AVMC is Revolutionizing Healthcare Operations with Innovative Collaboration

Diligent Robotics robot, Moxi, already making big impact, elevating clinical efficiency and empowering clinical teams.

(LANCASTER, Calif., December 7, 2023) — Antelope Valley Medical Center (AVMC) recently introduced robotic automation across multiple hospital units. AVMC is the only hospital in the region to deploy robotic solutions to support the nursing staff so they can focus on what they do best: patient care.

“We are thrilled to welcome Moxi to our team, anticipating its valuable support for our clinical staff by tackling time-consuming tasks, and allowing them to focus more on patient care,” said Joya Henderson, RN, MBA, MSN, NE-BC, Chief Nursing Officer, Antelope Valley Medical Center. “I am so excited to see this innovative project begin and in just a few weeks with Moxi, we are already seeing the positive impact on our staff’s efficiency and overall well-being.”

Pharmacy and laboratory techs, nurses and other care team members can now call on two robots named Moxi to help with non-patient-facing tasks. Using machine learning technology and an array of sensors, Moxi maps the hospital and uses its mechanized arm to navigate multiple types of doors including those that require badge access. Through its mobile base which contains three different sized and locked drawers, nurses can use Moxi to fetch supplies, deliver lab samples, pick up medicines from the pharmacy and other tasks that improve overall clinical flows and efficiency. Automating these tasks allows nurses to operate at the top of their license and spend more time with patients.

“We are excited to see this project begin and to watch the implementation roll out at our latest hospital,” said Dr. Vivian Chu, co-founder of Diligent Robotics. “Pharmacy techs, nurses and clinical care teams get pulled in so many directions and I love that we can integrate Moxi robots into the team to help relieve some of this stress.”

As Moxi continues to integrate at the hospital, the robots will learn to optimize discharge workflow by retrieving medications, lab specimens, and lightweight equipment saving team members hundreds of hours of time, and hundreds of thousands of steps. Within four weeks of the initial implementation, Moxi saved our 188+ clinical users’ time by making over 1,800 deliveries and has worked over 900 hours.

“What we have seen is that nurses, especially during the pandemic, are working long hours and can spend an astonishing 30% of their time fetching and gathering supplies,” said Dr. Andrea Thomaz, co-founder of Diligent Robotics. “That’s a lot of time spent away from patients, so we designed Moxi to be the perfect teammate for nurses and healthcare workers. Having Moxi fetch and deliver items from point A to point B keeps the staff from having to worry about it. We want Moxi to be a capable, useful teammate that supports, not replaces, valued nurses and hospital staff.”

Moxi was designed and created by Diligent Robotics, a robotics company from Texas that develops artificial intelligence to enable robots to collaborate with and adapt to humans. Moxi is equipped with an arm, gripper hand, and mobility that enable it to transport lightweight medical resources, navigate hospital hallways and drop them off for nurses and other staff.

Designed to be compatible with the busy, semi-structured environments of hospitals, Moxi’s core technical features include:

• Social intelligence: opens elevators and doors on its own, won’t bump into people or objects in hallways.
• Mobile manipulation: Moxi can interact with the hospitals existing environment such as ADA doors and elevators to gain access across the entire facility without requiring a significant investment in infrastructure.
• Human-guided learning: The more staff uses Moxi, the more Moxi learns and adapts to the environment and way of doing things.

“I wasn’t sure what to think of Moxi when I first saw the robot on our unit but now that I have used Moxi to make deliveries for me, I can see how much time Moxi is going to save me and my co-workers each day,” said Sarah Smith, LVN, Emergency Department, Antelope Valley Medical Center. “It is so easy to call on Moxi and it is nice knowing I can rely on Moxi to get me the things I need for my patients. I really appreciate our nursing leadership for bringing this solution to our team and helping to relieve some of our daily stress. It’s a true game-changer for us.”

AVMC clinical laboratory team meets Moxi