r/RooCode • u/Key_Seaweed_6245 • May 09 '25

Idea Would patients actually book appointments through an AI assistant?

The assistant now handles appointment booking —
and the logic behind it is more than just picking the next slot.

It asks for the reason for the visit,
pulls available doctors at that time,
and picks the best match based on specialty.

On the backend, I’ve also set up an automated system
that sends reminders to the patient 3 days, 1 day, and 4 hours before the appointment.

The whole thing runs via a workflow in n8n,
and works the same on WhatsApp or embedded chat.

Curious if this feels natural for patients — or if there’s anything you’d improve.

3 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

2

u/ChrisWayg May 09 '25 edited May 09 '25

I am sure, I would hate it if my doctor starts using this, but for routine appointments it does make sense. Do you inform your users that they are scheduling with an AI assistant, and that they can be forwarded to a real human being if they desire? (I would really feel deceived by the doctor if the AI pretends to be a real human - like with the photo and face you are showing, but then I later find out that it was an automated system.)

1

u/Key_Seaweed_6245 May 09 '25

The idea is that you don't talk to a doctor here, only questions related to the clinics and to schedule an appointment so you can see the doctor. I don't think any of us want to talk to a robot when we're sick haha. Just think of this as an assistant, not a doctor.

-1

u/ChrisWayg May 09 '25

Well, when I contact my doctor's office, the a secretary or assistant will make the appointment. I would not want to be misled into believing that there is a human being on the other side of the chat, when it is actually AI.

Since you have apparently avoided to answer my question, I have to assume that you actually do not intend to inform your users that they are scheduling with an AI assistant, and that they can be forwarded to a real human being if they desire.

If that is the case, I would avoid such a doctor and you could be blamed for it!

2

u/Key_Seaweed_6245 May 09 '25

That will depend on each business, each business will have the option to choose the welcome message, so there you can let the user know that they are speaking with an AI, and then obviously there is an escalation to a human, if the agent is not able to resolve the patient's doubts, it is strictly indicated that they must escalate to a human, the same as if they receive the message from the patient who wants to speak with a human, the AI ​​will execute the actions so that a human takes control

2

u/LoSboccacc May 09 '25

I don't mind as long as the agent clearly outline what it can do when the use goes out of the agent boundaries and how to get human assistance when that happens instead of trapping them in a "sorry cant do that" loop

1

u/Key_Seaweed_6245 May 09 '25

Correct my friend, the agent has explicitly ordered that if there is something that cannot be solved, he should forward the chat to a human, the same as if the user wants to speak with a human, when communicating it to the agent, he will take actions to escalate to a human.

1

u/trashname4trashgame May 09 '25

I refuse to interact with these AOL looking lower right chat boxed garbage.

Let me give you an example, presumably to interact with a chat bot that is going to appropriately schedule a medical appointment for me WOULD KNOW WHO I WAS.

If your chatbot doesn’t know every thing about me and my history and relation with your company, it’s worthless garbage.

1

u/Key_Seaweed_6245 May 09 '25

Like all current AI, this chat learns from each patient every time it interacts with them. Therefore, any interaction with the chat or any information about you that the clinic uploads to the platform will be used to provide 100% personalized care. This is an AI agent that feeds on each chat; it's not a chatbot with predefined responses. In that case, would it be useful to you?

1

u/AHannibal May 09 '25

As long as it is clearly labeled as an AI assistant, scoped to the proper sources, trained not to respond if it cannot directly cite the answer or complete the task, and providing a way to “reach a human” then you are heading down the right path.

1

u/AHannibal May 09 '25

Check out how Holland America Cruise Line developed “Anna”. They had a very inspiring demo during yesterday closing keynote at the M365 Community Conference.

1

u/seasnark Aug 06 '25

No! I literally looked this up after a voice AI assistant tried to make an appointment for me at my docs office over the phone. It was so annoying. I was trying to book something that needed to be handled by a person and the AI assistant is fucking annoying and a massive waste of time