From Command to Care: A Scoping Review on Utilization of Smart Speakers by Patients and Providers

Smart speakers have gained considerable consumer adoption and research interests. Despite their innovative interaction capabilities, a notable void exists in the literature, with no comprehensive scoping review that scrutinizes and consolidates the usage of smart speakers by providers and patients. This study performed a scoping review to explore the standalone use of smart speakers in health settings, focusing on their potential to support providers and empower patients to manage their health and well-being. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, a comprehensive search from January 2014-September 2023, using select keywords, was performed across PubMed, Web of Science, Medline, IEEE, ACM, JAMIA, Embase, CINHAL, EBSCO, and Cochrane. The literature search yielded 1546 articles, of which 59 met the inclusion criteria. The identified studies are categorized into helping patients (n=54) with themes of independent living, reducing loneliness and improving social life, aiding in patient self-care and self-management, promoting physical activity, rethinking health care and service delivery, remote patient monitoring and communication, health information queries and helping providers (n=24) with themes recording and accessing medical information, and reducing provider workload. These research studies, performed in a controlled environment with limited patients, have found smart speakers’ high feasibility, acceptability, and positive reception in patient care and support providers. Furthermore, the findings showcase opportunities to leverage and challenges to address for a future of integrating and using smart speakers seamlessly in health settings.