The average administrative worker in healthcare accomplishes hours of repetitive, routine tasks every day that are better left to machines. Smart automation technology like Robotic Process Automation (RPA) mimics the activity of a human, by carrying out the same tasks and processes far more quickly, accurately, and tirelessly, which makes automation a great digital ally. Many are aware of the benefits of adding automation to revenue cycle tasks, but let’s take a look outside of the box to discover additional areas of return for automation technology.
Pharmacovigilance
Pharmacovigilance (PV), includes the detection, assessment, and prevention of adverse effects in medicines and vaccines. The major components of a pharmacovigilance system includes data collection, data analysis, and drug reporting. By automating the detection of adverse events and/or errors, we can improve drug and vaccine quality and reduce patient safety risks. Smart automation technology like Boston WorkStation helps pharma companies bring safe and effective drugs to market in a shorter time and at a lower cost, all without the human burden.
Electronic Batch Reviews
A batch record is a complete history of each product, including the raw materials and equipment used, procedures followed, and quality achieved. Accurate information eliminates the need to send the batch record document back for further remediation. Smart automation tools are specifically designed to meet speed and consistency in data entry, quality control, and audit reporting. Using automation to perform batch record reviews ensures that all the documentation necessary is included, and that the information collected from disparate systems is coherent, compliant, and within operational parameters.
Lab Registrations and Results Reporting
Lab registration is another great area to automate. One of our clients, a large outreach lab at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, streamlined their registration processes. Previously, the process required staff to pass through several healthcare information system (HIS) modules to complete. With Boston WorkStation, they enter codes into the laboratory module and these automatically populate the abstracting module. This automated workflow saved nearly 60 hours of staff time, or 1.5 FTEs each week. In addition, automation eases the burden of reduced staffing by automating lab results reporting and speeding efficiencies to downstream revenue targets and reporting agencies. During COVID-19, Boston WorkStation automated required result reporting to the HHS, state, and public health facilities, saving human workers hundreds of hours and ensuring accuracy.
Dictionary Updates
Data dictionaries provide structural meta-information about data definitions in health information technology (HIT) systems. A medical dictionary is a tool like a reference repository that tells users how clinical documentation links to administrative codes. Data dictionaries include terminology concepts, LOINC, SNOMED, ICD, and other codes which must be periodically updated to ensure accuracy and regulatory compliance. Industry standards have routine updates. These are tedious, manual tasks to complete, yet perfect for smart automation technology, which allows dictionaries to be constantly refreshed in order to reflect the most recent changes and updates.
Eligibility and Benefits Verification
By using smart automation tools like Boston WorkStation, health systems are able to quickly navigate between multiple payer portals or EHR modules faster and more accurately than human staff, and record the information in the right system, for the right user, at the right time. Boston WorkStation completes verifications for you so that your staff can dedicate their time to where they’re needed most. This speeds eligibility and benefit verification for treatments, procedures, medications, and admissions, improving patient outcomes without overburdening people.
HR Onboarding and Physician Credentialing
An overall staffing shortage continues to plague healthcare organizations, and has added to the burden and burnout employees and staff are feeling. Workloads have and will increase as the data continues to increase, about 50% more with each year. HR functions, updates, upgrades, and system changes can be more efficiently managed with automation. Physician credentialing is a complex process that involves various factors, making it prone to an excessive amount of paperwork, and manual data input. Prevent credentialing mistakes with smart automation. Automation relieves this laborious time-consuming process, saving physicians and administrative staff time, money, and reducing stress.
Compliance and Regulatory Tasks
Healthcare organizations can stay compliant with rules and regulations by incorporating smart automation into their technology stack. Processes that can be automated include audit trail generation, policy adherence checks, and productivity reporting. Smart automation “bots” can work 24/7, performing checks on a scheduled basis or triggered by a specific event, ensuring continuous monitoring of compliance requirements.
Why Boston WorkStation?
Boston WorkStation offers a frictionless process automation experience that has become a competitive advantage in today’s healthcare landscape. We understand the challenges, the barriers, and the workflows better than any other automation vendor. Boston WorkStation allows healthcare workers and administrative staff to focus on clinically relevant tasks rather than tedious, manual ones that often result in delays and distractions. In most situations, clients realize a substantial return on investment (over 300%) in the first year. Our automations are running in hundreds of hospitals, healthcare organizations, and technology partner offerings every day. Give us a call. We look forward to sharing our successes with you.