What is Process Automation?
Process automation, also known as digital transformation, is the technology-enabled automation of complex business processes. It accelerates the accuracy and speed of tasks by routing information to the right person, at the right time, through user-defined rules and actions. When processes are automated, they require less human involvement which translates to greater productivity and efficiency. In this post, we will dive into the details of the most common reasons to incorporate process automation in healthcare, and the benefits process automation can bring to the healthcare ecosystem.
Benefit 1: Reduce Errors
In order for your organization to maximize efficiency and productivity, reducing errors is imperative to healthcare. Take, for example, the area of benefits and eligibility checks. Often, eligibility checks require a human to manually transfer data from one system to another system. Whenever manual data processes are used, there is a risk of error by wrong keying, a slip of the hand, or human error. Data from the MGMA states that 90% of denials are preventable. Boston WorkStation, the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) platform from Boston Software Systems, reduces errors by offloading these tasks to automation, where they are executed without mistakes, and at a fraction of the time and cost of manual data input.
Benefit 2: Manage Workloads
No industry has been hit harder by COVID-19 than healthcare. The mental and physical toll and accompanying staffing shortages are affecting healthcare professionals across the globe. By streamlining many of the tedious processes, Boston WorkStation orchestrates connectivity to other applications and performs tedious back-office tasks on its own, freeing up clinical time for meaningful patient interactions. By removing laborious aspects of the daily workload, process automation empowers people, giving people back their time and creating a better work balance. Use cases in healthcare span coding, doctor-to-patient communication channels, auto-replies and reminders, claims management, centralized EHR data collection, and supply and inventory tracking.
Benefit 3: Claims Management
Claims management is an ongoing area of frustration for healthcare administrative staff. With automation, the revenue cycle staff works 24/7, quickly producing accurate claims that reduce denials and resubmissions, reduce days in AR, and speed “dollars in the door.” The human team spends their time only on exceptions. Boston WorkStation is the only healthcare specific RPA solution that runs successfully in hundreds of applications, hospitals, and partner technologies every day, addressing processes like claims status checks, missing information and errors, or the need for additional documentation. As hospitals and provider organizations continue to improve financial stability in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, automating the revenue cycle is truly a game changer.
Benefit 4: Human Resources
In healthcare, staffing deficiencies can literally mean life or death. According to a study done by Prudential, “90% of hospital executives believe that in the next 10 years they will experience a deficiency of specialists, generalists, physicians, nurses, and other clinicians, which will hamper their ability to deliver high-quality care.” An immense amount of resources, time, and money are often devoted to onboarding. Complicating the process is the necessity to merge information from disparate systems, forms, and websites. Process automation can update thousands of records in a matter of minutes, log into web applications, fill in forms, and pull information from multiple vendor systems. The credentialing process can be managed much more efficiently and effectively, without a burden on the administrative staff.
Benefit 5: Access to Data-Driven Insights
When data resides in multiple disparate systems, it’s difficult to make decisions based on the entire health record. Adding automation to operations and workflows makes healthcare delivery faster, more efficient, and improves the ability to uncover meaningful, actionable information at the point of care. Hospitals and healthcare providers can achieve greater levels of operational efficiency during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, while bringing a concerted focus to improved patient care.
Choose the Right Partner
The customer experience has always been first and foremost at Boston Software Systems. It’s why we ranked so high in the “Best of KLAS 2021” customer satisfaction category.
“Unlike a lot of the other vendors that are magically entering the space, Boston Software actually knows healthcare. They absolutely do what they say they will do.”
Boston WorkStation was given high scores in overall product quality and driving tangible outcomes. The product “works as promoted, and delivers a ‘money’s worth’ return on investment, with quality of training, support, and ease of use driving the value add.” Spend 30 minutes to find out what can go live in < 30 days.