From this article, you are going to find out about digital process automation in general and particularly in healthcare. Here you can find answers to such questions as what digital process automation is, how it can help any business, including healthcare organizations, what digital process automation tools are available today, and how Empeek company can help you to implement it.
Definition: What is Digital Process Automation?
Digital Process Automation (or DPA) is a modern version of Business Process Management (BPM). The term is used when talking about applying digital technology for processes automation which eventually results in streamlined workflows. The transition of BPM to digital process automation means that automation is applied to facilitate actions and objectives requiring human engagement and expanding the benefits of BPM outside a particular organization, i.e., to clients, vendors, partners, and so on.
Worth noting, DPA implementation does not mean a complete replacement of human interaction. As BPM, the main goal of Digital Process Automation is to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of business processes through the digitalization of business, but to a larger extent than BPM. It ensures an improved user experience by maximally reducing any delays, errors, and other issues.
You may wonder what does DPA stand for in healthcare. The medical field is probably one of the industries in dire need of automation since healthcare organizations are overburdened with obsolete sophisticated processes and customized systems requiring manual management. Administrative tasks are stealing time that should have been spent on providing the best patient care. It had become especially evident in the time of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The lack of proper digital automation results in poor patient care, exhausted staff, and financial losses. Many processes can be facilitated by digital process automation in healthcare starting from patient admissions to billing insurance companies. You can find detailed digital process automation examples further in the article.
Main Benefits of Digital Process Automation
We have already mentioned the main benefits of digital process automation, now low let’s look at them in detail:
Time Savings
Time waste is a crucial problem for all organizations, especially healthcare organizations. According to one study, on average, office workers spend around 70 days a year doing only administrative tasks resulting in $5 trillion losses a year. In healthcare, it also means a large portion of patients is not given adequate care. In this day and age, the only viable solution to this problem is Digital Process Automation.
Costs Reduction
Routine processes automation enables employees to focus on their main task and not on administrative side work resulting in bridging more value to the organization. In healthcare, this also means cutting the cost of admission per patient, fewer expenses on overtime, and hiring new personnel just for administrative tasks.
Errors Reduction
It won’t come as a surprise that all industries combined suffer from enormous losses due to errors in procurement, deadlines, delivery, and other aspects. In healthcare, the cost of yearly errors on drug prescriptions alone results in $20 billion losses, not to mention insurance billing errors affecting healthcare providers and patients. Digital process automation (DPA) can reduce the number of errors to zero if implemented properly with a help of expert IT specialists.
Improved Adaptability and Flexibility
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the major problem of adaptability not only for healthcare but for all industries. Organizations must be able to shift goals quickly. It includes easier transitions for employees to work from home, or be able to admit and provide with proper care a larger number of patients than usual.
Increased Compliance and Security
Paper-based processes impose a security threat and interfere with effective workflow, especially now, when many employees are working from home. DPA transforms paper documents into digital ones making breach control and accessibility much easier and more effective.
Improved Employee Satisfaction
Not only employees can be spared from numerous administrative tasks and enjoy better accessibility of digital documents, but they can also benefit from clarified roles and responsibilities and adequate updates on any workflow changes.
Improved Customer Satisfaction
Easily filled-in digital forms instead of spending hours in the emergency care department line or at a bank clearly improve customer satisfaction. And being spared of administrative tasks, employees or healthcare providers can focus on providing the best service.
Whatever your primary goal and idea for DPA are, Empeek company being an expert in digitizing business is happy to work on your digital process automation solutions and implement them at the highest level.
4 Digital Process Automation Examples
All industries in which human interaction with clients is present will surely benefit from digital process automation technology integration. Let’s look of digital process automation examples in organizations:
User Onboarding/Patient Admission
Manual onboarding of new clients or patients requires a lot of time and human resources. DPA can easily solve this problem, remove the logjams in the process, and guarantee that information is always accurate and timely updated.
Loan or Credit Approval/Health insurance approval
The use of the standardized digital system can greatly reduce wait times, required resources and ensure more clients or patients receive better service. Besides, an easy application process is a sure way to get clients or patients to return to your organization to receive more service.
Purchase Orders
It is a routine task done in all organizations. It is commonly slow and ineffective due to the requirement of several approvals. DPA can help facilitate this process: once the order is submitted, DPA automatically transfers it to the person/team whose approval is required. It will also automatically send notifications to the person who submitted the request that it is approved and processed.
Transportation and Logistics
The logistics industry involves the processing of multiple information, such as invoices, scheduling, tracking, proof of delivery, returns, refunds, and so on. It is quite a labor-intensive industry that also suffers from regularly occurring errors resulting in downtime and losses. Fortunately, a lot of these processes can be automated resulting in lowered costs, downtimes, and errors. On top of that, the more streamlined process ensures higher customer satisfaction and creates a favorable ground for business expansion.
You can find examples of the implemented solutions, including case studies of digitization of healthcare, in our portfolio. We have already helped many organizations implement DPA and improve their business processes as well as relations with their existing and potential customers.
What Features in Digital Process Automation Software are Сrucial?
Digital process automation practices implemented by IT teams can help companies to automate the most time-consuming and cost-ineffective processes. Based on our experience, we outlined the following features and key principles crucial for DPA (digital process automation):
- Robotic automation solutions implementation
- Integration of intelligent automation where applicable
- Low code workflow and app development features providing
- Creation of user-friendly mobile interfaces
- Ensuring that the process is transparent for users
- Implementation of customer tasks automation
- Creation of notification/reminder system
- Ensuring rapid user response and adaptability
These features and principles are dictated by today’s digital process automation trends. We are certain that in the future the list will be expanded and we will be ready to onboard them and implement in them our projects.
Сonsider Empeek’s Services in the Field of Digital Process Automation for Your Company
Empeek Company is proud of its team of IT experts in process digitization services comprising over 100 specialists who have been working together on multiple successful digitizing business projects including the healthcare IoT app development for healthcare organizations, implementing digital process automation for small business, and nationwide operating companies.
We have already helped several health organizations to reach and monitor their patients remotely with the use of vital signs-checking devices, the information from which is sent directly to their healthcare provider’s screen at their office.
Our other project for a drug-testing company facilitated the obsolete Windows-based workflow resulting in losses, customer dissatisfaction, delays, and the inability of employees to work from home. We tailored and integrated web applications accessible and manageable from any device based on microservices. It helped the company dramatically reduce the time of client onboarding, requests processing and enabled it to compete with larger companies offering the same or similar services.
You can find more projects on our portfolio page. If you want to improve your business efficiency and profitability and understand that process digitization services are the best way – we are glad to help you! If you run a digital business process automation startup, get in touch with us to implement new ideas.