AI-powered digital healthcare platform that delivers health benefits to Bengali speakers in the UK through voice-driven remote medical triaging, appointment booking and self-care at home.
Lead Participant:
MEDAI LIMITED
Abstract
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) reported that in England alone treating illness and disease arising from health inequalities cost the NHS an estimated £5.5 billion each year \[ Marmot Review report, 2010; NHS Inequalities Resource, Sep 2018\]. Several studies have also highlighted how the COVID-19 pandemic has widened and amplified the inherent inequalities of gender and race. Language, culture, legal, inadequate race-specific medical training and biases among clinicians and accessibility to a health professional (average 10 days of waiting time for routine GP appointment ) are some of the key barriers contributing to these inequalities \[COVID-19 and disparities affecting ethnic minorities, [Ali][0] S N & Morales D R, Lancet, 2021; \]. Alleviating these inequalities using an AI system often fails to meet the need, because the existing medical data itself is racially biased and incomplete.
The aim of this project is to develop a medical speech and entity recognition engine which will accurately capture the medical symptoms of ethnic Bengali speakers in the UK. This symptom checker will be part of MedAi, an AI-driven digital healthcare platform for voice-driven remote at-home triage, intelligent appointment requesting, and better health management at home through tailored health education.
This data-driven way of communication and ability to communicate in their own language will empower patients, especially female patients from ethnic minority groups, to better express their concerns to their healthcare providers. Electronic consultation requests with a provisional diagnosis will help the administration staff to prioritize appointment requests faster and allocate their time to serve more vulnerable patients. This will make the primary care service more accessible, and inclusive and reduce the inequality-driven illness and the cost of treating them.
[0]: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00949-1/fulltext
The aim of this project is to develop a medical speech and entity recognition engine which will accurately capture the medical symptoms of ethnic Bengali speakers in the UK. This symptom checker will be part of MedAi, an AI-driven digital healthcare platform for voice-driven remote at-home triage, intelligent appointment requesting, and better health management at home through tailored health education.
This data-driven way of communication and ability to communicate in their own language will empower patients, especially female patients from ethnic minority groups, to better express their concerns to their healthcare providers. Electronic consultation requests with a provisional diagnosis will help the administration staff to prioritize appointment requests faster and allocate their time to serve more vulnerable patients. This will make the primary care service more accessible, and inclusive and reduce the inequality-driven illness and the cost of treating them.
[0]: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00949-1/fulltext
Lead Participant | Project Cost | Grant Offer |
---|---|---|
MEDAI LIMITED | £47,690 | £ 47,690 |
People |
ORCID iD |
Mamunur Rashid (Project Manager) |