From telecom to transport and IT to insurance, automation is revolutionizing industry after industry, with no sign of slowing down. The automation market is rapidly expanding, projected to double in size, reaching nearly $400 billion by 2029. But what does this growth mean for healthcare services?

While healthcare’s human-focused nature may not immediately suggest it as a prime candidate for automation, numerous administrative tasks behind medical procedures and patient interactions are ripe for automation. Processes such as insurance billing, coding, pre-authorization, and claims processing are all perfect candidates for automation. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is an excellent starting point, allowing healthcare providers to scale automation efforts gradually.

Curious about how automation can benefit medical providers? Keep reading to explore the key challenges in healthcare workflow automation and discover how RPA can help your office or practice overcome them.

Want to see how Robotic Process Automation is transforming other sectors? Learn about RPA in industries like insurance, retail, manufacturing, e-commerce, sales, logistics, real estate, and consultancy.

Key challenges facing the healthcare industry today

Like other industries, healthcare is affected by global issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic and rising fuel costs. However, it also faces unique challenges that are crucial to address in order to improve overall healthcare efficiency.

Legal Compliance Requirements in the US

As healthcare and technology have advanced, numerous policies have been enacted to ensure the effectiveness of healthcare services and to safeguard sensitive data. Today, several key laws regulate the sharing and protection of healthcare information in the United States. Below are some of the most crucial ones.

Five Surprising Candidates for Healthcare Workflow Automation

Fortunately, RPA solutions like medical coding automation tools are making it easier for healthcare providers to overcome challenges in workflow automation. There are virtually no limits to the processes that robotic-enhanced automation can support. However, as we'll explore, some tasks are more likely to benefit from automation than others.

1. Onboarding, Scheduling, and Profile Creation

The administrative work kicks off as soon as a new patient arrives at your practice. Tasks like account setup, history verification, and submitting patient data can be time-consuming and repetitive, but this is where RPA and automation shine. By pre-programming scripts, these tasks can be executed with precision, regardless of volume, preventing potential mistakes that might go unnoticed until later stages.

After a patient’s information is entered, automation can streamline appointment scheduling by pulling data from different systems, identifying available times, and confirming appointments with the patient—all with minimal manual intervention.

2. Compliance Monitoring

Managing vast amounts of health records while maintaining compliance with HIPAA and other data regulations is a significant challenge. Verifying every file transfer requires reliable tools to ensure accuracy.

Automated algorithms follow the compliance policies set by your administrators. Based on specific roles and authorization rules, RPA bots transfer and process data only after verification, ensuring it is error-free. Script-driven workflows minimize human involvement, lowering the risk of breaches.

3. Dynamic Provisioning

With rising costs of resources, especially in virtual and cloud-based systems, healthcare organizations face increasing financial strain. Dynamic provisioning offers a solution to this challenge.

Automated provisioning bots track system load and adjust performance to meet current demands. By powering down idle machines, dynamic provisioning helps save both resources and money, while scaling up computing power when necessary to maintain optimal performance.

The Benefits of Healthcare Workflow Automation

Automating the processes discussed above is designed to address the key challenges in healthcare workflow automation, enabling your practice to provide enhanced services. Here's how it benefits all stakeholders, including medical and management professionals:

Conclusion – What's Next?

There are no tasks or workflows in healthcare that can't be automated—whether it's clinical trials, medical billing, or coding. The key to success lies in choosing the right strategy and partnering with an experienced implementation team.

As a UiPath-certified company with deep expertise in medical coding, Destan has all the tools necessary to launch your practice’s RPA-driven workflows while ensuring HIPAA compliance. Our skilled consultants are eager to learn about your goals and help you take the first step toward effective healthcare workflow automation. Contact us to start the conversation!