A robot is best known for doing the same job over and over again, like a machine on an assembly line. However, robotics has many other uses in healthcare. Here are the top 10 benefits of Robotics in Healthcare:
1. Reduce Nursing Workforce
One main benefit of robotics in healthcare is that it can reduce the nursing workforce. Nurses are very valuable in a healthcare facility, especially when they work with patients on bedside care. But there are many other duties that nurses need to perform that can be done by robots.
For example, nurses typically administer medicine to patients in hospitals, but robots can do the same job better because they are consistent and make fewer mistakes than nurses do.
Robots also take care of more technical functions such as monitoring blood pressure and heart rate and more. Overall, robots can help eliminate mundane tasks from nurses’ daily routines so they will have more time to spend with patients who actually need their attention.
2. Lessen Healthcare Costs
Another benefit of robotics in healthcare is that they can help lower healthcare costs. For example, some robots can help reduce the amount of physical work that needs to be done by nurses and other healthcare workers.
Robots are able to do tasks such as dispensing medicine and monitoring heart rate, which allows nurses more time for bedside care and other important duties.
Another way in which robotics helps bring down healthcare costs is by improving the accuracy of medical records due to their consistent work. A robot’s data is completely consistent and easier to track, unlike a human whose accuracy might vary from day to day depending on how tired he/she is or other factors.
3. Improve Patient Safety
The third benefit of robotics in healthcare is that they can help improve patient safety. Robots are consistent. They don’t get tired nor are they distracted by other things, so their work is always the same and always accurate.
The Xenex Robot has reduced hospital-acquired infections by 70%.
This can ensure safety because a robot will never forget to give a patient his/her medication at the right time or forget to monitor vital signs as he/she does so every day. Also, some robots are able to record data on a patient throughout the day and night so it’s easy for nurses to know what’s happening with that person at any given moment.
4. Improve Hospital Efficiency
Another benefit of robotics in healthcare is that they can help improve hospital efficiency. Robots can perform mundane tasks such as dispensing medicine and monitoring heart rate, which frees up nurses’ time so they can spend more time with patients on bedside care.
Robots are also able to collect and record data on a patient in real-time, allowing nurses to see exactly what’s going on with the person at any time. Overall, this helps make a facility more efficient because everyone has access to the same amount of information no matter where they are and what they’re doing at that given moment.
5. Improve Patient Satisfaction
The fifth benefit of robotics in healthcare is that they can help improve patient satisfaction. Patients enjoy the fact that robots can give them their medicine at any time of the day or night. A robot never forgets to do this as a human nurse might.
Pepper Robots were “hired” as receptionists by two Belgian hospitals.
Also, patients tend to be more comfortable around robots because they don’t feel like they’re a burden on staff, so they’re likely to remain in the hospital longer if they have access to a robot. This can help improve patient satisfaction and reduce costly readmissions.
6. Improve Efficiency Of Clinical Trials
The sixth benefit of robotics in healthcare is that they can help improve the efficiency of clinical trials. Trials conducted on animals are typically required by law to be done in regulated settings with trained personnel to monitor the tests and make sure that everything goes smoothly as it should.
However, the same cannot be said for clinical trials conducted on humans. For example, some scientists have explored the possibility of creating a human-like robot that can help monitor patients undergoing clinical trials without having to hire and train a lot of additional staff members.
A human-like robot could also provide physicians with more information on how their patients are doing, potentially giving them more insight into how to fix any problems.
7. Reduce Costs In Other Areas
The seventh benefit of robotics in healthcare is that they can help reduce costs from other areas as well. For example, they can reduce the costs of recruiting, training and retaining workers in a medical facility.
Also, robots can monitor information on other patients, which can help reduce costs in other areas such as marketing and public relations. In fact, some hospitals have reduced their budgets for advertising and social media by using robots to do some of these tasks instead of human employees.
8. Reduce Healthcare-Associated Infections
A final benefit of robotics in healthcare is that they can reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). HAI is a broad term for some illnesses that occur when bacteria from one person go over to another patient via a surface or airway droplet or patient care item such as a thermometer.
For example, a nurse might not wash his/her hands with soap and water before injecting a patient with medication. The patient might then develop an infection that is caused by the nurse’s unhygienic actions.
Robots can help reduce these risks because they do not get distracted or are easily distracted, so they always wash their hands before and after administering medicine or performing other tasks that may spread bacteria to patients.
9. How Robots Can Benefit Healthcare
Robots can also benefit healthcare in other ways as well. For example, they encourage healthy competition among medical schools to create new technologies that will improve the way healthcare is conducted across the board. A hospital might also want to test out a new robot system on a different patient to see how it performs before rolling it out in the general public.
A robot’s constant, consistent work can also improve the efficiency of a facility. For example, the robot can do all the mundane tasks that employees have to accomplish throughout their workday so they’re not doing them twice as much. With increased efficiency, a hospital can reduce costs in other areas and increase profits overall.
10. Healthcare Robotics Start-Up Trends
There are some start-up trends in the healthcare robotics sector. For example, robots have been increasingly used to help transport patients from one area to another. For example, one hospital has installed a bedside robot that nurses use to move patients who are recovering from surgery from their recovery room to the nurse’s station.
This has helped keep the nurses working and on the job, but it also lets them focus on other patient needs knowing that they can simply push a button and have the robot do all of their work for them. Another trend is that robots are being used in more facilities as a result of new technologies and advancements.
