Fixing the Hidden Bottleneck in Healthcare

Patient transport in hospitals isn't just a logistical chore—it's a hidden, high-stakes bottleneck that contributes to clinician burnout, delayed care, and preventable musculoskeletal injuries. Dr. David Crabb, an emergency physician and CEO of RoVex, reveals how a frontline perspective led him to build Rovi, an autonomous mobile robot designed to attach to standard hospital stretchers and transport patients safely through complex hospital environments. What began as a frustration with inefficient workflows evolved into a mission to offload physical labor from healthcare workers, allowing them to work at the top of their license. The robot isn't just about automation—it's about restoring dignity to caregiving by freeing clinicians from repetitive, injury-prone tasks. Crabb emphasizes that the real innovation lies in physical AI: using artificial intelligence not just in data, but in the real world to reduce human burden. He shares how his clinical background gave him unique insight into hospital systems, and how he overcame the mindset shift from physician to founder—prioritizing triage, momentum, and human-robot interaction. Despite challenges like trust, safety, and adoption, RoVex is already piloting with health systems, proving that even small automation can yield major gains in efficiency, staff well-being, and patient flow. The episode reframes healthcare innovation not as flashy tech, but as solving invisible problems.