In keeping with MIDP's core values of prizing human connection over data and respecting and encouraging all voices, Dr. Dennis Zhou participated in a hackathon event with the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Dr. Zhou and his team had an idea to address the problem of psychiatric patients feeling unequal in the physician-patient power dynamic and the lack of follow-up between clinic visits/hospital discharges. Their solution was to create an AI-based chatbot that can engage with patients before, but especially after visits.
This way, the chatbot could triage problems that patients are facing and create a symptom score history/tracker for the patient. The chatbot could also alert healthcare teams of complex patients who may need support and/or patients with rapidly deteriorating symptoms (e.g. SI, HI). Dr. Zhou felt the benefit of learning from psychiatrists about the value of motivational interviewing and health coaching, both of which allow patients to take ownership of their health. Placing first with their innovative solution to a delicate problem, team Zhou made the type of difference that the MIDP program strives to achieve.
