Robots almost as good as clinicians at pleasing patients in the ER

AI in Healthcare March 5, 2021
Dave Pearson

Emergency-room patients are happy to receive care from a physician interacting remotely over a tablet computer mounted on a dog-like robot.

That’s the conclusion of researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital who tried out the system on 40 ER patients and gauged attitudes beyond Boston by conducting a national survey of 1,000 healthcare consumers.

Some 93% of the actual patients were satisfied with the experience, with 83% saying it was no less pleasing than having an in-person doctor come to their bedside.

Meanwhile most of the survey participants indicated they had no qualms about the use of robotics in medical care.

The team’s report posted March 4 in JAMA Network Open.

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