There is a popular opinion in the industry that robotic automation adoption is more applicable for the finance sector and HR sectors. Though this opinion holds the ground because of an immense amount of data generated and numerical tasks are done. Industries benefited immensely through accounting automation. However, there are other areas where this can also be used. One unsung sector deserving the services of robotic automation is healthcare.

On the outlook it may not be clear on how this industry can benefit from robotic automation, might not be a challenging place however, once you start drawing the roadmap, one understands the collaborative and interactive nature of the work. The work is interwoven between both internal and external sources. The pool of data is generated in the form of patients health files, in/out patients applications, in patient bills, lab information, forms related to insurance, etc.

Each information is interlinked. Though the patients can be discharged before they clear the bills, yet their health records are maintained for future reference and treatment. Invariably, the healthcare sector generates huge employment opportunities for the human population.

Despite additional workforce deployed for maintaining the documents generated, the process remains an epicenter for inaccuracy, lack of efficiency and error prone as per many studies.

With both admin and medical staff already overburdened with the complex structure of the processes, the Covid pandemic made it impossible for them to have a breather. Even advanced economies of the world displayed a crumbling medical sector unable to cope during emergencies.

During this time of need, Robotic automation came in a ‘blessing in disguise’, to fill in tasks or processes which are inherently repetitive in nature, requiring data entry ability, error reduction for tasks that are labour intensive. Since, robo bots lack cognitive abilities, it performs and trains itself to produce results as per the rules set. It interfaces at the various stages and performs tasks and reproduces accurate outcomes at rapid speed.

Therefore, RPA starts catering to the healthcare needs and apparently, is able to see the benefits of early adoption.

Also Read: Remote working and Robotic Automation (RPA) - a new reliable association?

An overview of how and why its critical processes are done:

1. Streamlining of Medical Records through Robotic Automation:
   Healthcare is equated with patients, therefore, it is mandated for managing an updated and accurate digital medical records for access to parties involved in treatment. Automation facilitates real time records of the patient’s history, to help doctors to diagnose with the help of lab results, administer medicines, and other areas.
   Where reams of paper work is done by employees for recording & filing the patient’s details. Robotic bots, in no time, through the interface, connect all the dots and facilitate both the patient, doctors and healthcare team.
2. Scheduling of Patients’ appointment through Robotic Automation:
   Medical appointment scheduling needs a tough hand for keeping track of the doctor's calendar schedule. Software applications facilitate viewing the doctors appointments, but it does not synchronize with medical records of patients in real time. According to one report, 88% of all patient appointments and bookings are made manually, sometimes leading to over two month delay in between a referral and an appointment.
   Robotic automation is programmed to schedule patient appointments in coordination with the doctors’ availability, urgency and diagnosis. Further, addn information related to insurance claims need to be maintained.
   Once a patient calls for an appointment, RPA searches for the available slot and confirms timings from the patient. Once confirmed, sends appointment details through emails , sends reminders, helps in rescheduling the appointment, cancellation of appointment and updates the database for others to rebook.
3. Processing of Insurance claims through Robotic Automation:
   Insurance claims processing is a cumbersome job which entails input of medical proof, administration procedure, management approval, financial reimbursement etc. In order to protect both customer and insurance service provider interests, this is a labor and information intensive work that has to be done.
   Robotic software bots are deployed to ensure faster and accurate claims processing. They are attuned to collect data from various sources and make it easier for employees processing claims. Bots monitor the entire process, identify compliance related issues and allow the process to function smoothly.
4. Enhancing cyber and data security through Robotic Automation:
   There is always an unseen threat of violation of human privacy. Since, all the confidential information of health and other details of the patient is kept under lock and key. Yet there is more scope of trespassing which is unavoidable at all times.
   Automation gives the authority to its regulators to give control access to its users, who have access to the records. Like doctors, administrators, management, finance have varying degrees of access and will be able to view only partial information.
   From the cyber security perspective, automatically deploy security control, identify risks, helps to minimise risk through identifying anomalies etc.
5. Organising staffing routine through Robotic Automation:
   Hospitals are run by staff members, who make the mechanism run smoothly. If their availability is questionable, then it becomes an issue. Every hospital, despite having additional staff members, always feels a shortage of them. They are overburdened and unable to accomplish all their tasks.
   Automation helps to schedule and organise the availability of staff presence day in / out and yet not overwhelm them. Further, many tedious and error prone tasks are handled by bots and make them concentrate only on vital tasks.

Also Read: “Robot” as a fellow worker - a trusted friend or despised foe?

Automation has made its presence in every sector. If you are interested to know more about various types like Bookkeeping automation, Payroll automation, invoice Processsing automation etc. and how it can help your company, give us a call.