Healthcare Business Today, US: Cognizant’s Global Healthcare and Life Sciences Consulting Leader Outlines How Automation is Driving Better Patient Care

“Automation is often thought of as cold, even inhuman, best suited for assembly lines and rote tasks,” writes Trish Birch. “In healthcare, however, automation applied appropriately can greatly improve member and patient experiences, enhance outcomes and reduce costs.” Excerpts:

“Here are areas in which it’s practical and rewarding for healthcare organizations to deploy automation, and the types of automation techniques and tools that complement those deployments.

• Administrative processes. Almost any rules-based and repeatable processes can be made more efficient with robotic process automation (RPA).
• Member and patient services. Chatbots deployed in call centers can help consumers get information more easily with a human-like touch.
• Patient engagement. Automation coupled with data analytics can help make patient follow up more effective by generating workflows and personalized health coaching tips for care managers.
• Care delivery. Automated workflows can help caregivers be more efficient by adhering to standardized protocols.

The automation possibilities are nearly endless, making it critically important for healthcare organizations to develop an overarching automation strategy. The strategy should help align automation projects with clear business objectives.

The human factor is also key. Studies have shown most corporate organizations implementing automation use it to enable their existing workforce to take on higher value, more complex work.

The bottom line: healthcare organizations can realize value from automation relatively quickly, then build a long-term competitive advantage with a well-prioritized and comprehensive automation strategy.”

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