COVID-19 triage at pandemic speed
In March 2020, Microsoft needed a Belgian partner for COVID-19 Healthbot implementations in hospitals. Arinti was selected based on our experience with the Microsoft Bot Framework. Between March 25 and April 6, we deployed symptom-checking chatbots at 6 Belgian hospitals. At one hospital, more than 700 people completed a self-assessment within 4 days of launch.
Hospitals needed triage, fast
In early 2020, Belgian hospitals were fielding a surge of questions from concerned citizens about possible COVID-19 symptoms. They needed a way to triage remotely, helping people assess their own risk and receive appropriate advice before arriving at the hospital. At the same time, hospitals had no structured data on how many people were experiencing symptoms, where they were located, or how many might need admission. Microsoft had created a set of Healthbot templates for exactly this scenario: configurable chatbots that could be adapted to each hospital's needs and deployed within days. They needed a Belgian implementation partner with hands-on experience in the Bot Framework.
Selected as Microsoft's Belgian implementation partner
Arinti was selected as the sole Belgian partner for the Healthbot rollout, based on our track record with the Microsoft Bot Framework and our seat on the Bot Framework Partner Advisory Board. The Healthbot templates provided the foundation. We customised each deployment to the hospital's specific requirements, integrated QnA Maker for extending the chatbot's response scenarios, and built the front-end UX for embedding on hospital websites. The interface was stripped to essentials — button-driven input, drop-down menus for detail, designed for any device and any age group.
Six hospitals live in twelve days
Between March 25 and April 6, 2020, we deployed chatbots at six Belgian hospitals: AZ Rivierenland, Ziekenhuis Waregem, SLBO, AZ Delta, AZ Vesalius, and ASZ Aalst. Each chatbot guided users through a symptom self-assessment, then recommended a course of action based on their responses. After the assessment, users were asked for basic demographic data — age, sex, postal code. This data fed into Power BI dashboards that gave hospital management a view on potential admission volumes.
Patient triage, the second scenario
After the initial pandemic peak, we built a second Healthbot scenario for patient triage. As hospitals began receiving non-COVID patients again, they needed a tool to risk-profile each patient before their appointment. We built a chatbot-driven survey, delivered via SMS, with results linked directly to the patient's Electronic Patient Dossier (EPD). The first deployment was at Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg (ZOL).
“Arinti's fast approach and smooth communication ensured that the COVID-19 symptom checker on ASZ.be was accessible to the public in no time. The chatbot not only provides answers to questions related to possible symptoms, but also tells the visitor what to do if they show certain symptoms.”
Impact
“We are very enthusiastic about how we were able to build a very useful application in a very short term to support our covid triage flows. In a few days and with a minimum of costs, we had an accessible and patient-friendly application operational.”
