Survey of robotics in the health care industry

The American health care industry has been experiencing considerable change in the 1980s. Health care administrators and interested outsiders have scrutinized the current health care operations in searching for avenues to decrease health care costs. The impetus behind this concern for cost containment resulted from the changing of reimbursement by the federal government to health care institutions for medicare patients. Several solutions have been forwarded and implemented, but the search for cost containment is far from over. The increased awareness of cost consciousness is not new to Americans. The manufacturing industry began similarly evolvement during the 1970s, the impetus being the inflationary environmental influences. Solutions to manufacturing labor costs are applicable to the health care industry. One solution that manufacturing implemented to decrease labor costs was the use of robots. The health care industry is very labor intensive. This paper addresses the possibilities of robotics applied in the health care industry. The current use of robots in the health care industry are identified along with future practical applications of robotics. The human interaction with a patient is important in some areas of health care service. The patient is the customer and the reactions of the patient to robotic care must be considered in determining practical applications of robotics within the health care industry. Final remarks will be directed at future research avenues.