There is no one-size-fits-all approach in healthcare. There are many challenges, roadblocks, and ever-changing conditions. This was especially evident in the last year as we worked to support people and improve healthcare processes throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As we position CIOs and other HealthIT executives for continued challenges in 2022, we look at trends and services that will drive growth opportunities, limit duplication of effort, and propel healthcare forward toward a new era of connectivity. Top of mind initiatives are those that improve working conditions and scale digitization.
Accelerating the Use of Digital Technologies
As acknowledged during the last year, digital connectivity is more important now than ever. With more employees working remotely, tools, applications, and processes are critical to supporting business continuity. Brad Cox from Northwestern Medicine noted, “It took us about 3 days to transition to a fully remote workforce. We moved people, desks, and hardware to kitchen tables and a work-from-home environment. While all of this was going on, automation allowed us to maintain ‘dollars in the door’ without an increased burden on people.” COVID-19 has pushed healthcare over the technology tipping point. The move to a digital-first environment in 2022 will require healthcare organizations to optimize tools and services, and reduce the cost & time required to complete most processes. As data volumes continue to explode and the need to connect meaningful information will increase, 2022 will see a continued spike in digital technologies.
The following list contains just a few of our most popular automation projects during the last year:
Revenue Cycle Optimization
Automation solves productivity drains in the revenue cycle by checking for errors, completing manual tasks, addressing quality control gaps, and reducing the cost to collect. An automated process drives efficiency and boosts bottom line revenue. Automation merges data from competing system silos, ensures there are no duplicates, gaps, or missing information, and corrects issues like incomplete claims data before the claim ever hits the queue. Most revenue cycle optimization projects provide a significant ROI within the first year, upwards of 300%. With a scalable, flexible RPA vendor, it’s easy to begin in one area, realize the benefits, then scale to additional areas throughout the healthcare organization.
Connecting Data Across Silos
Boston WorkStation helps people bridge the gaps left by EHR system vendors who don’t deliver on interoperability claims, leaving providers and staff struggling to complete time-consuming, manual workflows. Our clients have used Boston WorkStation to connect telehealth silos, to improve the vaccine distribution, scheduling, and billing, and for continued supply chain issues. Hospital and health system CIOs are leading their organizations by implementing tools like RPA to organize, input, and expedite data, remove roadblocks, and improve administrative efficiencies. Meaningful data is paramount to improving healthcare outcomes. By reevaluating the use of technology tools like RPA, healthcare organizations will be better prepared for the future, and the challenges that accompany it.
Identification of Patient Groups
Unpredictability and constant change are the new normal in healthcare. Boston WorkStation helps healthcare organizations fill gaps created by the labor shortage, optimizing administrative processes so that people can devote time to higher priority tasks, like patient and payer communications. RPA ‘bots’ improve accuracy and support human workers by identifying patient groups for vaccine distribution, SDOH initiatives, and population health goals at a high-volume and speed. When data is siloed, it’s difficult for clinicians to address systemic biases and serve the needs of marginalized patients and communities. By eliminating these roadblocks, organizations can unlock greater value, enabling meaningful decisions to be made based on accurate information.
Moving Forward in 2022
As we (hope to) place the pandemic in our rear view, 2022 comes with its own set of challenges. Data silos reduce data integrity and validity, leading to inconsistencies between departmental data and increased vulnerability to cybersecurity breaches. As data ages, it can lose its accuracy and integrity. We are going to see a greater need for healthcare technologies that scale effectively and integrate sustainability, delivering actionable insights when and where they are needed the most. By discontinuing manual administration and change management processes through smart automation technologies, healthcare organizations can manage complex systems more effectively and secure the user experience through improved accuracy and resilience.
Why Boston Software Systems
With continued diligence and planning, healthcare can be ready to act when the post-pandemic future arrives. At Boston Software Systems, we have been successfully aligning technology processes with people for over 30 years. We built and retained a loyal customer base by treating our customers well, and giving them a reason to do business with us again (and again). We keep our promises, and remain true to the level of service our clients have come to expect from us. We’ve worked with all EHR vendors and applications, and provide automation services onsite or in the AWS cloud.
In a world where problems are getting more complex, problem-solving says everything about a company. At #BostonSoftwareSystems, our people are passionate about listening, teaching and supporting long-term RPA goals. Give us a call in 2022. We’d love to connect with you.