“Beam me up, Scotty”

You are probably familiar with this iconic catchphrase that made its way into the popular culture from the science fiction television series Star Trek.  It was pure fiction in those days.  Today, with telepresence robots, technology allows us to “beam up” images of people, places and things that can save thousands of dollars for healthcare companies.  Pay attention to this awesome technology—those who use it will have a huge competitive advantage over those who don’t.

Today at OxyGo and the Applied Companies, we use telepresence robots in our offices, plants, and even trade shows.  We wonder how we worked before we had them. Telepresence robots allow our team members, wherever they are in the world, to attend important meetings, brainstorm, make decisions, develop new products or services, etc., as if they were there in person.  They have saved us an enormous amount of one of the most precious and valuable of competitive resources: time.

Here’s a real-life example.  Telepresence robots have allowed me, and others in my company, to participate in morning meetings in Cleveland, Orlando, and Charlotte and then pop up and greet customers at the Medtrade show in Las Vegas, all in the same day.  Speed of implementation, a key competitive advantage, is accelerated because managers and key team members are many times more available, decisions and consensus occur in real time.

In the past, if key team members were traveling, they often missed important meetings or interactions with colleagues, customers, vendors and the community.  Now, they easily attend meetings from meetings of all sorts, from wherever their business is taking them.

The idea for using telepresence robots came to me from attending classes given by a Silicon Valley think tank, Singularity University.  At this university we explored emerging exponential technologies in robotics, medicine, computers, and the internet, among others. The co-founder advised that during the 21st century, mankind would not make 100 years of progress; more likely mankind would make 20,000 years of progress.

OxyGo and the Applied companies are entrepreneurial by nature and our ROI expectations are steep. We have invested about $14,000 each for three robots so far and more will be ordered.  I see huge savings in travel dollars alone coming down the pike. I have read that 40% of Fortune 500 companies are currently using beam robots to save on time, travel and faster decision making.

I will be happy to share my telepresence robot experiences with DMEs and HMEs.  Just e-mail me at dmarquard@oxyfuelsafety.com or call me at 440-788-4090. The future is now.  I am a big believer that telepresence robots will make your home healthcare company leaner, meaner and more competitive.