Meet Moxi, the robot helping to lighten nurses' workload

Moxi, a helper robot created by Diligent Robotics, can perform time consuming tasks for nurses. | Photo Credit: Diligent Robotics

When walking through the halls of Cedars Sinai Hospital in LA, you might run into a pair of Moxis, white autonomous mobile robots with light up, heart-shaped eyes.

Moxi is tasked with helping nurses do time consuming but simple tasks, so they can have more time to do more complicated tasks. Nurses at Cedars Sinai use Moxi to run prescriptions, deliver lab samples and even bring patients gifts from the gift shop.

“The intent is really to take basic tasks away from frontline healthcare workers so that they can focus on taking care of our patients,” said David Marshall, JD, DNP, RN, senior vice president, chief nursing executive and chair of the department of nursing at Cedars-Sinai. “We’ve already seen a significant improvement on time and steps saved. We’re tracking the turnaround times that Moxi takes to do a task, which is currently running less than 30 minutes, which is great.”

Moxi was created by Diligent Robotics. Diligent was founded in 2017, and have been working on Moxi since.

Moxi was first brought to Cedars Sinai in September 2021, and in just its first six weeks, it saved 300 miles of walking for nurses. Moxi works all hours of the day.

“We love Moxi,” said Melanie Barone, RN, associate nursing director. “I think it’s important to have Moxi be present because they not only provide an opportunity to improve workflows and be more efficient, but they’re a fun thing to see around the halls. They feel very future forward.”

To call on Moxi, nurses can simply text or call from a hospital issued phone. The robot will respond within five minutes with a status update and an estimated arrival time.

While Moxi was created to make hospitals more efficient, it also aims to improve morale. Moxi uses AI, machine learning technology and social engineering to interact with people. Moxi waves when it sees someone new, and even poses for selfies.

“It’s nice to say hi and see it wave and watch it keep going down the hallway no matter where you are,” Barone said. “It’s that little connection. Even though it’s a robot you still get that feeling of, you’re my friend, you’re my helper. Let’s work together.”

Moxi can be implemented into a hospital in just weeks. It charges itself automatically, and can navigate elevators, security doors and automatic doors.