It can be challenging for healthcare providers to deliver high-quality care in today’s fast-paced healthcare environment, often leading to providers being stretched too thin (cue provider burnout). One of the most promising solutions to these challenges is the automation of clinical workflows.
Clinical workflow automation boosts productivity and saves time by reducing repetitive tasks, connecting different systems, and streamlining processes. This can also improve patient outcomes by allowing providers to focus more on care.
Let’s take a closer look at what clinical workflow automation is and how it can benefit healthcare providers.
What is Clinical Workflow Automation?
Clinical workflow automation refers to using technology and tools to streamline and manage the various processes involved in care delivery.
This involves automating routine tasks, reducing manual data entry, and ensuring that critical information is seamlessly shared across different systems.
Whether it’s scheduling, billing, documentation, or care coordination, automation plays a crucial role in making these processes more efficient and reducing the administrative burden on providers.
Automation tools assist healthcare professionals by streamlining repetitive tasks and enhancing operations (i.e., people, processes, and technology) into the day-to-day work of providers and care teams.
This shift in how these medical professionals conduct their daily work allows them to focus more on patient care and less on administrative tasks.
These automated processes reduce the risk of errors, save time, and ensure that care delivery is both consistent and high quality.
Benefits of Clinical Workflow Automation
The benefits of automating clinical workflows are abundant and span from providers to administrators to patients.
Inefficient processes are a major cause of productivity loss and general frustration among healthcare professionals, and automated systems can eliminate those challenges. Some of the benefits include:
1. Reduced Administrative Burden
Clinical workflow automation reduces the need for manual data entry and paperwork, freeing up healthcare staff to focus on patient care (+ reducing provider “pajama time.”
2. Lowered Risk of Errors
By automating repetitive tasks, the chances of human error are significantly reduced. This leads to more accurate documentation and better patient outcomes.
3. Improved Efficiency
Clinical workflow automation streamlines processes reduces bottlenecks, and ensures that tasks are completed faster, leading to shorter wait times and quicker turnaround for patient care.
4. Enhanced Communication
By connecting disparate systems and stakeholders, automation ensures that all relevant information is accessible to the right people at the right time, improving coordination between departments and care teams as well as externally, such as with payers.
5. Cost Savings
With improved efficiency and reduced errors, healthcare facilities can save on operational costs, which can be reinvested elsewhere.
To understand the impact of clinical workflow automation, consider a primary care doctor’s office where the day-to-day operations often involve a series of repetitive and time-consuming tasks.
One common example is the process of managing patient appointments and follow-ups. Traditionally, this would require staff to manually schedule appointments, call patients to confirm visits, and track follow-up care.
With automation, much of this can be streamlined. For instance, when a patient schedules an appointment online, the system automatically sends out a confirmation, logs the appointment in the doctor’s calendar, and sends a reminder to the patient via text or email before the visit.
After the appointment, the system can generate automated follow-up messages to remind patients of their care plans, schedule future visits, or even send prescriptions to the pharmacy.
Which Healthcare Workflows Should Be Automated
Not all workflows are suitable for automation. Here are some scenarios where automation is most effective:
- High-volume, repetitive tasks: Processes that are performed frequently, such as patient intake, billing, or scheduling, are ideal candidates for automation.
- Tasks prone to errors: If a particular workflow is associated with a high error rate, automating it can reduce mistakes and improve accuracy.
- Processes that involve multiple systems: Workflows that require information to be shared across different platforms, departments, or stakeholders, such as prior authorizations and referrals, benefit greatly from automation. Vim Connect simplifies these processes for providers by surfacing payer-preferred specialists and prior auth rulesets directly within the EHR.
- Resource-intensive tasks: Automation can free up valuable resources, both in terms of time and personnel, allowing them to be allocated to more critical areas of care.
Tips for Choosing the Right Clinical Workflow Automation Solution
Selecting the right automation solution is critical for success. Here are some tips to consider:
- Understand your needs: Before choosing a solution, conduct a thorough assessment of your current workflows to identify areas where automation can make the most impact.
- Integration capabilities: Ensure that the automation tool you choose can integrate with your existing systems, such as EHRs, billing software, and communication platforms.
- User-friendliness: The solution should be easy to use and require minimal training for your staff. A complicated system can lead to frustration and low adoption rates.
- Scalability: Choose a solution that can grow with your organization. As your needs evolve, the tool should be able to adapt and support new workflows.
- Vendor support: Opt for a vendor that offers strong support and regular updates to ensure that the system remains effective and up-to-date.
Final Thoughts
Clinical workflow automation is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity in the modern healthcare environment, and can make your life easier! By strategically implementing automation, healthcare providers can reduce administrative burdens, minimize errors, and ensure that patient care remains the top priority.
As technology continues to evolve, the potential for automation to transform healthcare workflows will only grow, making it an essential tool for any forward-thinking healthcare organization.
