Using Chatbots In Pharma: What You Need To Know

AI Chatbots are the most useful type of AI Agents today. They are changing how businesses interact with customers by providing instant 24/7 support, answering questions, and resolving issues efficiently. AI assistants are one of the most sought-after software solutions in the medical industry. In healthcare, AI chatbots assist with patient inquiries, appointment scheduling, and symptom checking, reducing the burden on medical staff. Their ability to process natural language and engage in meaningful conversations allows them to bridge the gap between patients and healthcare providers, offering a more accessible and convenient way to manage health-related tasks.

The global market for AI Chatbots had a value of $972,5 million in 2022. By 2030, experts from Grand View Research predict that its revenue will reach $4,3 billion. Pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies also invest in these products.

AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Recursion Pharmaceuticals use GPT in pharma and other types of technologies to automate internal and external processes. Chatbots, in particular, have found many applications in this field for producers and pharmacies that sell their products. Our guide will explain the many applications of these tools and the limitations enterprises must be aware of to harness their full potential.

We will also show you real examples of AI pharma chatbots and the possibility of testing them on your own so you may get a better idea of how they work and their efficiency.

AI Agents and How To Use Them

AI agents are top-notch software applications designed to perform tasks autonomously or semi-autonomously using various AI technologies. They can analyze information, make decisions, and interact with users in a way that mimics human behavior. Among the most prevalent forms of AI agents are AI chatbots, which specifically focus on facilitating conversations with users through text or voice interfaces. These chatbots serve as the interface for engaging with users, providing them with information, answering questions, and assisting with tasks.

In healthcare and pharmacy, chatbot can provide patients with instant access to medication information, appointment scheduling, and general health advice. Their ability to operate continuously allows them to assist users outside of traditional business hours, thereby improving access to essential services. This capability not only enhances customer experience but also frees up human staff to concentrate on more complex and sensitive matters.

The relationship between AI agents and chatbots signifies a shift toward more interactive and intelligent systems. While chatbots focus primarily on communication, AI agents encompass a broader range of functionalities that can include data analysis, decision-making support, and process automation. Together, they create a comprehensive AI ecosystem where user queries can be addressed quickly, and more complex tasks can be handled efficiently.

Learn more about AI Agents in our previous articles:

• Agents in Artificial Intelligence: What Are They And How They Are Used
• How to Build Your Own AI Agent
• AI Agents for Business: Full Guide 2024
• Open-Source AI Agents: How to Use Them and Best Examples

What Are Chatbots & How Do They Work?

Chatbots are NLP-based software solutions people interact with to get information. The main feature of the current AI chatbots’ structure is that they are trained using machine-learning development algorithms and can understand open-ended queries. The basic NLP based chatbot consists of the following elements:

• NLP AI Module, where “all the magic happens” - usually a Python-coded module that processes human language requests and provides high-quality answers based on NLU and NLP capacities.
• Backend Application that provides a possibility to process all the requests from the users and connect to the NLP AI Module.
• Frontend Application - this is the UI/UX of your chatbot application with the possibility to register, log in, CRUD data, and interact with the chatbot.
• Embedder - an additional module that helps to upload the user’s embedded data.
• Widget - in simple words this is the “ chat window” where your customers interact with the chatbot application.

If you would like learn more about AI chatbots, you are welcome to read some of our previous articles:

• Chatbot development: how to build your own chatbot
• What is an NLP Chatbot and how it differs from LLM Chatbots?
• What Makes LLM Chatbots Industry Game Changer
• What Is A Customized AI Chatbot And Why Your Business Needs One?
• How Chatbots Fail and How To Avoid It

‍Pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies initially used products that followed conversational trees. But GPT pharmacy bots are becoming the new norm. Older solutions are best described as IVR systems used for telephone customer support. Modern pharma chatbots are more versatile and closely mimic the work of live agents. These tools aren’t confined to strict dialog sequences or particular keywords. The NLP technology, which is itself a sector of artificial intelligence, lets these tools understand user requests and respond to them more accurately.

In addition to NLP, modern chatbots use the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) tech for visual character and pattern recognition. With its help, conversational tools find information in images and convert it to code for the system to comprehend.

The Artificial Intelligence Markup Language (AIML) component contains the rules that define a chatbot’s conversational capacity. It’s used with the language understanding processor (NLU) that explores and answers text requests. The more rules are introduced with AIML, the more intelligent the conversational tool becomes.

Advanced chatbot pharma products also use a technology called Structured Data Collection (SDC). With its help, conversational solutions identify, test, and validate templates used in the electronic health record (EHR) system. The EHR uses this information to retrieve, display, and populate structured templates and forms.

