Experience developing a pediatric medical chatbot in Singapore: a digital innovation for improved emergency care

Abstract

This community case study explores the lessons learnt from the development of the Urgent Paediatric Advice Line (UPAL), a medical chatbot designed to address key challenges in pediatric healthcare, including emergency department (ED) overcrowding, health-seeking behavior, and health literacy. The chatbot was developed by pediatric specialists in collaboration with an AI-driven technology partner to provide caregivers with timely, accurate, and accessible guidance for managing pediatric health concerns. By helping parents assess the severity of their child's symptoms and navigate appropriate care pathways, UPAL aims to reduce unnecessary ED visits and improve health literacy. The development process employed an iterative, user-centered approach to refine the algorithm and enhance the user experience, with key challenges including balancing clinical reliability with user empathy. By offering evidence-based advice tailored to individual symptoms, UPAL empowers caregivers to make more informed decisions about their child's care. This case study highlights the potential of digital health solutions to empower caregivers, improve patient engagement, and increase healthcare access, particularly in pediatric settings. The study underscores the lessons for the field-namely the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, continuous iterative development, patient-centered design, and active stakeholder engagement in creating effective digital health tools. Looking forward, future developments will include the incorporation of generative AI to provide more humanistic and personalized responses, as well as the creation of a post-discharge outreach module to provide proactive post-discharge support to caregivers, further enhancing healthcare delivery in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Keywords: caregiver empowerment; digital health; medical chatbot; pediatric acute care; pre-hospital triage.