As we adjust to our post-pandemic lives, we are now experiencing the “Tripledemic” of COVID, seasonal flu, and the common cold. Add to it RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus), and almost everyone is suffering from some infection.
The most chronic cases, though, are straining the nation’s hospital capacity. Because of the convergence of these illnesses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on 1/13/23 that ICUs are nearing capacity with patients suffering from the more advanced stages of the “Tripledemic.”
Even After Three Years, Hospital Staffing Problems Persist
To make matters worse, an ongoing labor shortage that began in 2020 is now bordering on a “public health crisis”, per a report by the Keck School of Medicine of USC. Looking forward, the World Health Organization “estimates that the global shortage in the healthcare workforce will reach about 15 million by 2030.”
This staffing scarcity originated when legions of clinical workers chose early retirement rather than face the stress and burn-out caused by COVID. That number rose 40% in 2022 per a study by the Journal of the American Medical Association. The nursing profession is also experiencing similar staff shortages brought on by stress and burn-out. This is further exacerbated by a lack of nursing faculty to train the next generation of nurses.
It all adds up to a perfect storm of what’s ailing the healthcare industry as staff demand is higher than ever. Physicians and nurses, already overtaxed with too many patients, are also saddled with heavy administrative duties that take them away from patient care.
So, what’s the remedy? Robots.
Service Robots Are Revolutionizing Time Management
While robotic technologies like surgical robots are changing the way procedures are performed, Relay Robotics is quietly revolutionizing minimizing workloads and speeding deliveries. To provide first-line healthcare professionals with more patient-facing time, fully autonomous Relay Service Robots relieve the strain on skilled healthcare clinicians and technicians during the ongoing labor shortage.
Century-Old Hospital Is Focusing on The Future
One example is Hutchinson Health, a 100-year-old community hospital in Minnesota. When its hospital and clinic laboratories were integrated, the manual process to transport specimens back and forth became very laborious.
Hospital management realized that they needed some form of technology to help with the transport process to provide better patient outcomes. Its Relay robot, “Spencer”, was chosen to gather samples drawn from inpatients at its onsite outpatient and oncology clinics and transport them to the labs.
Robot benefits at Hutchinson Health include:
“Before our robot, we had to stop and make hard decisions. Do I transport these specimens now to the lab myself, or do I help this patient? I have three patients in line, but there are three stat samples. Which do I do first? Now it’s very simple, we just send our robot.”
Silicon Valley Hospital Reduces ER Bottleneck
Another healthcare provider deploying a Relay Service Robot is El Camino Health – Los Gatos Hospital in California, a fully accredited community facility.
Before “WALL-E” arrived, patients were frustrated with the delays to deliver blood and tissue samples to the lab –– with batching –– to its lab for analysis. Emergency Room beds were being used for patients waiting for results, which create a bottleneck with admissions.
Robot benefits at El Camino Health – Los Gatos Hospital include:
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Decreases delivery times and increases throughput for Emergency Department and Outpatient Surgery lab samples
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Improves staff efficiency
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Higher cost effectiveness
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Decreases risk of spillage, exposure, and contamination
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Reduces clinical staff time
“Our robot represents very personalized technology. He’s loved by our staff and very well received by patients. He lets us process lab tests more efficiently and discharge patients faster.”
DC Hospital Alleviates Pharmacy Delivery Delays
MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is one of the Washington, DC area’s largest healthcare delivery networks. Its Oncology Pharmacy wanted to increase delivery speeds of compounded medications to patients in its Infusion Department.
Patients seated in one of 35 infusion chairs typically had to wait 10-15 minutes each for compounded oncology prescriptions, but that would accumulate and cause further delays later each day. “Fabio” was tasked with travelling from the Oncology Pharmacy door to the Medications, about 100 meters each way with a steep ramp.
Robot benefits at MDGUH include:
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Enhances patient care
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Reduces clinical staff time
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Average savings of 5-10 minutes per patient per day
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Cost effectiveness vs. an employee transporter
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Higher staff and patient satisfaction ratings
“Our robot has definitely been accepted by our staff and become one of us. He doesn’t need to take time off for holidays or sick days, and he works six days a week.”
The Bottom Line: Robots Relieve Strained Hospitals
With hospital staffing shortages on the verge of becoming a “public health crisis,” there are no quick solutions to retaining current staff and hiring new workers. So, the healthcare industry is turning to easy-to-deploy technology like service robots that can quickly improve staff efficiency, enable them to focus on more patient-facing time, and help medical professionals work at the top of their license.
About Relay Robotics
Relay Robotics, Inc. (formerly Savioke) is a leading supplier of simple, sophisticated, autonomous service robots that work with humans safely, securely, reliably, and contact-free. Relay Robotics has been a technology leader in robotics since 2013 and holds 10 U.S. patents. Relay’s robots complement staff across hospitality, healthcare, and commercial real estate. They have completed more than 1,000,000 deliveries worldwide. To learn more, contact us.
Relay delivery robots are currently deployed at major hotels in the United States such as Marriott, Hilton, Westin, Mandarin Oriental, Holiday Inn, and Radisson, nationally recognized hospitals such as Georgetown and Dartmouth, and commercial real estate properties. Relay robots are available via a monthly subscription or RaaS (Robots as a Service). Relay’s Rapid-Install™ trains and activates a robot within hours of arrival at a location so they can seamlessly ride elevators and navigate the entire property. Customers can name their robot and create a customized “wrap” to give it a unique character and harmonize it with their brand.