Investigating Hospital Service Robots: A Observation Study About Relieving Information Needs at the Hospital Reception

Hospital receptions (HRs) are a vital area to meet information needs. Deploying Service Robots (SRs) is increasingly important in HR due to staff shortages and increasing healthcare demands in Germany. To evaluate the effectiveness of SR in HR, we conducted a consecutive study during one week in September 2023 in a rural Bavarian hospital. The study involved 1,703 interactions, primarily handled by HR staff (89.9 %), with SRs addressing 10.1 %. HR was mainly requested from 10:00 to 15:00 and the SR between 13:00 to 19:00. Each interaction was mainly under one minute. The requests were predominantly regarding orientation by both the SR and the hospital staff. Our results indicate that SR can reduce workload, saving 2.15 working hours during the study. The findings suggest SRs’ utility in information provision yet highlight the need for more comprehensive studies with advanced SRs in healthcare to optimize their role in information management.