Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a digital ally to optimize workflows, boost revenue cycle margins, and bridge the gaps between disparate systems in healthcare. If you’re looking to begin an RPA project, be sure to include the following four factors for long-term success.
Involve Key Stakeholders
In a year of workforce shortages, increased staffing and financial concerns, nothing is more important than supporting your human workforce and building resilience for the future of work. Before the project begins, be sure to include key stakeholders from the organization. You’ll want to include IT leaders and financial executives but it’s also extremely important to work alongside department leaders. Form a partnership to ensure that the project stays on track and works well for everyone involved. Department leaders understand the workflows, the specific processes to be automated, and the operational performance metrics that will define success. Be sure everyone is on the same page as to benefit. Whether cost reduction, repetitive process improvement, or operational efficiency, it’s important to have a clear understanding of the metrics that define project success.
Ease of Implementation
RPA is one of the most accessible solutions to implement, helping hospitals and healthcare systems bridge the gaps left by system vendors, repetitive processes, or staffing. It’s a flexible, client-to-client implementation, designed to work the way you do, aligning to existing workflows and business constraints. The ease of implementation depends on the vendor’s flexibility and capability to work within legacy systems, scale the project accordingly, and create strategic improvements that can easily be supported and maintained. It can be implemented with no changes to existing architectures or security protocols. To avoid delays and risks, you might want this process done completely by the vendor, with mentoring at every step, or via a hybrid combination. Be sure that the vendor is flexible enough to accommodate your specific implementation needs, so there are no surprises. There is no one-size-fits-all implementation. And no need to create a network of excellence centers. You need a vendor who listens to your needs and your technical constraints, and works alongside your team with guidance at every juncture.
Scalability
Don’t begin by expecting to boil the ocean with a hundred project ideas and opportunities for an RPA project. Have a clear understanding of one initial area to roll out these improvements, optimize the project, then scale to additional areas. Flexibility is key to scaling up or down when demand calls for increased output. An RPA company needs to be able to adapt to the applications, the way the application is deployed, and the environment it is deployed in. The challenge is building the connection to an application that will reliably work yet is agile enough to manage. Ensure that your RPA solution is agile enough to accommodate growth and rapid change. That’s why vendor selection is paramount to scalability and sustainability. Look for a vendor who has successfully done this hundreds of times in the same environment. The one thing you want to avoid when implementing an RPA project is delays due to vendor capabilities.
Ongoing Support
The most important factor to include in an RPA project is support after the sale. The focus of onsite support as well as vendor support is to proactively identify any adverse scenarios, provide expert help for any issues that come up, and handle incidents caused by network errors and updates. If there’s an issue, you don’t want to be placed in a two-day support queue. You want a real person who can help to identify the issue, provide complete resolution, and teach you how not to encounter the same issue again. Support after the sale cannot be stressed enough. In an IBM research study in 2021, the top attributes to look for when selecting an RPA vendor were technical support, integration support, and deployment support. A whopping 30% of clients are willing to change vendors for a better support package. Do your due diligence. Check reference sites, like KLAS or G2. Check customer support scores or ask for a personal support reference. Support is a key factor in usability as well as long-term sustainability.
Why Boston Software Systems?
For the past 30+ years, our focus has been on healthcare RPA solutions. From the initial call with our team, we will provide you with all of the information you need to make an informed choice. Within two days of our call, we will provide an SOW that includes project timelines and goals, along with a fixed pricing model, one that includes the flexibility of implementation in a way that serves your specific needs. And our support after the sale is unparalleled. We also offer ongoing support in terms of “Lunch and Learn” sessions. Boston WorkStation is the preferred automation partner for hundreds of hospitals, healthcare organizations, and technology partner solutions. Give us a call. We look forward to speaking with you.