Ongoing COVID Challenges to the Healthcare System: Robotics to the Rescue?

Since COVID’s insidious arrival in 2020, it has managed to wreak havoc in our lives, crippled economies, and does not appear to be quite finished yet. We’ve watched the COVID virus mutate multiple times while scientists research cures and healthcare professionals manage burnout while on the front line caring for their patients. Just when it appeared that we were getting beyond the virus and Omicron and its B4 cousins would be the last, subvariants began to emerge such as BQ.1, BQ.1.1, and now the pestiferous variant, XBB – O-M-G! As of today, the new subvariant accounts for almost 28% of new cases. ?The strain on the US healthcare system is evident in costs, quality of patient care, and staffing.

The rising COVID numbers beckon the question, is it time to deploy robots? While care teams use approaches such as digital informatics as a multidisciplinary approach, healthcare professionals are being strained to do more with less. The use of robotics in healthcare is not new. In fact, robots have been used for medication delivery, sanitation, cleaning, and in surgery.

In light of the strain that COVID has already placed on our healthcare system along with the current tripledemic, might it be time to bring in reinforcements? Robots such as Moxi are helping hospitals to manage workflows and improve patient care. Globally, healthcare robots are used in the Japanese healthcare system, Singapore healthcare system, and Australia and New Zealand. If more robots were deployed into the US healthcare system, ?how many lives could they potentially help save?

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