The London boroughs of Richmond upon Thames and Wandsworth have reported positive results from a pilot project using generative AI in managing the waiting list for occupational therapy and device check-in for care technology.
They ran the pilot with Tovie AI from summer of last year until February of this year, assessing the effiectiveness of AI powered voice assistants in managing large scale communications.
For occupational therapy waiting list management, the AI assistant accelerated the processes of contacting residents, collecting status updates and prioritising service delivery.
The councils said that 74% of the calls made were successful in gathering the necessary information and prioritising people who need care and support. Other benefits included improved response times and prioritisation for urgent cases, a significant reduction in the administrative burden and keeping residents informed.
For care technology device check-in, the technology was used to contact residents who had been provided with the devices to ensure they were being used and offering troubleshooting assistance. If the device was not in use the information from the call was used to update information and reallocate the devices to another person in need.
For 77% of the calls, it was possible to identify whether the devices were in use or could be allocated to other residents.
Further benefits
The councils also reported reductions in the manual workload, a more efficient allocation of the resources, minimising service disruption through real time troubleshooting, and freeing up time for staff to personally contact residents with other problems.
Violina Harpar, occupational therapy service manager for Richmond and Wandsworth, said: " The pilot demonstrates that AI can significantly improve the communication process, including how information is collected, updated and streamlined for review by skilled staff.
“By reducing the administrative work that occupational therapists (OTs) need to perform, it creates capacity for them to increase residents contact time and focus on their primary duties applying their core OT skills.”
A spokesperson for Tovie AI said the two councils are looking to implement the voice assistants for other uses.
