Opportunities for RPA in Healthcare

• January 24, 2022
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RPA (robotic process automation) bots mimic rule-based tasks similar to humans. This eliminates the need to conduct repetitive tasks manually which in turn saves time and money. In the world of healthcare, RPA bots use structured data to locate patient information, including demographics, addresses and financial info. These pre-programmed software agents prevalent in the healthcare industry free healthcare workers’ time to conduct meaningful tasks such as diagnostic work and patient interaction by executing tedious tasks automatically. 

From simple tasks such as auto-generating email replies to more complex ones like supporting single-click installations of software systems, there is a vast range of RPA opportunities in healthcare. Below are a few examples of the most cogent use of RPA in the healthcare industry. 

Claims Processing 

Like most painstaking jobs, processing health insurance claims is prone to errors. Have you ever wondered why US patients and healthcare providers pay $496 billion in billing and insurance-related costs annually? Checking the status of a single claim takes a healthcare worker 85 seconds. Multiplying that by the myriad number of claims in the queue will help you understand why. 

Patient Screening 

Hospitals can use RPA to improve medical outcomes by streamlining patient screening and diagnostics. This can help mitigate risk and improve accuracy, efficiency, and productivity. RPA bots can provide valuable insights by analyzing the vast amount of patient data collected which allows doctors to spend more time with patients discussing treatment plans. RPA can be used in a more complex way as well, including predicting patient outcomes and making preliminary assessments. 

Scheduling Appointment 

Almost 88% of appointments were booked manually prior to the pandemic. US healthcare providers were annually charged $150 billion due to missed appointments.  Hospitals can implement RPA to schedule appointments for patients based on diagnosis, medical history, and doctor’s availability, thus reducing manual data entry and improving their no-show rates, ranging from 5% to 39% depending on the specialty. 

Improved HIPAA and data compliance 

Since violating HIPAA in the healthcare industry has severe consequences, healthcare providers find it difficult to store and secure data, especially with increased reliance on multiple applications. Managing data and complying with HIPAA standards is possible through RPA in form of role-based access control which allows private information to be accessed only by authentic persons. Healthcare providers can also control data access using RPA, which is especially valuable to doctors, IT staff or claims departments requiring different levels of access. 

How Can We Help? 

AQL Technologies specializes in using RPA tools such as Blue Prism, UI Path, and Power Automate to aid businesses in maximizing their efficiency through automated solutions which standardize repetitive tasks to reduce costs and errors.  

A national leading healthcare service, operating over 10 hospitals, faced the issue of an overload of invoices which were too time-consuming and costly to be processed manually. Successfully implementing RPA, AQL Technologies helped this company automate 80% of their invoices, improve data accuracy and control, thus freeing healthcare workers’ time from tedious tasks. 

In a nutshell, RPA is a valuable asset in the healthcare industry. It allows more efficient claims processing as well as improving patient screening and appointment scheduling. RPA also allows improved data compliance in the hospital, benefiting all staff members and healthcare providers. Aside from offering free consulting to help you implement RPA, AQL provides you with the right services to succeed that include RPA consulting, development, design, and support. 

Click here to learn more about AQL’s RPA services.

Contact us to find out how to use RPA to optimize your business.