Automation Could Be a Lifeline for a Struggling Healthcare Industry

Paul Generale serves as executive vice president at Christus Health, a Catholic non-profit that provides health services internationally with more than 60 hospitals and 175 clinics. The global healthcare industry where Paul Generale works is changing, and some experts are calling for more automation.

Employee sickness within the healthcare industry, and therefore employee absenteeism, has increased dramatically since 2020, partly due to COVID-19 - the importance of quarantine when the disease spreads to healthcare workers makes absenteeism necessary no matter how inconvenient it is. Absenteeism among healthcare workers has dramatically increased, leading to a knock-on effect on patients waiting for treatment or to be discharged from hospitals.

For this reason, the industry is in a position to consider automation to reinforce its organizational efficiency. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can help create breathing room for healthcare staff by completing mundane and routine tasks in the background while professionals work on providing specialized care for patients. These tasks can include automated patient billing, patient communication via chatbots, data analysis, and even augmented reality that uses 3D imaging to aid diagnosis or surgery. Less labor required means that employee absenteeism doesn’t sting as much, and costs can be cut without the risk of quality of care decreasing.