How Are Robots Changing Healthcare
Surgical robots sales are predicted to nearly treble to $6.4 billion by 2020. Robotic assistance is becoming increasingly common in healthcare facilities as a way to help with various tasks.
This can free up human workers to focus on more important tasks, and also help to improve patient care. Artificial intelligence is also being used more in healthcare, for tasks such as monitoring patients and providing information to doctors.
1. Mobility
Robots are helping hospitals become more mobile. For example, robots can carry medical devices from one room to another so staff members don’t have to make multiple trips back and forth.
This is especially useful for cleaning supplies that need to be used in more than one area. For example, a robot can vacuum the floor in a hallway, then move a few feet away and disinfect the wall with an antibacterial spray.
2. Hospital Rooms
Robots are also affecting hospital rooms themselves by helping patients get up and walk around their rooms without having to ask their doctors or nurses for assistance each time they feel that they need to go into another part of the room or leave altogether.
For example, when a patient gets up to get a drink of water from the bathroom, a robot can roll over to the bedside and bring him/her a cup of water.
There are also robots that help patients move around inside their hospital rooms. For example, one hospital has installed robots to help its elderly patients move from their beds to their wheelchair, so they can be free to walk around for more than just short periods of time.
3. Robotics Research And Development
There is also a trend towards increasing robotics research jobs in healthcare as hardware, software and algorithms continue to develop. This is especially true at academic hospital-based research centers such as those that are part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
4. Robotics And Nursing Education
Robotics are also changing nursing education. For example, students who are learning about robotics can use them in their research when they take a particular class on the subject matter.
Students in nursing school can also use robots to help them learn how to care for patients and provide them with the best quality of health care. In fact, some schools even have dedicated laboratories that focus solely on robotics education for students. Intouch Health has conducted 750,000 remote clinical contacts.
5. Robotics In Home Healthcare
Other healthcare organizations are using robots to help patients practice their daily activities at home without having to ask a nurse or family member to assist them each time they need assistance.
Different Types Of Robots Used In Healthcare
Healthcare health robotics are increasingly being used to assist with routine logistical tasks in hospitals and other healthcare settings. These medical robots can help to transport medical supplies and equipment, as well as assisting with the delivery of patient care. In addition, health and life sciences robotics are also being used to assist with research and development in the medical field.
1. Repro Robotic Systems
Repro robotic systems are used when a doctor wants to perform surgery, for example, but the patient would not be able to withstand the pain of an incision. The patient must be awake and alert throughout the entire process, so these systems rely on technologies that keep the patient comfortable throughout their operation.
2. Wearable Robots
Wearable robots are designed to help people with certain conditions perform daily activities such as dressing themselves or driving a car by helping them perform these tasks without having to ask others for assistance.
For example, some wearable robots can attach to a wheelchair, so they can push it around without having to ask another human being for help each time they need to get somewhere.
3. Telepresence Robots
Telepresence robots can be used to help patients with certain conditions living out of state such as nursing homes, hospitals or long-term care facilities. For example, these robots can be used by people who are unable to travel to a facility in person.
They can have the robot bring them their medications or other items so they don’t have to ask for help from another person during the trip.
They can also be used by people who live alone because they can call the robot at any time and have it place a call for them so that they don’t have to pick up the phone and use their strength on themselves each time they need someone’s assistance.
4. Service Robots
Service robots can be used to help people with disabilities who cannot help themselves. For example, service robots can take patients who cannot walk to a doctor’s office or perform other tasks for them. There are also service robots that can do their laundry or clean the dishes.
5. Reliable Service Robots
Reliable service robots are used when patients are at home and need assistance but they don’t have a caregiver available to help them on the spot. For example, these robots can call the patient’s doctor if they notice that there is something wrong with the person and need immediate attention from another person such as a nurse.
6. Surgical Robots
Surgical robots are a type of medical robot that is used to perform surgical procedures. They are typically controlled by a human operator who is able to guide the robot’s movements and actions. Surgical robots can be used for a variety of different procedures, including cleaning and disinfection.
The Da Vinci Surgical System
The da Vinci surgical system is a healthcare robot that assists in minimally invasive surgeries. The system includes a therapeutic exoskeleton robot that helps the surgeon by providing surgical assistance and support. The da Vinci system is designed to minimize the invasiveness of surgeries and improve patient outcomes.
TUG Robot is capable of transporting over 400 kg of medicine.
How You Can Use Robotics In Healthcare
You can use robots in healthcare in several ways. For example, you can design a new robotic system that helps patients by performing tasks such as bringing them water and food when they need it.
You can develop robots that can help with nursing care, such as performing CPR or helping people exercise. You can even create robots that are meant to be companions to patients who are suffering from illnesses such as dementia.
Patients can be lifted out of bed by a bear-shaped robot 40 times each day.
Another benefit of using robotics in healthcare is that you don’t have to be an expert on the subject matter. In fact, there are many other experts who are already in the field and who are likely willing to partner with you on your research project.
Final Note
Use of robotics are increasing in the healthcare industry. In fact, it is believed that with robotics in healthcare, the future of healthcare has never been better. What more is, most people are into technology and so prefer to use them for their daily activities.
The use of robots have given a solution to some problems that have always been there and therefore this has positively affected the patients as well as the doctors. By using robotics in healthcare, one can be sure that he/she will be in good hands since technology brings the best human beings out there who are always ready to assist you when you need help by providing medical equipment made after careful research and development.
Last Updated on October 9, 2023 by himani
