When Apple announced its newest iPhone, the 4S, its most notable new feature was Siri, a voice-enabled virtual assistant. Apple acquired the company that created Siri in April 2010, just a few months after the startup's app went live in the AppStore. Apple further refined Siri through a partnership with Nuance, a speech recognition company that should be familiar to those in healthcare. Dictation, transcription, and -- more recently -- speech recognition services, have long been staples of the practice of medicine.
Based on our own in-house testing here at MobiHealthNews, Siri in its current form could be helpful to both patients and healthcare providers alike. After asking Siri a number of questions, we were surprised how she answered some and that she was able to answer others.
We are not alone in thinking that Siri could be helpful to the health-conscious. The promo video that Apple put together for its new personal assistant begins with a runner using Siri to check his messages while mid-stride. The video ends with a visually impaired user who is able to use Siri via voice commands alone to send and receive messages.
Siri's current functionality is limited to a handful of apps:
"Siri on iPhone 4S lets you use your voice to send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls, and more," Apple writes on its corporate site. "Ask Siri to do things just by talking the way you talk. Siri understands what you say, knows what you mean, and even talks back. Siri is so easy to use and does so much, you’ll keep finding more and more ways to use it."
The limited menu that Siri accommodates today reminds me of the limited native apps that Apple launched with its first iPhone. At the time there was no AppStore. No third party native apps. The new smartphone offered just a hint of what was to come.
Prediction: Siri will come out of "beta" once Apple is ready to share its API with developers. I think this will happen within a year's time. Voice-enabled commands for health apps could make them easy enough for almost anyone to use.
In the mean time, be sure to check out how Siri responded to the half dozen questions and commands MobiHealthNews sent its way. We think there may be a few health apps and mobile health services that might be in trouble if Siri catches on. Reminders for medication? Check. Directions to the closest emergency room? Check.
Read on for a number of health-related questions our assistant editor Chris Gullo asked of Siri. Who knew she could look up billing codes for medical procedures?
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"Where can I find an emergency room?"
When asked to find an emergency room, Siri finds the nearest hospitals using the iPhone's GPS. Siri doesn't appear to display hospitals based solely on proximity, however. In the screen grab above, it's clear that the third result is the closest. Users can then access directions and the hospital's phone number using the app.
"What is the ICD-9 code for heart failure?"
We asked this one on a lark, but surprise, surprise, WolframAlpha -- an impressive search engine -- had no trouble presenting the code. Over a WiFi connection, Siri found the result in less than ten seconds. It could possibly be the fastest method currently available for ICD-9 lookup. Remember: The American Medical Association's first iPhone app was a billing code lookup app. iPhone 4S toting docs might not need that one anymore...
What is the definition of hypoglycemia?
Siri can also define medical terms. This is useful for most anyone. We found that the phrasing: "What is hypoglycemia?" provided much more detailed information than asking specifically for the definition. This shows that finding exactly the level of information you need may prove difficult with Siri.
"Remind me about my doctor's appointment tomorrow at 3 P.M."
Siri is capable of creating reminders from natural language. In this example, we asked Siri to remind us about a doctor's appointment the next day. A notification will pop up on the iPhone's lock screen when the time arrives. Reminders will likely be the most popular feature offered by the voice-enabled virtual assistant.
"Remind me to take my medication at lunch."
Medication reminders can be scheduled through Siri too, of course. Smartphones always had reminders and alarms, but Siri makes them just a little more accessible and fun. We asked Siri for a reminder to take medication at lunch time. Since it was past lunchtime when we made the request, Siri automatically chose the next day to set the reminder. It then asked what time lunch will be.
"Remind me to exercise every day at 6 PM."
You can also ask Siri to set daily reminders. Here, we asked Siri to schedule an exercise reminder. Why not have an extra nudge? Notice the change of phrase -- "I'll start reminding you" means Siri will do so every day until told otherwise.
"How do I lose ten pounds?"
A longshot: We asked Siri how to lose weight. Surprisingly, Siri offers up some information. It provided detailed information on the calories required to lose ten pounds over a given time period based on a number of values. Apparently, Siri has a calories-in, calories-out mindset when it comes to weight loss.
"How many calories are in a coke can?"
Looks like we better figure out our caloric intake then. Surprisingly, Siri can help once again. When asked about nutritional information (in this case, a can of soda), Siri provides plenty of information. There are average nutrition facts and health rankings. Most generic names for food worked, while searching for caloric info on particular brand name foods stumped Siri.
"Why do I have headache?"
Ah, that old artificial intelligence sense of humor. Despite a number of impressive responses, sometimes Siri isn't very helpful. In fact, it can be downright sarcastic. Fun for some laughs, but not always appropriate in a medical situation.
