King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital and the Thai Red Cross Society have deployed robots to speed up the administrative process in its outpatient department in an effort to improve public services.
Five of the robots, called Mr SAM, will be deployed starting in March, according to King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital director, Assoc Prof Dr Chanchai Sittipunt. The robots, he said, will take over some patient registration, as they are equipped to take pictures that will aid the admission process. They can also reschedule appointments for registered patients, he added.
The robots are programmed to provide basic information about the hospital.
"We believe that the introduction of Mr SAM will speed up our services," Assoc Prof Dr ML Kornkiat Sanitwong, the hospital's deputy director added.
He noted that robots have played an increasingly important role in daily life, especially following the Covid-19 pandemic, as they help reduce the risk of infection and ease the workload of medical workers and doctors.