Start-up Bot MD's AI platform helps docs monitor patients' vital signs

An artificial intelligence (AI) bot which helps doctors and telemedicine providers prioritise attention on urgent Covid-19 cases on home recovery could help them better manage their workload, amid the surge in local cases.

- Cheryl Tan

The platform, developed by local AI healthcare start-up Bot MD, helps doctors monitor their patients’ vital signs, such as heart rate and oxygen levels, remotely.

Those who are enrolled in the programme will be required to periodically key in their vital signs via messaging apps like WhatsApp.

An alert is triggered to the doctor or nurse-in-charge via SMS when the patient records an abnormal reading such as a low oxygen saturation.

Bot MD chief executive and founder Dorothea Koh said: “The Bot MD Care bot is therefore able to help doctors to triage these submissions to focus on patients who may require medical attention, which helps them to streamline their telemedicine operations.”

With at least 16,000 patients placed on home recovery as at Saturday, many telemedicine providers and hospitals have been contacting each patient manually to get a health update, noted Ms Koh.

The platform would be more convenient and time-saving, she added.

Home recovery is now the default care arrangement model for all Covid-19 patients, except for several vulnerable groups.