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Cited by 40Patient-Provider Communication in HealthcareSpeech and dialogue systemsSocial Robot Interaction and HRI

Novel computational linguistic measures, dialogue system and the development of SOPHIE: standardized online patient for healthcare interaction education

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Ali, Mohammad Rafayet, Sen, Taylan, Kane, Benjamin, Bose, Shagun, Carroll, Thomas M, Epstein, Ronald, Schubert, Lenhart, Hoque, Ehsan·2023·IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing
DOI 10.1109/taffc.2021.3054717
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Abstract

In this article, we describe the iterative participatory design of SOPHIE, an online virtual patient for feedback-based practice of sensitive patient-physician conversations, and discuss an initial qualitative evaluation of the system by professional end users. The design of SOPHIE was motivated from a computational linguistic analysis of the transcripts of 383 patient-physician conversations from an essential office visit of late stage cancer patients with their oncologists. We developed methods for the automatic detection of two behavioral paradigms, lecturing and positive language usage patterns (sentiment trajectory of conversation), that are shown to be significantly associated with patient prognosis understanding. These automated metrics associated with effective communication were incorporated into SOPHIE, and a pilot user study identified that SOPHIE was favorably reviewed by a user group of practicing physicians.

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  • Digital clinical empathy requires intentional strategies (timely acknowledgment, authenticity, appropriate boundary setting, contextual responsiveness) and may be best sustained through hybrid models combining AI-enabled support with human oversight.

    “Studies measuring cancer-related live chat environments and simulation-based systems highlight that digital clinical empathy requires intentional strategies (ie, timely acknowledgment, authenticity, appropriate boundary setting, and contextual responsiveness) and may be best sustained through hybrid models that combine AI-enabled support with human oversight [34-36].”

    From Empathic AI for Patient-Centered Cancer Care: A Scoping Review of Patient Navigation, Support, and Clinical Practice (2026) · cites this paper as [36]

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Ali, M. R., Sen, T., Kane, B., Bose, S., Carroll, T. M., Epstein, R., Schubert, L., & Hoque, E.
Affiliations
  • University of Rochester (US)
  • University of Rochester Medicine (US)
  • Department of Computer Science, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA
ORCID
Venue
IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing
Publisher
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Published
2023-01-01
Volume
14
Issue
1
Pages
223-235
ISSN
  • 1949-3045 (ISSN-L)
  • 2371-9850
DOI
10.1109/taffc.2021.3054717
OpenAlex
W3088208299
Cited by
40
References
2
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 1
FWCI
7.90
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (#1449828)
  • Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (W911NF-19-1-0029)
  • Army Research Office
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Speech and dialogue systems
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Social Robot Interaction and HRI
Keywords
Sophie, virtual patients, patient-physician communication, late-stage cancer, computational linguistics, sentiment analysis, positive language, prognosis understanding, dialogue systems, participatory design, physician training

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