🔒Kinney Drugs Halts AI Assistant After May Launch Issues
Kinney Drugs pulls the plug on its AI after just months
TL;DR
Kinney Drugs is scaling back its AI assistant, Burt, due to customer complaints about incoherent calls, wrong dosages, and missed notifications. The pharmacy chain will revert to a classic touch-tone system for incoming calls but keep the AI for outbound prescription refill texts.
Kinney Drugs has pulled the plug on its AI assistant, Burt, just months after launching it in May. Customers reported issues ranging from incoherent conversations and wrong dosages to missed prescription notifications. The pharmacy chain will now revert to a traditional touch-tone system for incoming calls but retain Burt for outbound communications like refill texts, which patients must opt into. This move highlights the challenges of balancing privacy concerns with technological innovation in healthcare.

Key Points
Kinney Drugs introduced the AI assistant, named after the founder, in May 2023.
Customers reported issues like wrong dosages, missed notifications, and incoherent conversations with Burt.
The pharmacy chain will return to its old touch-tone system for incoming patient calls starting immediately.
Kinney Drugs will keep using Burt for outbound prescription refill texts, which patients must opt into.
Burt is fully HIPAA compliant but concerns over data privacy led Kinney Drugs to scale back the service.
Why It Matters
If you're handling patient communications in healthcare, this highlights the importance of balancing technological innovation with stringent privacy and security measures. Kinney Drugs' decision underscores that getting privacy right doesn't necessarily mean delivering a seamless user experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does this matter?
If you're handling patient communications in healthcare, this highlights the importance of balancing technological innovation with stringent privacy and security measures. Kinney Drugs' decision underscores that getting privacy right doesn't necessarily mean delivering a seamless user experience.
What happened?
Kinney Drugs is scaling back its AI assistant, Burt, due to customer complaints about incoherent calls, wrong dosages, and missed notifications. The pharmacy chain will revert to a classic touch-tone system for incoming calls but keep the AI for outbound prescription refill texts.
Comments
Be the first to comment
Enjoyed this article?
Get it daily. 7am. Free. Reads in 5 minutes.
Join 2,787 builders reading daily.