The smart telephone assistant takes care of the appointment requests.

The future is already here: an assistant based on Artificial Intelligence is able to take patients' appointments and prescriptions when the practice team is busy. We are talking about the smart telephone assistant Aaron.ai, which relieves the employees of far more work than a conventional answering machine. Aaron.ai records requests for appointments or repeat prescriptions, asking, for example, what kind of medication is involved and which complaints are present. In urgent cases, the patient is immediately transferred to the practice team.

Aaron.ai originates from the start-up company Aaron, whose development won a competition of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV). The three founders, Richard von Schaewen, Tobias Wagenführer and Iwan Lappo-Danilewski, are thus pursuing the goal of giving the practice team more time to care for patients on site in times of the greatest rush. If the telephone system runs hot - Aaron.ai is on the spot.

Aaron.ai is one of the winning projects of the digital ideas competition "Zukunftspraxis" of the KBV. The scientific investigation of the software is also currently underway within this framework. As KBV chairman Andreas Gassen says: "Digitalisation is not an end in itself: it should facilitate the work of practices and bring additional benefits for patients". By mid 2021, extensive tests will take place in more than 50 medical practices. The effect that the use of Aaron.ai has on the efficiency and quality of care is being investigated. The start-up company wants to change the everyday working life in the health care system for the better by using digital solutions.

It is important for the founders to emphasize that the practices that work with Aaron.ai are not about saving on personnel, but rather about relieving the burden on staff and offering added value for patients. Because especially when you work as a practice manager, medical assistant or even as a doctor in a medical practice or even run it, your private and relationship life often falls by the wayside. Then it is important to consciously create free space for yourself day after day and to ensure that you have time and leisure for your own life in addition to your work and the care of your patients. The magic word here is work-life balance, which with smart practice assistants such as Aaron.ai already begins during working hours. With its help, time and self-management can be optimized, stress during peak hours is reduced - because the practice staff simply delegate the numerous calls to the reliable artificial intelligence.

This benefits the entire medical practice including the patients and the staff - the more balanced the team, the better the general atmosphere for the perceived patient care. After all, many different emotions come pouring down on employees throughout the day: patients are annoyed about scheduling or bureaucratic matters, frustrated about their illnesses or lack of treatment success. Colleagues give free rein to their resentment about working hours, a high workload or the fact that the practice's IT system is not functioning properly. So much the better if there is some time to catch your breath and relax for a short time even during work.