Health Admin, Not Health Advice

What health admin is

For most households, it includes:

• Booking and keeping track of appointments.
• Prescription refills.
• Insurance claims and forms.
• Keeping records, like vaccination dates or test results.

How health care works differs

Health admin is very different between the US and Canada.

The health admin bot

I'd keep health admin in its own bot, separate from everything else. Health information is private.

Private information

Before you connect anything, think about what this bot should see.

Appointments

Your scheduling bot from Chapter 2 already handles appointments. The health bot adds the details.

Preparing questions

This is one of the most useful things the health bot does.

After the appointment

Right after, while it's fresh, tell the bot what the doctor said. Speak it if that's easier.

Refills

Running out of a regular prescription is stressful and easy to avoid.

Insurance claims

Claims are classic legwork. Find the receipt.

Looking after someone else

If you help a parent or relative with their health admin, a bot can help you keep track of their appointments, medicines and paperwork as well as your own.

Walkthrough: before and after a doctor's appointment

Two weeks before:

• The scheduling bot adds the appointment.
• Whenever something comes up, you tell the health bot: "Add to my doctor list: trouble sleeping for a month."
• The health bot sends the list, tidied up, with what to bring.

What went wrong: the refill reminder that came too late

The first refill reminder arrived the day the medicine ran out. The bot had counted from the date the prescription was written, not the date it was filled.

A word on looking things up

It's natural to ask a bot what a symptom means. If you do, treat the answer as background reading, not a diagnosis, and bring the question to your doctor.

A worked example: looking after a parent

One of the Parks helps their father with his appointments. With his agreement, they keep a separate note in the health bot for his appointments, his medicines list and the questions he wants to ask.

A worked example: the travel checklist

Before a family trip, the Parks asked the health bot for a checklist. It listed refills to get before leaving, a copy of the medicines list, the travel insurance documents and the phone number for their insurer's emergency line, all from files they'd already shared.

Questions people ask

Can the bot talk to my doctor's office? It can draft a message or an email for you to send.