We don't remember our conversation with doctor well: AI offers solution

Nearly 5 million Dutch people do not understand medical information adequately, especially with serious diagnoses, language problems or old age. Dutch startup Ditto has developed a free tool that translates complex medical language into understandable information. Research shows that patients become more involved in their treatment when they understand what is happening. The Ditto app can automatically translate conversations, letters and treatment plans to the language and knowledge level of the individual patient.

Bart Voorn, co-founder of Ditto, developed the tool out of a personal need. When his father was in the hospital, he noticed how difficult it was to understand what was going on. "You're very concerned and try to listen to doctors and nurses as best you can, but it's often very difficult information," aldus Voorn. He says he had multiple WhatsApp groups with family at the time to share and discuss the information. Ditto can simplify this process by automatically translating conversations, letters and treatment plans into understandable language. The data remains fully owned by the patient and is processed with medical Dutch language models.