Integrating Collaborative Robots into a Complex Hospital Setting: A Qualitative Descriptive Study

Area of Science:

• Robotics in Healthcare
• Human-Robot Interaction
• Hospital Logistics

Background:

• Integrating collaborative robots (cobots) into hospital workflows for secure delivery is an emerging area.
• This study explores cobot use, activities, and human interactions in a 900-bed hospital setting.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the implementation and use of cobots as a delivery system for medications, supplies, and equipment.
• To understand human interactions with cobots in a complex hospital environment.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative descriptive design guided by Diffusion of Innovations theory.
• Observations of cobots across all shifts and days, noting interactions with staff and visitors.
• Inductive coding and qualitative content analysis of observational data.

Main Results:

• Four major themes emerged: humanization, usability, autonomy, and functionality of cobots.
• Observations included 33 hours across 23 sessions, documenting 89 end-to-end cobot deliveries.
• Cobots required human support to operate effectively in the dynamic hospital environment.

Conclusions:

• Cobot implementation as semi-autonomous transporters is in the early innovation phase.
• Cobots currently need human assistance to function adequately in complex hospital settings.
• Increased autonomy is necessary for cobots to sustainably augment future hospital workflows.