Intelligent automation and RPA are transforming healthcare facilities to deliver personalized patient care, support compliance, and interoperability. Automation improves patients’ access to healthcare facilities, workflow efficiency, data accuracy, consistency, and adherence to industry standards by leveraging visibility in processes.
Many small-scale healthcare facilities incorporating community hospitals, physician practices, and medical groups in the US catering to diverse healthcare needs depend upon different software to optimize their operations and services.
The most commonly used software in healthcare facilities are:
- Electronic Health Record software
- Telehealth software
- Patient Engagement Software
- Practice Management software
Because of the dynamic user interface and capabilities, smaller healthcare facilities utilize various software.
Their main issue, however, is the need for smooth data integration from disparate sources. Larger healthcare organizations can handle the challenges of data silos and integration concerns independently with their robust IT infrastructure. RPA Solutions and Intelligent Automation can greatly assist smaller healthcare facilities in countering these constraints.
The Precedence Research report states that the market size of RPA in the healthcare industry is expected to grow to USD 6.9 Billion in 2030 with a CAGR of 26.01%. This data signifies the enhanced adoption of RPA in healthcare.
Small Healthcare Facilities with Diverse Software Encounter Difficulties
Let’s have a look at these constraints below:
- Cost: Smaller healthcare facilities have limited resources, and opting for EHR & other software can prove costly for these entities.
- Training: Usually, when a small-scale healthcare facility introduces new software to improve efficiency and productivity, there is a need to conduct training sessions for the staff to stay relevant. But due to financial constraints, these facilities can’t arrange training sessions, resulting in the flawed usage of expensive software with many errors and discrepancies.
- No Technical Infrastructure: An enterprise planning to utilize EHR & other software to streamline its processes without any technical infrastructure can have many limitations. If any technical issue arises, the small healthcare facility won’t be able to cater to it, resulting in loss of data and hampered operations.
- Interoperability Challenges: If the healthcare facility plans to migrate data or share data from one application to another, there would be minimal chances of developing and implementing custom interfaces, resulting in interoperability constraints.
- Data Security & Compliance Issues: Maintaining patient data is crucial to avoid data breaches and penalties. Having the EHR software in place doesn’t allow small healthcare facilities to build stringent security measures that can help data security.
Moreover, ensuring regulatory compliance is a challenge as pricing models and features of different EHR software vendors vary, which can have financial implications on small-scale healthcare facilities.
How Intelligent Automation & RPA Support Compliance Regulations
Data silos and legacy systems are a significant challenge for smaller healthcare facilities that lack an adequate IT infrastructure. With RPA, operations can be optimized through workflow automation based on a rule engine. It provides real-time data insights on a centralized system while keeping all stakeholders informed and engaged. Intelligent automation supports data interoperability, better healthcare analytics, & improved compliance.
Without API integration, Intelligent automation and RPA in healthcare can do the heavy lifting for small-scale healthcare entities.
So, let’s understand how IA and RPA revolutionize small healthcare facilities without building and deploying API and other cost barriers.
- Streamlined Documentation Process: IA and RPA extract patient data from various sources and store and process the data for optimal usage in reports. RPA tools can extract data from both digital and physical documents and route the data to the required personnel in a healthcare facility to expedite the entire process. Better efficiency and communication can be achieved to ensure compliance with regulatory standards when the data is centralized and made available to all involved parties through correct documentation.
- Data Monitoring: RPA ensures the accuracy of compliance data collected from different systems and entered into an existing database to maintain data quality. By monitoring compliance data, AI helps small healthcare facilities comply with HIPPA, PSQIA, HRRP, HCQIA, CHIP, & other regulatory requirements.
- Timely Reporting: Healthcare facilities can make a real-time analysis of compliance data to raise red flags if any compliance issue is reported. The alerts delivered to authorized personnel can help resolve the problems and help healthcare facilities avoid missing deadlines and hefty penalties. Non-compliance with HIPAA regulations can result in hefty penalties ranging from $100 per violation to $50000 per violation. Therefore, small-scale healthcare facilities can avoid these hefty fines via Intelligent process automation.
