Software consultancy firm ThoughtWorks, in partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), have developed and launched a chatbot to help U.S. Veterans get questions about COVID-19 answered.

The chatbot, which was built in under a month, was implemented using Microsoft’s Health Bot Service and leveraged the CDC’s COVID-19 symptom checking flow, says ThoughtWorks.

The bot serves as a conversational tool that can be used 24/7 to self-identify symptoms related to COVID-19 and offer resources including testing options, stimulus payments, telehealth, scheduling, and prescription refills, says ThoughtWorks.

The bot was created in partnership with developers and officials from the agency’s Office of Information and Technology, the Veterans Health Administration’s Office of Connected Care, the Veterans Experience Office and Microsoft, ThoughtWorks said in a statement.

[Image courtesy: Microsoft]