In a major move that could impact the healthcare industry, Amazon has announced that it is ending support for third-party HIPAA-compliant Alexa skills. This decision comes two years after the company had implemented specific guidelines geared towards protecting healthcare related experiences in its voice assistant platform.
Under the HIPAA guidelines, Amazon allowed developers to build voice applications that handled private health information, such as health records, symptom reports and prescription data. This data was closely regulated and was never sent back to Amazon’s servers. The company had also appointed a separate team to review every HIPAA-compliant Alexa skill before it was allowed to go live.
However, Amazon has now decided to suspend third-party Alexa skills that are HIPAA-compliant. The company did not go into the details on why this decision was taken, but analysts believe that it relates to the ever-increasing privacy regulations imposed by governments around the world.
The decision is likely to have a serious impact on the healthcare industry, which was relying heavily on voice technologies to provide better services to patients. For instance, medical organizations were using Alexa skills to engage with patients, assist them in finding the right specialists and getting reminders for medical check-ups and other appointments.
Amazon has clarified that it will continue to offer HIPAA-compliant voice experiences, but they will be built and maintained solely by the company and not third-party developers. Amazon has also provided a new set of tools to healthcare organizations, to help them build and operate their own unique Alexa skills.
Although the company’s decision to end third-party support for HIPAA-compliant skills is likely to have an impact on the healthcare industry, it is a step in the right direction as it reflects Amazon’s commitment towards increased data protection and privacy.
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