- Decision-making: Healthcare facilities can leverage AI-based insights on various regulatory compliances and stay updated on modifications in compliance. Moreover, if there are any changes in compliance standards, they can be taken up with precision and resolved immediately.
Trigent supported a consultancy group in helping its client- a dermatology healthcare provider with a network of 100 clinics with automation using RPA & Power BI. It captured data loops, extracted data, and created dashboards and reports for data visualization for in-depth analysis.
Intelligent Automation & AI Supporting Interoperability
Another critical challenge small-scale healthcare facilities face is the interoperability between different systems and applications. Without a robust IT infrastructure, these constraints become more intensive for smaller healthcare organizations. In such a scenario, RPA and AI can help without developing APIs.
Challenges Faced by Small Healthcare Facilities regarding Interoperability
Following are some of the interoperability challenges faced by small-scale healthcare facilities:
- Managing Data from Different Sources: One of the critical challenges of small-scale facilities is managing data from different sources. The inconsistent data stored in disparate systems poses a considerable challenge for administrative staff to collate data and establish a uniform database.
- Limited Financial Resources: Many small healthcare facilities need more budget to build & maintain interoperable systems. It requires an initial investment in updating Document Management System and training support for the staff. Without investment & training, the staff won’t be able to leverage interoperable systems to optimize workflows with accuracy, speed, and efficiency.
- Legacy Systems: Healthcare facilities relying on outdated legacy systems face the constraints of modernizing their systems and ensuring interoperability to stay compliant. But, due to data siloes, interoperability becomes an explicit constraint as connecting legacy systems with interoperable systems needs structural changes to the existing data. It further aggravates complications in data sharing and exchange. RPA and AI can help small-scale healthcare facilities counter these challenges effectively.
Let’s see how RPA and AI can support interoperability:
- Accurate Data Exchange: Without API integration, RPA enables healthcare organizations to exchange data between different systems, formats, and sources. Administrative staff can access and share patient data across systems and applications. It ensures the authorized person has access to accurate patient data on time to avoid errors and discrepancies in treatment. Furthermore, AI can help in detecting inconsistencies in data and resolve discrepancies.
- Smooth Workflow & Communication: Robotic process automation (RPA) enables smooth workflow within electronic health records (EHR) by automating data entry and other rule-based tasks. Additionally, patients can interact with EHR smoothly using AI-powered chatbots and voice bots, ensuring an accurate and uninterrupted flow of information.
Read more about how Trigent enabled a business organization to optimize visibility, process & cost-efficiency with RPA & Intelligent Automation. It accelerated operational excellence into its core business, resulting in a 40% increase in revenue.
- Patient Monitoring: RPA and AI can further help in monitoring & real-time data exchange between systems regarding patients’ vitals. It enables healthcare providers to detect issues before any severe concerns, resulting in better patient care and less need for hospitalization.
- Analytics: Interoperability between systems and applications can allow healthcare providers to have analytics on patient data incorporating the current diagnosis, treatment, medication, and history to identify patterns in the data and take immediate steps if any inconsistency is detected. It enables them to create better treatment plans to ensure patients’ health.
Conclusion
To sum up, the acceleration of digital transformation in healthcare proves to be a great benefactor to small healthcare facilities to provide better healthcare and focus on improving their services. Intelligent Automation and RPA can help small healthcare facilities remove the barriers of interoperability and regulatory compliance and improve their overall operations. Trigent supports RPA solutions across industries, enabling businesses to attain cost & operational excellence.
Optimize Regulatory Compliance & Interoperability with Trigent
We enable businesses across industries to optimize regulatory compliance, interoperability & other business functions with our RPA solutions. With end-to-end workflow automation, & enhanced visibility, businesses derive operational efficiencies in each process.
Leverage RPA and Intelligent Automation to boost regulatory compliance & interoperability.
Author
