AI assistants combining generative artificial intelligence, the hospital’s internal knowledge base and interactive 3D maps will partially take over information services for patients and their carers at the Children’s Memorial Health Institute in Warsaw’s Międzylesie district.
The system will help visitors locate individual clinics and hospital wards and answer organisational questions, reducing the burden on hospital staff. Orange Polska, which developed the solution, says this is its first commercial deployment. Beyond healthcare, the technology could also be used at railway stations, airports and public administration offices.
“We have launched a system of five avatars designed to help patients’ families obtain information about how our institute operates. This modern technology will provide practical information to people arriving for outpatient appointments as well as those who are hospitalised,” Dr Marek Migdał, director of the Children’s Memorial Health Institute, told the Newseria news agency.
“Several hundred thousand children and their families visit us every year. As many as 52% of our patients come from outside the Mazowieckie region and very often need simple information about how the hospital is organised and how to move around the complex,” he added.
Five AI Assistants Installed at Key Hospital Locations
Five interactive AI assistants have been installed at the most frequently visited locations across the institute, including the main entrance, the admissions department and the entrance to specialist outpatient clinics.
Using touchscreens, patients, carers and visitors can speak to the assistants and obtain organisational information. The system can also help them find specific clinics, hospital wards and diagnostic facilities using interactive 3D maps. Communication is available in both Polish and English.
“The AI Assistant was developed to improve communication with patients and their parents and to help them navigate this complex, which consists of more than 30 buildings,” said Arkadiusz Wójcik, ICT director at Orange Polska, the project’s technology partner.
“This is its most important function. It gives parents and young patients greater peace of mind while moving around the hospital. This is particularly important given how stressful a stay at such an institution can be.”
The solution was designed to provide fast and intuitive access to essential information, particularly for people visiting the Children’s Memorial Health Institute for the first time.
The AI Assistant is not intended to replace medical or administrative staff. Its role is to handle simple and repetitive questions and make information easier to access. This allows employees to devote more time to matters requiring direct contact with patients.
The technology is also intended to make the hospital environment more accessible and comfortable for its youngest patients. The system includes a games and activity area offering simple touchscreen games and AI-powered conversational games, which children can use while waiting for an examination or consultation.
Each Device Uses an Independent 5G Connection
Orange Polska was responsible for delivering and implementing the artificial intelligence solution and adapting it to the institute’s specific requirements. This is the first commercial deployment of the system.
Each device equipped with the AI Assistant has its own 5G antenna and SIM card. As a result, it does not depend on the hospital’s local network and maintains a separate, secure connection to the system’s technological infrastructure.
“The AI Assistant is capable of learning, drawing conclusions, aggregating information and adding new answers in response to emerging questions,” Wójcik said. “It is a learning solution that uses the language-learning technologies and techniques available today.”
Orange Polska representatives say that the assistants combine several innovative technologies. They integrate the capabilities of generative artificial intelligence with the knowledge base of a specific organisation, including its regulations, procedures, organisational information and building maps, as well as a modern multimedia interface.
The assistants can therefore be customised for individual industries and deployed wherever rapid access to information and high-quality customer service are important.
The average response time is approximately two seconds, allowing users to conduct a smooth and natural conversation with the system.
AI Avatars Could Be Used at Airports, Stations and Public Offices
According to Orange Polska, the technology could also be deployed at railway stations, airports and customer service centres.
“An avatar of this kind can help reduce queues of people waiting for information and provide directions based on the internal data of a particular institution,” Wójcik explained.
“This is what modern technology is about. We integrate hardware, software and language models and incorporate different solutions depending on the functions and requirements they are expected to fulfil. The assistant would also work very well in public administration offices, where it could support employees serving citizens.”
The system has been designed so that it can be scaled as the network of assistants expands, both within a single organisation and across multiple institutions.
Its architecture makes it possible to increase computing resources flexibly as the number of users and deployments grows.
Part of the Hospital’s Digital Transformation
The director of the Children’s Memorial Health Institute said the deployment of the AI assistants represented another stage in the hospital’s digital transformation.
“This would not have been possible without funding obtained under Poland’s National Recovery Plan to support digitalisation. At the same time, we are financing approximately 20% of the project from our own resources because we believe this investment is extremely important for the institute,” Dr Migdał said.
“Modern technologies are one of our strengths. In January this year, the Children’s Memorial Health Institute received the prestigious Healthcare Leader of the Year award in Poland in the innovation category. We competed not only against paediatric hospitals, but against all hospitals.”
In June, the Warsaw institute also opened a modernised hospital pharmacy equipped with one of the most advanced hospital pharmacy systems in Poland.
The facility includes a pharmacy robot, automated storage systems and a Unit Dose system in which each dose of medication is individually prepared and monitored. Automated medicine cabinets have also been installed in hospital wards.
“We have a revitalisation plan extending to 2027, and we will be implementing many more projects of this kind,” the director of the Children’s Memorial Health Institute said.
