The health care providers are looking for ways to enhance business, improve efficiency, and increase
the quality of care provided to patients. Technologies such as Robotic process automation (RPA),
Artificial Intelligence (AI),
Machine Learning (ML) and other phenomenal technologies are creating a huge impact on the medical
sector. As the demands of the patients keeps increasing, new technologies keeps growing.
The very reason for any new technology is to simplify the existing things, reduce time and money. If
you take Revenue Cycle Management in health care industry, some of the authoritative duties of the
industry may be overwhelming and time consuming for the employees, leading to poor quality service
of patient care.
RPA and AI provide sensational support in carrying out the primitive operations. Thus it improves
administrative services and reduces time which results in more focus on providing high quality
patient experience.
Let’s take a look at few utilizations of AI and RPA in the health-care industry:
First of all, what is artificial intelligence and robotic process automation?
“Computer science defines AI research as: a system’s ability to correctly interpret external data,
to learn from such data, and to use those learnings to achieve specific goals and tasks through
flexible adaptation.”
“Robotic process automation (RPA) is the use of software with artificial intelligence (AI) and
machine learning capabilities to handle high-volume, repeatable tasks that previously required
humans to perform. These tasks can include queries, calculations and maintenance of records and
transactions.”
The combined efforts of these two technologies gives us a sophisticated yet efficient way of
managing various tasks at a faster pace and lower rate.
The various areas where AI and RPA have created a huge impact are given below:
PREVENTIVE MEASURES:
Artificial intelligence has helped in the invention of new technology and mobile apps that promote
healthier practice in day to day life of individuals and guide them to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
It helps people to take charge of their well-being in an efficient manner.
Further more, it also adds up as a support for the health-care professionals for better
understanding of the needs in improving the health of the public. This enables them to provide
better feedback, support and guidance not only for their patients but for all the people around the
world. As a result, we can witness the creation of a healthy new generation.
AI is also being used in detecting major diseases such as stroke, heart diseases and cancer in early
stages, permitting the doctors and specialists to observe and treat them with the most suitable
medication.
DATA ANALYSIS AND SUPPORT:
AI is making its way through the health industry by providing outstanding services from watches that
can measure heart beat and number of calories burnt, to mobile applications that helps with anxiety,
stress and depression.
Some good examples of the AI health-care service providers are given below:
Google deepmind health is
working alongside hospital sectors and helping in evaluation of patient data and diagnosis
procedures.
Bio beats uses AI algorithm for better understanding of measures to minimize stress and anxiety.
DreaMed is using AI to find ways to improve diabetes management by tracking bio metrics data to help
develop a custom treatment plan for each patient.
Health fifelity helps in faster payments with a low level of risk by using AI to help alleviate the
risks of taking these types of payments.
REVENUE CYCLE MANAGEMENT:
With the upgrades of AI, the processes in revenue cycle management can be developed to a great
extent. Through the use of RPA, smart billing i.e. a consolidated bill can be generated reducing the
billing time and improving productivity. This leads to instant claim approvals. Insurance coverage
and conditions can be processed using AI algorithm and an internet BOT can run the automated task of
submitting bills with necessary documents.
Automating several process such as billing, charge entry, claim submissions, etc. helps in reducing
manual work, collecting more data within minimum time period and increased productivity. This aids
in providing the patient with exclusive treatments in a holistic manner, thus the quality of
patient-centered care is improved.
RESEARCH:
AI research is an interesting phenomenon that has drawn attention to the public as well as the
medical industry. The current researches in which AI has played major role are:
Radiology:
According to a study, AI is said to excel at recognizing medical images and complex patterns to
detect, characterize and monitor diseases. More accurate reports can be made when AI is integrated
into the work-flow as a tool to assist the specialists. AI is involved in radiology researches such
as Thoracic imaging, Abdominal and pelvic imaging, Colonoscopy, Mammography, Brain imaging and
Radiation oncology.
Other than radiology it also aids in researches such as Pathology, Dermatology, DNA and RNA
sequencing.
Telehealth:
Telehealth allows to monitor patients using AI, providing a connection between professionals and
patients to ensure superior patient care. A wearable device may allow persistent observation of a
patient’s pulse rate, blood pressure and also notices any changes that may cause any issue.
Video consultations between patients and doctors, diagnostic support from chatbots to recommend a
precaution based on the patient’s diagnosis are some examples of telecommunication.
EHR:
Machine learning algorithms can save a considerate amount of time via voice recognition systems to
interpret audio into text, significantly saving the time taken by clinicians to fill out EHR.
RPA tools help health-care companies recover lost data from both digital and physical documents.
They can automate search through a database for a specific document. This type of automation needs a
human employee to supply it with login authorization details so that it can access the EMR system.
Then, the software could extract the documents of the particular patient and send to the intended
users.
Imaging:
AI research method in imaging is based on predefined engineered features by machine learning
algorithms. Specific radio graphic characteristics, such as the shape of a tumor in 3D are
quantified and only the most relevant features are used. Statistical machine learning algorithms are
allowed to analyze these data to identify potential bio-markers.
The methods of RPA can be trusted to provide accurate results. AI and RPA can be implemented in the
medical industry to compensate to the staff shortage, which also means reduced training costs of
staffs, adding as a benefit to the industry. Further more BOTS can be trained to handle the front
and back end processes such as scheduling appointments, documentation processes, maintaining records
and more.
This new technology of RPA and AI can turn out to be huge advancement to the health-care companies.
It would be a wise decision for the medical industry to start investing in these applications that
can deliver the best possible result for their patients.
Can AI and RPA replace human intervention?
Most healthcare sector companies do not want to move forward with AI and RPA implementation because
they fear that these technologies could completely replace the human work involved.
However, this notion is far from true! Human intervention in the healthcare industry cannot be
completely overthrown with the technologies that are available in the current times.
Artificial intelligence tools have surely grown and improved their sensitivity over time but they
are not yet in a position where they can do away with any sort of human intervention.
The primary reason to implement AI and RPA in the healthcare industry and primarily in the medical
billing industry is that they can easily simplify the clerical and manual work related to regular
claim processing.
While the AI tools handle the regular repetitive work in the health system, your RCM team can take
on greater responsibilities which require taking complex decisions.
AI and RPA will do your regular clerical jobs and also make sure that minimum errors take place.
They can also scan through a significant amount of data at the same time and identify the issues for
you. This helps in boosting efficiency in the organization.
More and more investment should be made by health-care providers on research to explore the various
possibilities of bringing technologies and humans to collaborate together and produce greater
outcomes.