Medical City Dallas has implemented a new solution to optimize nurses' daily tasks: a clinical assistant robot named Moxi, according to a Feb. 14 Dallas Morning News report.
Medical City Dallas launched the robot assistant in its heart and spine hospitals in October to help nurses with routine tasks such as updating patients' medical records instantaneously for staff and delivering blood samples back and forth to the lab.
The health system partnered with Austin, Texas-based artificial intelligence firm Diligent Robotics to launch Moxi, becoming the first hospital in north Texas to use a full-time robot in a clinical setting, according to the report. Before rolling out at Medical City Dallas, Moxi completed its pilot phase with trials at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas and three other hospitals across Texas.
Moxi comprises sensors that help it navigate and respond to patient's movements as it travels across hospital floors. The robot is also equipped with humanlike features to help patients feels more comfortable interacting with it; Moxi can acknowledge a person's presence and make eye contact with its LED eyes. When a nurse interacts with Moxi in a way that would typically trigger an error message, the robot instead makes "pleasant" beeps and chirping noises to notify them, the publication reports.
By 2030, Texas will experience a shortage of more than 71,000 nurses, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
"[Moxi's] really meant to be a team member that's supporting you in the background," said Stefanie Beavers, director of surgical and procedural services at Medical City Dallas, according to the report. "…This really offers healthcare facilities an opportunity for the nursing workforce to focus on patient care and be directly at the bedside versus taking them away and allowing their time to be truly dedicated to patient care tasks."