n 2013, the World Healthcare Organization (WHO) warned us that the global healthcare worker shortage could reach 12.9 million professionals by 2035. And the COVID-19 pandemic has only aggravated things. But the use of Robotic Process Automation in Healthcare slightly lessens the burden, especially on the US health sector where we witness a 6,000% growth in telemedicine usage. 

Although the use of RPA in Healthcare has its clear and undeniable benefits we are still far away from reaching its potential. Now we see RPA as one of the fastest-growing enterprise technologies, but only 5% of US healthcare providers are currently using intelligent bots to automate mundane work and boost efficiency. According to Gartner, however, the percentage of RPA adopters in the healthcare industry could jump to 50% in just three years, while 20% of all doctor-patient interactions will soon involve some form of artificial intelligence (up from 3% today).

The future is Digital. And the RPA is here to help us embrace the challenges of the future. We can see this in all the efforts that are made to streamline business processes. Today, more CIOs are turning to robotic process automation, or RPA. KPMG estimates the value of the global IT robotic automation market to reach roughly $5 billion this year.

In this post COVID-19 pandemic era the medical personnel is exhausted and using them for tasks like manually processing claims, entering data into electronic health records, and interacting with patients through digital channels is just not working anymore. This is the reason why robotic process automation in healthcare may cure medical system inefficiencies. But how can we use it? We have some quick ideas to show you:

3 ways on how can we implement Robotic Process Automation in Healthcare

Maybe this is not the first industry to consider when talking about RPA, however, healthcare, particularly in emerging, is an evolving and growth-oriented field, and as the number of patients increases, the need for more efficient, faster and more accurate services becomes vital. So, in this context, advanced automation solutions to assist with tasks like patient scheduling, billing, claims processing and more is crucial to increase the efficiency of these tasks. 

In order to understand how we can use Robotic Process Automation in Healthcare, below you can find three common processes frequently used by healthcare providers that can be streamlined by using robotic process automation:

  • Data Entry and Migration: Nowadays, no big, efficient, up-to-date company can rely on paper charts. Especially in healthcare every data has to go to the digital world so that all patient information can be stored electronically to be accessed securely online by other doctors and the patients themselves. Furthermore, this process has to be done fast and reliable, so you can not be reliant on employees to transfer these records manually. Instead you can use RPA to automate this transfer of data to the new updated system.
  • Patient Scheduling: We are now everyday with our phone in our hands and, in order to adapt to this modern life we have, healthcare has to give patients the possibility to schedule or cancel appointments online. RPA can be used to minimize the involvement of human employees in the scheduling process and can also help optimize appointment turnout by managing appointments with patients. 
  • Billing and Claims Processing: Billing and claims processing can be two very time consuming and prone to errors tasks. By using RPA, companies can reduce human error and increase efficiency and time-management.

5 benefits of using RPA in healthcare

The RPA solutions can help with tedious back-office tasks, helping healthcare workers to gain time for meaningful operations such as diagnostic work or doctor-patient interactions. As we already showed you, intelligent software agents are good at processing transactions, manipulating data, triggering responses, and conversing with internal and external IT systems.

It’s true that using RPA in healthcare is not an easy business decision to make. This is often driven by cost savings. As Mina Pekkala, Head of Robotics at Helsinki University Hospital, put it, “When we choose potential processes to automate we put weight on cost savings: how much is the work going to cost and what is the actual return on investment?” While the cost of RPA tools can be around thousands of euros, the good news is, most organizations that implement and scale their RPA medical system achieve payback in just 12 months.

Robotic process automation is a viable solution for healthcare organizations looking to serve more patients and improve patient outcomes without significant expenditures or friction on workers’ part. Are you not convinced yet? Here are 5 benefits that you can gain by using RPA in healthcare:

  • facilitate processes without increasing labor costs, which account for 60% of hospital operating expenses
  • reduce human errors stemming from manual data entry
  • low-cost and easy to implement tools that don’t require extensive software
  • improve knowledge sharing and collaboration between organizations involved in medical care delivery
  • help your medical organization perform labor-intensive tasks 60% faster while reducing the associated costs by up to 80%.

Healthcare payers and providers are being fundamentally challenged during these times of uncertainty. To succeed, healthcare executives need to:

  • develop stronger relationships with consumers and improve the patient experience
  • rethink traditional business and workforce models
  • continue to invest in technology and automation to help improve financial performance and streamline operations

Are you ready for this new era? Are you ready to challenge the present and embrace the change of the future? Let’s work together to create a better world for everybody. Together, we’ll enhance every process that needs improvement and automate what can be automated. Drop us a line and make Ventivo Group your technological partner!