How to Intelligently Invest in Automation for Revenue Cycle Management: 5 Strategies

Revenue cycle management optimization companies have been talking about automation for years.  

Automation is not a secret, yet many organizations are not investing in automation in the right way.  

A strategic approach to investing can work wonders for your organization. Instead of shoehorning robotic process automation (RPA) into fields where it doesn’t fit, you can target the best opportunities for automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and RPA. 

How should your organization intelligently invest in automation for revenue cycle management? Here are some of the strategies organizations are using to maximize their success. 

Identify High-Value Opportunities 

It’s a basic rule of business to identify the highest-value opportunities, then exploit those opportunities. Automation can benefit from a similar approach. 

Identify the areas of your business with the biggest opportunities for automation. To find those areas, ask yourself the following questions: 

• What are the real problems your business is facing? 
• Where is your business facing inefficiencies, needs, and gaps? 

• Where do staff need the most assistance?  
• Which processes are rules-based, manual, and repetitive? 

If you understand your healthcare organization, then you should be able to quickly identify the best areas for automation.  

The next step is to identify specific processes within these opportunities that can be automated. 

Spot High-Volume, Repetitive, Rule-Based Tasks that Are Ideal for Automation 

Automation can’t solve every problem. Robots can’t fully replace human-style problem-solving (at least not yet).  

However, automation is ideal for repetitive, rules-based tasks – especially tasks that your organization is performing manually.  

If you can consistently identify tasks that can be done by a robot or program, then you can optimize your healthcare organization at many levels. 

Look for tasks that are: 

High-Volume: The best tasks to automate are tasks that are performed multiple times per day. These are the highest-value tasks to automate, as they decrease your organization’s efficiency every day. 

Rule-Based: The best tasks to automate are also rule-based. Robots can easily understand a task when it’s associated with rules. If there are no rules, or if the task requires human-style thinking, then a robot may struggle to automate this task. Look for tasks with clearly defined rules, like where “If X occurs, then execute Y.” If you can repeatedly find rule-based tasks like that, you can find the best opportunities for automation. 

Repetitive: To get the most value from your automation processes, you need to find tasks that are repetitive. You don’t want to invest in an automation system only to use it once or twice. You need to use it regularly to extract maximum value. 

Performed Manually or Slowly: Identify tasks in your organization that are performed manually or slowly. Humans may be doing a task that could be done by robots. These tasks are ripe for disruption, and they free up time for human employees in other areas of the organization.  

If you can find tasks in your organization that meet the above requirements, then you can find the highest-value opportunities for automation. 

Create Opportunities to ‘Reskill’ Employees 

As Ontario Systems explains, automation shouldn’t be seen as a way to eliminate employees; instead, you should find ways to reskill employees. 

Your employees are your most important assets. Automation technology frees employees from routine tasks, but it shouldn’t always reduce your headcount. Instead, direct employees to other high-yield, productive work.  

You’ve already invested in training and onboarding an employee. Analyze the employee’s skills and apply those skills to a similar area. Automation can’t solve everything, and good employees can continue to deliver enormous value to an organization.  

Spend Time Researching the Right Automation Technology to Implement 

There’s plenty of competition in the automation software space. Healthcare organizations can choose from a range of providers.  

All healthcare automation companies claim to offer similar benefits. They all claim to speed up revenue cycle management, optimize manual processes, and provide other crucial benefits. 

However, not all healthcare optimization service providers are equally as effective. Some are implementing the latest neural network, machine learning, and data analytics technologies. Others are using decades-old platforms.  

Spend time researching the right automation service to implement in your organization. Don’t be dazzled by the first healthcare automation service that comes across your desk. There are good and bad options in the automation space, and choosing the right option is crucial for maximizing the value of automation. 

Leverage your Data 

Data is a valuable asset, yet many organizations don’t use their data. You have data about patients’ behaviors, including the methods patients use to contact you. You have data about how patients access your services, how insurers interact with your organization, and more.  

Even if you’re not using patient health data, you have plenty of data to use when automating your organization. By applying automation processes, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to this data, you can get surprising insights into how your organization can improve. 

Leverage big data to optimize your organization, improve patient care, and maximize efficiency at every level of your organization. You already have this data. Use AI and automation to maximize the value of this data.  

Request a Consultation with HMI, LLC Today 

Automation is complicated. We understand. With so many technologies available in the automation space, it can be difficult to know the best option for your organization. 

HMI, LLC can help. Request a consultation today. Let us identify the highest-value opportunities for automation in your organization.