Automated telephone communication systems may have the potential to play a positive role in healthcare

Commentary on: Posadzki P, Mastellos N, Ryan R, et al . Automated telephone communication systems for preventive healthcare and management of long-term conditions. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2016;12:CD009921. Recent years have seen communication technologies promoted as a route to improve access for patients and save resources in healthcare systems under strain.1 One such development is ATCS that are used instead of—or in conjunction with—telephone communication between patients and healthcare professionals. Rather than person-to-person communication, ATCS use computer-to-person communication to deliver voice messages to patients and/or collect health-related information from patients using touch tone keypads or voice recognition software. Unlike the use of the telephone for consultation …