Why issues like Covid-19 have pushed the healthcare industry into automation, and why it has been so beneficial.
Every industry in today’s society has brought in some form of automation. Advancements in technology, simply make everyday life and tasks more manageable. In the healthcare industry, intelligent automation has been found to close care gaps and give professionals a much wider range of data to utilize with their patients.
Bridging care gaps is one of the most significant problems that the healthcare industry faces. In order to give patients the most proper care, doctors must have access to resources that will inform them about industry trends and knowledge. While going to conferences and having communications with those in your network is a typical way to gain this information, utilizing automation makes this significantly faster and easier.
Covid-19 provided the healthcare industry with countless use cases that made automation a key player in their operations. For example, as explained by Healthcare IT Analytics, the North Kansas City Hospital set up COVID vaccination clinics when the vaccine was readily available. However, with no in-person appointments, they had a hard time determining a way to contact their patients and get them signed up for vaccine appointments. They decided to use the automatic system Notable to reach out to their clients and make booking these appointments easy. This hospital has continued to utilize this service, making the process of scheduling an appointment completely automated.
Patient engagement is another aspect of this industry that automation has improved. With a worker shortage, patients have been feeling left behind and ignored by their healthcare system. Todd Beardman, MD, chief medical information officer even stated “‘It’s very hard for us to have staff available to make these outreaches, to make phone calls, to send letters,” Beardman noted. “I know it was happening, but not at the level that we needed it to happen. So, I think that the biggest trend I’ve seen is that we’re actually getting that message out. We’re seeing people engage with us in that digital experience and book appointments, which is fantastic because these are people that, otherwise, they didn’t have the care gap closed.”
Intelligent automation is the way of the future. It has proven to increase the ability of those in the healthcare industry to close patient gaps more easily and find more effective ways for treating their patients. Leaders throughout this industry must accept these new techniques and practices in order to remain prosperous.
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