• September 20, 2022
• By admin

Robotics to Automate Hospital Workflows:

What is robotic process automation (RPA)?

Robotic process automation (RPA) is an automation technology that uses software to mimic back-office tasks performed by human workers, such as data extraction, form filling, and file movement. It integrates and performs repetitive tasks between enterprise and productivity applications by combining APIs and user interface (UI) interactions. RPA tools complete autonomous execution of various tasks, activities, and transactions across unrelated software systems by deploying scripts that emulate human processes.

The value of RPA:

Healthcare organisations operate in real time, with no wiggle room. Complicated, error-prone tasks stymie processes and have an impact on everything from cost structures to compliance to the patient experience. RPA software increases efficiencies by automating tasks that improve data and reporting accuracy and allow for faster decision-making. This translates to cost savings, which means that resources can be used where they are most needed.

RPA automates tasks that involve structured data and logic, and it frequently employs a business rules engine to make decisions based on predefined rules and conditions. RPA can also manage unstructured data sets, but only after a bot extracts the data and then uses natural language processing (NLP) and optical character recognition (OCR) to create structured data.

When an RPA solution is combined with artificial intelligence (AI), intelligent automation (IA) (or cognitive automation) is created, which aims to closely mimic human talent and actions, frequently through the use of bots.

What use cases in healthcare can be improved with RPA, and how?

There are many highly sensitive interactions with customers in the healthcare industry, but there are also many time-consuming, repetitive tasks and administrative tasks that do not require specialised knowledge. RPA can automate tasks ranging from front-office tasks to operational processes to patient interaction and bill payment.

Gartner predicts that “50% of US healthcare providers will invest in RPA over the next three years.” “Healthcare providers are caught in a perfect storm of shrinking payments, improving outcomes, enhancing experience, and bolstering credentials,” Gartner continues. Any technology used to assist these providers in improving delivery and streamlining operations must also reduce costs.”

The following are some of the healthcare challenges that RPA can help to solve:

Data entry for administrative purposes:

Administrative data is just one type of data that can be found in a healthcare setting. Administrative data entry does not always necessitate specialised skills, but it is a task that can be tedious. RPA can take data inputs from various sources and convert some of them to structured data using natural language processing (NLP), speech recognition, and image recognition. That data must then be entered into a database or other repository for the organization’s use.

The digitization of documents:

Intelligent document processing (IDP) can be used by RPA to prepare and ingest documents ranging from health records to insurance claims into a larger repository for storage or use.

Schedule and manage patient appointments:

Automation can help with appointment scheduling and management by utilising RPA bots and other processes to interact with customers. Patent appointments can also be scheduled, changed, cancelled, or updated as needed or requested.

Billing and payment processing:

Typically, billing and claims processing are very repetitive. RPA can be used to automate these processes, with bots handling claims management, including first-line inquiries and follow-up.

Management of records:

The healthcare industry is highly regulated, with strict protocols and reporting requirements regarding patient records, medical records, and other sensitive information. Regulatory compliance is dependent on record accuracy, consistency, and security, which RPA can provide.

Infection prevention:

RPA can assist healthcare professionals in carrying out infection control protocols such as, but not limited to:

• Overseeing triage tasks
• Tracking and screening protocols, including regulatory compliance and CDC protocols
• Inventory and patient flow management
• Monitoring patient care plans and notifying staff when patient data thresholds are reached

Communications:

RPA can be used in healthcare, as it can in any industry, to automate communications such as website responses, first-line calls to customer service, front-line administrator queries, and email blasts to patients, vendors, and staff.

Customer service and remote monitoring:

RPA and bots can be used to automate repetitive customer service and remote care activity, with machine learning and intelligent automation (IA) allowing for consistent and timely responses to repetitive questions. RPA can also be used in remote care follow-up, following business rules to deliver specific communication at different stages of the patient care plan.

Benefits of RPA in healthcare:

With pressure to cut costs, speed up operations, simplify tasks, improve business process efficiency, and improve patient experience, healthcare organisations are well positioned to benefit greatly from RPA.

Healthcare leaders can use RPA to accomplish the following tasks:

• Reduce healthcare administration costs by automating time- and resource-intensive repetitive manual tasks.
• Increase the speed of processes like triage by automating mundane tasks.
• Reduce human error, ensure task and output consistency, and enable organisations to successfully implement best practises to improve the accuracy of data, tasks, and reporting in clinical settings and others.
• Increase healthcare staff productivity by automating tasks that do not require human intelligence or thought, freeing up resources to focus on more complex activities.
• Improve the patient experience by providing more consistent care as a result of better decisions, lower costs, and greater visibility across the entire patient record.

A successful RPA implementation in healthcare necessitates holistic planning to determine where automation can benefit, what resources are available to help with the process, and whether a partnership can help accelerate with skillsets or resources.

Use case: A hospital employs RPA to cut costs, improve process efficiency, and enhance the patient experience.

RPA has numerous applications in healthcare. Focusing on a few specifics that could result in financial gains is a good place to start for any organisation.

Let’s look at how we can use RPA tools to improve a hospital’s operational efficiencies. Generic Hospital X has a lot of overhead administrative costs, and 30% of those costs are attributed to dealing with errors and delays in manual processes. The hospital must optimise costs and resources in order to handle the increased influx of patients caused by the COVID-19 surge.

Hospital X examined its business processes and identified several that are more expensive than others:

• Prior authorization for insurance
• Cost estimates
• Insurance verification and benefit denials
• Accounts receivable and claims management

Each of these processes entails a number of manual tasks that are time-consuming and require precision to ensure quality patient care.

Using RPA, Hospital X can reduce the manual reliance of each process, lowering the risk of human error and increasing accuracy, lowering costs. The hospital addressed each of these processes by automating tasks with RPA:

Prior authorization from insurance:

RPA and AI technology are used to submit and follow up on requests for prior authorization for procedures, communicating with the patient and all involved constituents automatically, and frequently scheduling the procedure. Because insurance authorization submissions rely on proper coding, AI technology can detect and, in some cases, resolve inconsistencies in submissions caused by human error. Approval of coverage for special tests or treatment authorization is requested electronically, along with the patient’s cost, and the response is communicated via auto-generated email.

Estimated costs:

Patients are informed of the costs of procedures and treatments in advance, and payment plans and collections efforts are also automated.

Insurance verification and approvals or denials of benefits:

RPA is used to keep track of and request approval for patients’ appointments as they are scheduled, attended, or cancelled. Information on cost to the patient, deductibles and other coverage details are generated automatically, for better up-front visibility and consistency.

Accounts receivable and claims management:

RPA is used to manage claims processing workflows by utilising bots and AI technology. This includes denial communication and resubmission, as well as revenue and cost projections based on past performance. Revenue collection is also automated with a workflow that aids in the recovery of funds without the need for repetitive manual intervention.

These are just a few of the administrative processes in a healthcare setting that can benefit from the use of RPA to reduce manual intervention, repetitive tasks, and human error, resulting in lower costs and better patient care and experience.