Health and Safety Concerns Should the Human Workforce Transition to Robotics

In healthcare, there are major concerns that come into play.

Since the use of robotics in healthcare is currently in its infancy and relatively minimal, the emergence of robotic health providers will be limited to research on how to increase their clinical value. In some countries, research facilities are already using surgical robots to perform surgeries.

One of the concerns with surgical robots is that they may eventually replace human practitioners, which can lead to some kind of a money-grab induced within current “human practitioners.” That might in-turn lead to a deterioration in the quality standards of the work done in the field, which is of course more than just significant as human lives are at stake when we talk about surgical procedures.

The concern that ultimately affects patient care is who will bear the burden of risk for the time being, and who will bear the cost of the technological improvements. The biggest reason why surgical robots are still not being adopted in the healthcare sector is because doctors are not comfortable or capable with the technology.

One of the major reasons behind the use of surgical robots in medical centres is the opportunity to improve the efficiency and outcome of operations in a cost-effective manner. According to Harvard Business Review, a surgery performed by a surgeon is only 2% of the cost of a procedure. However, the cost of the surgery in the United States is 3 times the cost of the surgery in Europe and other parts of the world.

Even though technology can significantly reduce the cost of surgeries in the health care sector, the medical profession, in general, still remains underfunded. For example, the potential costs of surgeries in the United States are estimated to be 2,700 times higher than the average person in the United States. If the health care budget in the United States were reduced by 2,700 times the cost of surgeries, the health care system would be able to afford major surgeries more often and the number of patients requiring medical care would decrease significantly.

Well! The fact that technology has improved healthcare outcomes in numerous ways cannot be overstated. Several technological advancements have benefited not only patients but also healthcare providers. Like, care experience platforms where patients can see their reports and doctors and nurses can get feedback and track their health progress. Principles of interactive patient care are a structured, individualized, and methodical process for evaluating and communicating knowledge to patients and their families to change their health behaviors and improve their health status. Its primary goal is to keep or improve a patient’s health or, in some cases, to slow deterioration.

According to Forbes Magazine, over 100,000 people die every year from medical errors. That means there are 100,000 deaths from medical errors every year. It would seem that reducing errors in the medical field will be more cost effective than providing medical services that are only around 2% of the cost

 In contrast, if health care costs were reduced by 2,700 times, over 3 million deaths would be avoided, and millions of people would be able to afford health care. Many researchers and doctors, especially those who study health care, admit that although technology can provide solutions, they do not consider it to be a solution because they fear it would become a distraction for doctors and patients.