to improve their reliability and credibility.

Scope of Healthcare Virtual Assistant Market Report

The market report includes an assessment of the market, trends, segments, and regional markets. Overview and dynamics have also been included in the report.

Healthcare Virtual Assistant Market Segment Insights

Based on product, the healthcare virtual assistant market is segmented into smart speakers and chatbots. The chatbots segment dominated the market in 2022 owing to its ability to provide multilingual customer support for healthcare organizations. The chatbots are capable of understanding the basic language and executing the right course of action, which helps the segment grow.

The smart speaker segment is anticipated to grow at a significant CAGR during the assessment period due to its interactive artificial intelligence feature. The inbuilt interactive AI lets speakers communicate effectively with users and execute all the commands. They take commands from the doctors, and hospital staff, and communicate when not sure about what action needs to be taken.

Based on technology, the healthcare virtual assistant market is bifurcated into speech recognition and voice recognition. The speech recognition segment is projected to hold a large market share in the coming years, as it allows healthcare organizations to deliver effective patient care management. It helps doctors to execute timely decisions, track the practitioner’s performances & patient reviews, and to cut down unnecessary expenditures.

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On the basis of end-user, the market is divided into providers, payers, patients, and others. The provider segment is expected to expand at a considerable CAGR during the projection period, owing to the increasing adoption of artificial intelligence-based technology by hospitals & other healthcare providers to enhance the clinical workflow.

Multi-specialty hospitals need to manage a huge patient flow throughout the day. Patients need to wait in the right queue to get a consultation from the right specialist. The effective segregation of patients is achieved by healthcare virtual assistants. Furthermore, healthcare providers advise remote patient monitoring for outpatients, which is easily done by a healthcare virtual assistant.

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In terms of region, the global healthcare virtual assistant market is classified as Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. North America dominated the market during 2021, owing to the presence of well-developed healthcare infrastructure. The rising adoption of virtual assistants & AI-based systems for healthcare system automation is likely to propel the market in the region.

The market in Asia Pacific is expected to register robust growth during the projection period, due to the rising adoption of advanced technologies in countries, such as India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea, which incorporate virtual assistants in healthcare.

Developing countries such as China and India launched the 5G Internet for technological advancement. Successful execution of 5G internet bandwidth enables smooth operations of virtual assistants & AI-based tools, which is expected to encourage the healthcare sector to rely on virtual assistant tools to regulate complex healthcare ecosystems.

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