“To save and improve lives, technology has huge potential so long as it is properly harnessed by our health and care system.” (Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care)
Automation represents a pivotal advancement in technology that can significantly improve the delivery of healthcare services. With the constant strain on budgets and resources, the integration of automation can empower healthcare providers to optimize their services by minimizing costs, alleviating administrative workloads, and ultimately contributing to better patient care.
No matter the scale of your healthcare organization, automation can enhance service delivery. The most notable improvements are often seen in administrative functions and the gathering and interpretation of data. This does not intend to replace healthcare roles but rather to allow professionals to focus on more critical tasks. Let’s examine how automation can positively impact both your operational processes and the experience of your patients.
The benefits of automation for the delivery of healthcare services
Cutting costs and increasing profitability for healthcare providers
While introducing automation technologies are costly to implement, research shows how quickly this investment is recuperated. A study by the TaxPayers Alliance estimates that the NHS could save £12.5 billion a year in staff costs through automation and the social care industry could make a £5.9 billion saving. The study also states that automation could similarly save taxpayers themselves approximately £17 billion a year.
In some cases, automation might simply mean moving from paper to digital records. For more sophisticated users, automation could be fed into the revenue cycle management systems to increase clinic profitability. For private healthcare providers, reducing costs and improving efficiency would directly increase profits.
Automated appointment scheduling reducing administrative tasks
Automated appointment scheduling software stands out as a leading example of automation within the healthcare industry. This technology not only enhances the patient experience but also offers substantial advantages to healthcare providers. By streamlining administrative tasks, it allows staff to allocate their time more effectively towards patient care, thereby increasing overall service quality. Furthermore, the implementation of automated reminders via email and text significantly reduces the incidence of missed appointments. When patients have the autonomy to manage their own bookings, the likelihood of no-shows decreases, resulting in considerable savings in both time and operational costs for the practice.
Over time, the integration of automation can empower clinics to optimize their scheduling processes. By facilitating more accurate analysis and reporting of patient data, healthcare providers can utilize these insights to refine and enhance their operational workflows.
Streamlining clinical processes
In the same way, the vast amount of administrative responsibilities that healthcare professionals face in different domains can be significantly alleviated through automation.
When clinicians are no longer burdened with the tasks of entering and analyzing patient data, managing shifts, ensuring compliance, and conducting inventory checks, they can utilize that time for more specialized tasks and patient care. This reduction in monotonous work could also lead to increased job satisfaction and a decrease in stress and burnout.
Therefore, rather than threatening jobs in healthcare, automation could actually help to resolve staff shortages, enabling clinicians to attend to more patients both in-person and remotely.
Increased security and reduced error
In the healthcare sector, inaccuracies in medical procedures are often ascribed to clerical oversights resulting from fatigue or lapses in concentration. The adoption of automated digital processes has demonstrated a marked reduction in such errors. Additionally, automation enhances the accessibility of vital data for healthcare professionals, thereby fostering improved patient care.
As data protection regulations like GDPR and HIPAA continue to advance, the imperative of robust cybersecurity measures to protect patient information becomes increasingly critical. The utilization of artificial intelligence and automation is instrumental in identifying irregular behaviours and uncovering security vulnerabilities, ensuring that sensitive data remains securely in the hands of authorized users.
Better patient experience
Arguably the most important outcome of the delivery of healthcare services is the patient experience.
Automation has the potential to touch so many moments in a patients’ healthcare experience. From scheduling an online appointment and receiving an automated reminder with useful information before their appointment to online follow-up care, the whole treatment process can be made far smoother for patients.
The bottom line is that automation means that patients receive higher levels of tailored, personalised care, and it improves the lives of healthcare workers. Automation will never replace the importance of skilled, human care from health professionals; it is, however, a fantastic tool that can be used to complement it.
Want to find out how you can automate your appointment processes in your clinic or practice? Get in touch with one of the OX.DH team to discuss how you can implement the OX Product Suite into your processes.