E-Healthcare and Chatbots in Preliminary Diagnosis: A Survey

Abstract

: E-healthcare, also known as Mobile Health is a healthcare practice that incorporates electronics & other technologies in public health domain and is proposed to overcome geographical, temporal and organizational barriers of the traditional healthcare architecture. A Health Chatbot is essentially an integral part of E-Health. It is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) program capable of establishing a smart communication with the user via auditory or textural methods regarding healthcare issues. These chatbots can be utilized for providing preliminary diagnosis, as a consequence of which the current human workforce crisis in the medical field may also be significantly reduced. This paper presents a survey of various characteristics of chatbots and their existing applications in healthcare. It also includes a systematic review of existing research on related domains and attempts to outline the essential research findings that are crucial to be addressed. It provides insight into the desirable features of a chatbot for acceptance by both the doctor and the patient. A sincere attempt has also been made to study the existing challenges and E-Health and Chatbots future scope in providing a preliminary diagnosis.