Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is being deployed by healthcare organizations to optimize and improve repetitive, manual processes. But, an RPA implementation is more than a technology project. At its core, it’s a business initiative. What does it take to create success? Here’s 5 key ingredients you’ll want to include.
Define Your Objectives
Sifting through a deep technology landscape to find the right technology partner may seem like a daunting task. To help define the right partner for your RPA project, you will want to look at their support queues, their customer experience scores, and their depth of experience in deploying similar projects. Often, what sounds great on paper, may actually not be the best fit for RPA success. A successful project requires the proper design, planning, and governance to improve business processes. You’ll need someone who understands the unique workflow challenges in healthcare, and the barriers that may occur during the onboarding process. Some of the factors to consider include:
- Low-code, content based capabilities
- Cloud-based, hybrid, or on-site deployment
- Integration and/or interference with existing applications
- Flexibility and scalability
Choose Well Documented Processes
Before developing and implementing a “bot,” it is essential to have your processes well documented. Statistics say that 30% of initial RPA projects fail. These failures are typically due to the poor choice of projects, unreliable governance, or third-party integration issues that were never uncovered during the discovery phase. A recent global RPA survey by Deloitte shows the benefits of RPA adoption are significant. The survey found:
- 92% of the respondents reported improved compliance
- 90% admitted an improvement in work quality and accuracy
- 86% reported improved productivity
- 59% reported cost reduction
Processes that are well documented and properly scoped, including SLA’s, are accompanied by a test plan and example input materials. They list dependencies, and are easy to understand. Your test plan and test cases should be properly aligned. This sets the expectation of all parties, and provides the necessary criteria to determine if the “bot” is implemented and performing well.
Simplify and Scale
Scaled automation projects have proven time and again to drive impressive impact and measurable financial returns. As organizations move forward with their automation initiatives, many projects become more silo-oriented with scalability challenges. RPA project teams should have a thorough understanding of business processes and exception workflows to ensure that bots are tested and validated for all working scenarios. In healthcare, it is particularly important to choose a flexible, customized solution that supports a wider approach to digital transformation. The most important advice we give our clients:
- Don’t fall down the rabbit hole
- Don’t try to boil the ocean
- Start small and expand from there
Simplify and scale by creating a project with a fast ROI, gain project success and executive buy-in, then roll it out to additional areas. Simplify with a more hybrid approach. Create bots for clients, onboard them, train and support them. We enable simplified self-service with our automation projects, doing as much or as little as our customers prefer. This saves time and creates faster onboarding success.
Test and Validate
Before a “bot” is developed and placed into production, it’s important to make sure it has been validated, works predictably, and meets the requirements for benchmarking. The total number of cases processed without the need for human intervention should exceed 95%. Here’s a real life example from a partner today – the customer was going from testing into production – different environments. We were able to visually test ContentObjects, and make necessary modifications without the need to run anything. Since the automation is in code, it’s easy to swap items out, or verify without the need to commit records, and rapidly test any number of scenarios within a matter of minutes. That’s why it’s important to have the right team with the right testing skills to validate workflows, processes, and exceptions thoroughly.
Why Boston WorkStation?
Everything sounds great in an online demo, and many companies have some pretty snazzy PowerPoint decks and talking points. Prospective clients want to believe that what you say is what you will do, but not all vendors keep their promises. Consider these key points:
- Support is paramount to RPA project success
- Without the right technology partner you’ll find yourself in long queues, losing time, and getting nowhere
- Boston WorkStation consistently receives 5-Star reviews, surpassing competitor rankings in the “Best in KLAS 2022 report
- 100% of our customers say that Boston WorkStation works as promoted and delivers product value
Boston WorkStation outperformed industry giant, UiPath, and hundreds of other vendors in most categories. We are experts on streamlining workflows, reducing costs, and improving usability for hospitals, health systems, and technology partners. We’d love to share our successes with you. With 95% of our projects completed in < 45 days, savings in time and money are right around the corner.