There are many benefits of healthcare workflow automation. Labor-intensive processes can be streamlined, paperwork can be reduced, and the amount of time clinicians spend on administrative tasks can be significantly reduced, which means physicians and nurses get more face-to-face time with patients. Automation reduces the potential for medical errors and improves patient safety. The efficiencies that are introduced through automation mean clinicians can treat more patients in less time, and staff burnout can be reduced, which is all too common in the healthcare industry.
Inefficient processes are a major cause of frustration for healthcare professionals. Physicians and nurses often end up wasting a great deal of time because of inefficient processes and poor communication systems. Using technology, processes can be streamlined, and communication and collaboration greatly improved, which has a positive effect on staff morale. Patient flow can be improved through automation and wait times reduced, which improves patient satisfaction. There are usually many disparate systems in hospitals. The technology used to automate workflows can be used to improve interoperability and get these systems to talk to each other. Data can be pulled out of one system and inputted into another, with minimal manual processes.
Healthcare providers that have automated their workflows have seen enormous benefits such as increased patient throughput, reductions in hospital stays and readmission, faster admissions, discharges, and patient transfer times, and better patient outcomes. Automation has also allowed hospitals to treat more patients in less time and greatly improve ROI, deliver a better standard of care to patients, and drive down the cost of healthcare provision.