Сustom AI Chatbots in Pharma

Custom chatbot development for pharma industry is one of the best options for companies and enterprises looking for a solution that may cover all needed issues and is not presented on the market. Let’s have a look at pharmaceutical businesses that can benefit from implementing AI custom chatbots.

• Pharmaceutical Companies. These companies can use AI chatbots to provide information about their products, such as dosage, side effects, and interactions, as well as assist with medication adherence and patient support programs.

• Healthcare Providers. Hospitals, clinics, and healthcare facilities can use custom AI chatbots to streamline appointment scheduling, provide patient education, offer telemedicine services, and answer different FAQs.

• Pharmacies. Pharmacies can deploy AI chatbots to offer medication reminders, refill prescriptions, answer customer inquiries, and provide information on over-the-counter products.

• Medical Research Organizations. Research institutions and organizations involved in clinical trials can integrate custom chatbots to recruit participants, provide study information, and collect data from participants.

• Tech Healthcare Startups. Startups specializing in healthcare technology solutions can integrate tailored AI chatbots into their platforms to improve patient engagement, increase healthcare delivery, and facilitate remote monitoring and care management.

Almost any pharmaceutical business that deals with customers, healthcare professionals, or patients can benefit from incorporating custom chatbots into their operations to improve efficiency, accessibility, and the quality of services provided.

Springs team has a proven experience in healthcare AI development and we are glad to help you with integrating custom solution to your pharma business or startup. 

Using a top-notch tech integration approach, we focus only on the needed specific features in a particular case and avoid spending tons of money and time for “development for development”. 

We aim to be your long-term technical partner and develop together with your business. 

The Role of Chatbots In Pharmacy

Modern conversational tools have found many applications in the pharmaceutical field among producers and pharmacies. Chatbots previously filled many roles that previously belonged to experts and consultants. Their implementation helps pharma companies and pharmacies cut time and effort in different areas.

1. Answering frequently asked questions. Pharmacies adopt AI-based chatbots to provide product information and availability and allow clients to order them from the solution’s interface. Pharmaceutical companies implement these tools to answer questions about items, dosage, and prices.
2. Better customer coverage. Introducing chatbots to customer relations management helps pharmacies and companies cater to a broader range of clients. They can be tailored to provide speech-to-text capabilities and multilingual support. This makes it possible to better cater to different demographics and people with disabilities.
3. Constant support. Using GPT in pharma allows all types of businesses to offer medical advice outside of regular working hours. This is especially helpful in emergency situations. Chatbots offer timely advice on how to deal with them or provide emergency contacts.
4. Deeper insights and analytics. During patient conversations, chatbots gather enormous amounts of data. These solutions provide valuable insights to pharma companies on the effectiveness of medication and its improvement. Using chatbots in pharmacy also helps identify potential opportunities and risks.
5. Personalized recommendations. Pharmaceutical chatbots offer individual patient advice and recommendations based on medication history and its results. They can advise the most appropriate treatment or transfer users to pharmaceutical experts. This makes daily work more efficient for pharmaceutical firms and sellers.
6. Request refilling prescriptions. With their help, patients order new prescriptions without visiting physical stores. This saves time and effort in getting medication and negates the need for employees to take these requests. 
7. Scheduling appointments. Introducing pharma chatbots helps streamline appointments with their experts. Patients use them to sign up for health checks, seasonal shots, or other services available at specific locations. Pharma companies use them for the same purposes, for example, to handle consultations with medical trial participants.

Best Pharma Chatbot Examples

1. IONI (Springs)

IONI is AI Chatbot-Based Agent developed for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. By integrating this chatbot, pharma owners can provide patients with instant responses to their inquiries, whether it's about medication details, dosage instructions, or side effects. This reduces the need for staff to handle routine queries, allowing them to focus on more critical tasks. Additionally, the chatbot can assist in scheduling appointments, tracking prescriptions, and even reminding patients to take their medications, improving overall patient care.

For healthcare providers, this Pharma AI Chatbot simplifies communication between patients and medical staff. It helps answer frequently asked questions, offer health tips, and guide patients through initial consultations, easing the pressure on healthcare workers. By offering consistent, accurate information, the chatbot improves the patient experience, making it easier to access essential information at any time. With its focus on addressing specific needs within the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors, this IONI boosts businesses in meeting patient demands.

The workflow of IONI you can see below:

Feel free to contact Springs team if you would like to receive a customisable version of IONI.

2. Florence (Florence)

Florence is a versatile chatbot made to streamline patient healthcare. This solution reminds people when to take different types of medication by asking the person to provide the name of the medicine and the number and time of daily intakes. Florence also tracks user health metrics, such as mood and body weight. With its help, people can find the nearest doctor’s and pharmacy locations.

