Essay on Robotics in Healthcare

Robotics is the art of coming up with and designing robots to perform healthcare tasks on behalf of professional doctors and registered nurses. The medical field accounts for the gap between science and society. Therefore, medical practitioners filled in the hole by figuring out how the human body reacted when exposed to different environments. Operations in the hospitals have not been delivered efficiently due to few errors made when performing these operations. Therefore, scientific experts have tried to come up with more efficient methods to handle patients in hospitals. Among these methods is the use of robotics which has proven to be fast and more accurate.

The current Medicare system has proven to be significantly ineffective, especially due to minor but avoidable errors, resulting in high mortality rates. Physical human beings are not perfect, and they are prone to making mistakes. Therefore, in the healthcare system, some doctors make mistakes that risk the lives of patients. There have been many reasons as to why errors occur when delivering medical services (Baylina, et al., 2018). The most common cause of medical errors is ineffective communication among medical practitioners. Ineffective communication mainly occurs when shifts are changed where data handed over may be ambiguous, incomplete, and inaccurate. When such information is handed in, proper medical care is not administered to the patients, reducing the patient’s safety. Also, surgical rooms require effective communication to ensure total coordination among the practitioners: Failure to which the surgical process will be slower than anticipated resulting in very serious implications on the sickly individual such as death. Inadequate staffing is also a major cause of medical errors where employees work for long hours of the night and day, resulting in severe burnouts, which reduce their effectiveness during working hours. Based on my research, I concluded that most of the developing states of America are experiencing high death rates due to the above-stated problem. As a result, robotics in healthcare is the solution I sought to help save lives since “every life matters.”

Stakeholders, in this case, are institutions or individuals vesting interest in the implementation of robotics in the healthcare system. In healthcare, there are various stakeholders, including the national government, managers, clients(patients), medics, and insurance companies. There are two types of stakeholders: external and internal. The internal stakeholders operate within the hospital premises, and they are the targeted direst users of robotics (Silva et al., 2019). The major role of internal stakeholders is essentially guidance and leadership to patients. Change is subject to resistance at times, requiring doctors, nurses, and other employees to educate the uninformed on the benefits and importance of the new project. In addition, these stakeholders have to ensure that the new project is harmless to the patients in terms of their bodily reactions. On the other hand, the external stakeholders are meant to offer the resources required to implement the robotics process automation (RPA). Collaboration with the government is an advantage since the authority will either hire experts to construct the robots or import them from other developed countries. Moreover, the government will provide a license that will legalize robotics in the healthcare system in Columbia. In conclusion, stakeholders prove to be very influential regarding the newly adopted concept, especially to the public. The success of change implementation in a company entire lies in the hands of the stakeholders.

Change is an essential part of the healthcare system. It is inevitable, especially during this period, that technology is rapidly advancing from all angles. Change does not occur naturally; rather, change results from various constraints in an organization. Change is most commonly triggered by staff shortages, exorbitant treatment prices, an aging population, and technological advancements in the scientific world regarding the medical field. First of all, the organization ought to change operations by initiating the use of technology in almost every aspect of the health center. This aspect will help guide the patients on the importance of adopting new technological aspects instead of manual elements (Alase, 2017). This stage is a preparation for real change. The next step is to embrace change by using driving forces that trigger the change occurrence. There will be a shortage of staff in the health center implying that efficiency will be below. Additionally, the manual treatment will go for higher prices than the robotic treatment. This will drive patients to opt for the use of robotics in the treatments. Once the patients acquire the computerized treatment, they will be enlightened on the advantages of using robots instead of human beings. As a result, patients will gradually start to embrace the change, and in a few years, change will be permanent.

Lewin’s change theory model is a tri-step model (unfreeze, change, freeze) that enables stakeholders to be highly innovative, implement change without disrupting normal operations, and ensure that change implemented is permanent. The unfreezing stage entails changing the way an organization operates in favor of the transition to be implemented. This stage is essential since it prepares the patients psychologically, emotionally, and physically for the incoming change. The change stage entails implementing change, which can be acquired in three ways; driving force, restraining forces, and equilibrium. Change is achieved in this stage by ensuring that the only option the patients are left with changes. Lastly, the freezing stage ensures that the setting remains permanent and is adopted fast enough (Hussain et al., 2018). This model advocates for transition; therefore, evolution is acquired over a long period to ensure no resistance due to enough training.

Lewin’s change theory is an important tool of guidance in this research. First of all, it requires the researcher to identify the areas that need to be changed. In this case, human labor needs to be replaced by robots to increase efficiency, cut costs, and save on time when delivering services. Secondly, stakeholder analysis is required to ensure that they are in support of the new project idea. Being influential with facts is a skill highly needed in this sector because the change implementation is likely to fail without the stakeholders’ consent. Therefore, when stakeholders agree to embrace the change, the whole process becomes way easier. The third step involves using the stakeholders to help create the need for change. This can be achieved through seminars and physical training to the public to make them aware of why change is needed in the healthcare system. Convincing the public is a great challenge that requires stakeholders to manage and clear the doubts and concerns of individuals.

In conclusion, the healthcare system has done more harm than good in modern society, which is a driving force to change. High mortality rates could be solved by employing more accurate, fast, and cost-effective treatment methods such as robots. However, implementing change is a procedure that should be followed to ensure that there is no resistance. In this case, Lewin’s theory has been used to guide researchers in the implementation of change. The model used is a long-term but sure way of eliminating old habits and replacing them with ‘new normal.’

References

Alase, A. O. (2017). The tasks of reviewing and finding the right organizational change theory. International Journal of Educational Leadership and Management, 5(2), 198-215.

Baylina, P., Barros, C., Fonte, C., Alves, S., & Rocha, Á. (2018). Healthcare workers: Occupational health promotion and patient safety. Journal of medical systems, 42(9), 1-8.

Hussain, S. T., Lei, S., Akram, T., Haider, M. J., Hussain, S. H., & Ali, M. (2018). Kurt Lewin’s change model: A critical review of the role of leadership and employee involvement in organizational change. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 3(3), 123-127.

Silva, L. M. D., Bitencourt, C. C., Faccin, K., & Iakovleva, T. (2019). The role of stakeholders in the context of responsible innovation: A meta-synthesis. Sustainability, 11(6), 1766.