Automation is transforming every industry that it comes into contact with. It greatly improves efficiency, productivity, and minimizes mistakes by reducing the need for human intervention. The same holds true even for healthcare. Hospitals, as well as outpatient care centers, deal with a considerable load of operational tasks. The bigger the organization, the greater the workload. Healthcare automation can ease that load and boost the efficiency of workflows.
Until automation was rolled out a few years ago, people had to call up the hospital, wait for the line to free up, have the available time slots told to them, and then finalize a time. On the other end of the line, a member of the staff would have had to attend each call, check a calendar for availability and inform patients. If a patient couldn’t attend for any reason, they had to call again and go through the whole process all over again.
However, the growth of automation in healthcare medical workflows has led to the development of applications that make the whole appointment process simpler. Using these, people can just log in to a website or browse their smartphone to check for available appointment slots 24/7 and select one with just a few clicks. Moreover, if any patient wants to reschedule, he or she can do so without hassles. This functionality eases the burden on the staff at the provider organization, and even reduces staffing requirements.
The procedure for providers to get reimbursed in America is a long, complicated one. It involves verifying each patient’s insurance eligibility, documenting their clinical visit, coding the services delivered, and filling out claims to be submitted to the payer. Needless to point out, this entire process is highly prone to mistakes that can delay or even lose reimbursements. But software for automating healthcare processes in billing would streamline workflows and accelerate the entire procedure of billing.
Claims can be filled with a few clicks and the software checks them before submission. The entire process of medical coding and billing is accelerated and the errors minimized. As a result, providers can plug losses in revenue and enjoy timely reimbursements. Larger the hospital, greater the need for such automated healthcare systems. They help reduce overhead in terms of staffing, allow clinicians to focus more resources on care, and also improve the overall patient experience. Whether it’s a large hospital in a metropolitan location, or a small clinic with one doctor, investing in a medical automation solution for coding and billing goes a long way in improving revenue cycles.
A promising domain within medical automation systems is the ability to gather medical data from patients outside clinical environments for processing. This data is harnessed from IoT-based devices like smartwatches and Fitbits, smart wearables, and remote patient monitoring devices. Medical information like blood pressure, heart rate, physical activity, and body temperature can be assessed using advanced health analytics to identify patients at higher risk of disease or impending medical emergency. This is especially useful for patients with chronic conditions and elders living in assisted living centers.
In case of medical emergencies lurking around the corner, analysis of long-term health data automatically warns doctors well before full-blown symptoms require hospitalization.
Healthcare automation has shown great promise in improving clinical operations and addressing challenges in the medical industry. It has been receiving increasing amounts of investment across the globe. We can look forward to a better healthcare industry that is more capable, efficient, and equitable.
