UAE-based insurer Daman deploys Covid-19 AI bot with Microsoft

UAE-based insurance company Daman has deployed an AI bot that it says can assist patients to conduct self-assessment on Covid-19 symptoms and guide them to the appropriate level of care.

The Daman Health Bot, developed with Microsoft, is bilingual and able to provide expertise including patient assessment for the disease, triage and symptom checking, offering general medical information, and making medical recommendations, the insurer says.

On interaction, the health bot will ask patients a defined set of questions and follow specific protocols, and accordingly advise them to connect with Abu Dhabi Department of Health (DoH), UAE Ministry of Health & Prevention (MOHAP) and the Dubai Health Authority for further assistance.

The Daman Health Bot is available on the company’s website and mobile app to reach its network of over 2.5 million members.

Daman has long been investing in digitalisation and already uses AI for its claims handling as well as robotic process automation for a variety of administrative tasks.

“We have a very important social responsibility to play during the pandemic crisis and protect the health and safety of people. The Daman Health Bot speaks to that effort by addressing queries and reducing person-to-person engagement,” said Hamad Al Mehyas, Daman CEO.

“Partners such as Microsoft are empowering us with the right technology to better engage the public and provide the right level of guidance. The Daman Health Bot will reduce patient visits to hospitals, lessen the workload on call centres, enhance patient experience and encourage them to proactively manage their health condition,” Mehyas added.

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Microsoft and Daman are also planning to integrate the health bot to other customer services such as digital consultations and lifestyle-related advice.

“Our Healthcare Bot service empowers organisations like Daman to build and deploy AI-powered conversational healthcare experience at scale. With our mission to empower every person and organization to achieve more, Microsoft is committed to bringing its tools and innovations to support healthcare organizations provide the best possible care,” said Sayed Hashish, general manager, Microsoft UAE.