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3. Healthily (Healthily)

This conversational solution lets patients get accurate medical information. People use it to check their symptoms and find out about possible causes. Additionally, Healthily offers information about medical service providers. It’s possible to use it to locate the nearest test centers, doctor offices, and pharmacies. People who suffer from mental health issues can get recommendations about mental health apps.

4. Kebot (Roche Pharma)

Roche Pharma has developed Kebot to improve the training of sales staff employees. The tool provides them with questionnaires where workers write notes after sales calls and rate how well they did their job. This data is gathered and stored in Roche Pharma's CRM system. The company uses this data to create training materials and improve the quality of future sales calls. This approach makes training more individual and productive.

5. Sophia (Novo Nordisk)

The Novo Nordisk company allows diabetic patients to converse with the Sophia chatbot. The solution is available through its Cornerstones4care portal. This conversational tool answers questions about the disease and explains how its carriers can live a healthy life. The pharmaceutical introduced the AI assistant after witnessing website traffic increase between 11 PM and 1 AM. It provides medical advice outside of regular business hours.

6. Sugarpod (Wellpepper)

Wellpepper’s Sugarpod is another virtual assistant for people living with diabetes. The product helps patients track meals and blood glucose concentration. Users can interact with it through text and voice input. The Sugarpod can scan the patient’s feet to see if the disease damaged the blood vessels and nerves. This is important to observe as diabetes affects feet the most.Overall, there are many examples of custom pharma AI assistants that you may integrate into your business. Springs team is here for you to help with a custom chatbot development for pharma. We have a proven record of delivering many AI solutions and would be happy to make your business more profitable. Don’t hesitate to contact us and receive a free consultation.

Top Chatbot Pharmacy Use Challenges

While pharmaceutical chatbots provide a more streamlined experience among different industry participants, the technology behind them isn’t flawless. These drawbacks bring several challenges pharmacies and companies have to deal with.

1. Data accuracy. Conversational solutions used in all pharma-related organizations must offer the latest and most accurate information on different types of drugs. Not mentioning the right dosage, side effects, and indications can result in compliance issues and health risks.
2. Continuous maintenance. Chatbots require constant updates and maintenance procedures to remain relevant and functioning. They must also be adjusted based on collected and analyzed user feedback. This often requires feeding the solutions new information, which is what pharma companies must keep an eye on.
3. Ethical concerns. The AI algorithms used in chatbots can make them biased towards certain demographics. This limitation can impact the quality of research conducted by pharma companies or healthcare outcomes. People with different genetics and medical histories may have different reactions to medication, which the chatbots can overlook.
4. Integration issues. Sometimes, it’s a challenge to integrate these products into the existing systems effectively. The biggest issues arise when pairing them with electronic health, customer service, and pharmacy management solutions.
5. Privacy & security. Using ​​GPT in pharmacy requires safe handling of personal and medical information. As such, they must adhere to the latest regulations, such as GDPR, HIPPA, and other local data protection regulations.
6. Regulatory issues. Pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies work under strict rules and regulations concerning the sales of medical products and healthcare advice. Chatbots must comply with these regulations based on different jurisdictions.
7. Trouble with complex requests. Patients can ask complex issues that require a deeper and more nuanced understanding of their requests. Even AI chatbots can’t sometimes handle such requests, as their training data doesn’t always include the latest information on different areas in the pharmaceutical field.

Conclusion

The latest pharma chatbot examples and the various roles they can perform in the industry demonstrate a continuous shift towards automation across different sectors of the economy. We’re ready to help design and implement these products for any pharma-related business that needs them. Call us, and we’ll help select the best features for a particular use case. Contact us, and we’ll help you select the best features for a particular use case.

FAQ

Do you develop chatbots in pharma?

Yes, our software development company specializes in developing chatbots tailored for the pharmaceutical industry. We understand the unique requirements and compliance standards within the pharma sector, and our team has experience in creating chatbots that cater specifically to these needs.

How do your chatbots work?

Our chatbots are designed to streamline various processes within the pharmaceutical domain, including customer support, medication information dissemination, appointment scheduling, and more. They utilize natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning algorithms to understand and respond to user queries effectively. Additionally, our chatbots can integrate with existing systems such as CRM platforms, databases, and APIs to provide seamless interactions and access to relevant information in real-time.

What’s the cost of developing custom chatbots for pharma? 

The cost of developing custom chatbots for the pharma industry can vary based on several factors, including the complexity of functionalities, integration requirements, compliance standards, and the level of customization needed. We offer tailored solutions to meet the specific needs of each client, and our pricing is determined after a thorough assessment of the project scope. Get in touch with us to discuss your requirements, and we'll provide you with a detailed quote based on your needs and budget.