The Growth of Workflow Automation for Telehealth Support

Technology continues transforming how many industries deliver their services, and healthcare is no exception. Telehealth, the process of connecting to care providers online via chat or video call, has exploded in popularity since the beginning of the 2020s. In one survey, pollsters revealed that 54% of Americans have used a telehealth service. Worldwide, hundreds of millions of telehealth visits occur every year. Telehealth needs support from robust solutions aimed at improving the quality and reliability of the process to achieve success.

Telehealth remains a very human process based on interactions between a user and their care provider. However, much supplementary work must occur to facilitate those visits. From setting and managing appointments to keeping patient records up to date, there is the potential need for hours spent on manual work. Today, workflow automation solutions can help generate satisfying patient experiences. Explore how and why automation has a role to play.

What Patients Expect from Telemedicine Experiences

Telehealth visits can accomplish many of the important aspects of a physical visit to a doctor’s office. Individuals may use telehealth to ask personal health questions or explore concerns. Doctors may prescribe some medicines after telehealth visits or provide notes for submission to employers after sick time. A doctor may also use a telehealth visit to follow up with a patient after a procedure or hospital stay. During these digital visits, users have many expectations, which include:

• A simple approach to scheduling and managing their digital appointments through the service.
• Healthcare providers who have access to patient records and information about prior visits or health concerns.
• A timely, efficient visit that does not involve long waiting periods before or during the consultation.

Still, some roadblocks can stand in the way of achieving these outcomes.

Challenges Facing Telehealth Today

While patients expect a seamless experience, there’s heavy lifting behind the scenes to make it all possible. Aside from the software to enable video or voice chatting, there are many other challenges that an organization must navigate to deliver valuable telehealth experiences. Some of these include:

• The need to set, cancel, or reschedule appointments for potentially hundreds of patients, all while managing limited human resources.
• Secure management of patient health records, making them available to care providers at the right moment and simplifying record updates after the visit.
• Manage related processes, from insurance interactions to administrative office tasks.

Leveraging workflow automation in healthcare settings helps meet patient expectations and address these needs.

How Workflow Automation is a Game-Changer in Healthcare

Workflow automation solutions are a diverse set of tools. They can include robotic process automation (RPA), AI and ML-driven platforms, intelligent document processing and more. Solutions such as Tungsten RPA and Tungsten TotalAgility, alongside other products, provide functionality that lets providers capably deliver a better telehealth experience. Some of the benefits include:

• 24/7 availability for patients who want to access scheduling or information related to their health profile. Rather than wait for business hours, a user can book an appointment in advance.
• Simplified appointment management. With automation, users can rely on self-service tools to manage or cancel their telehealth visits without the need to place a call and speak to an administrative assistant.
• Robust security and HIPAA compliance with advanced encryption to protect data in transit and on file.
• Automatically update patient health records during or after the visit with the latest information collected during the visit.

Automation also helps telehealth providers address common pain points, such as:

• Mistakes made due to an over-reliance on manual processes.
• A lack of responsiveness or a slow speed of service.
• Disconnected business software systems.
• Staffing shortfalls.

At a time when patients increasingly desire telemedicine solutions as an accessible form of healthcare, automation has an indispensable role to play.

Examples of Automation Solutions for Telemedicine

Tungsten solutions, including RPA and TotalAgility, can provide a framework for the functionality necessary for success in telemedicine today. The Tungsten Marketplace features additional solutions for healthcare providers that can prove useful in telehealth. Some of the solutions to explore are:

• Connectors by Dr. Connect. Achieve deeper integration in your organization and streamline the transport and management of data in patient files alongside other administrative work. Connect to client file management solutions such as PlanCare 2 or ONS/NEDAP.
• The Healthcare Appeals and Grievances solution allows admin staff to streamline and track cases.
• The Zarion Intelligent Work Management platform – a centralized solution for staff management. This platform can be ideal for managing providers and assigning individuals to specific telehealth visits scheduled by users.

With Tungsten and Marketplace solutions working in tandem, your organization can embrace the growing popularity of telehealth to offer more to your patients.

Deliver Improved Experiences for Patients Today

The shape of the future of healthcare has already become clearer with the growth and utility of telemedicine services. As healthcare organizations pivot to providing more of these services at the same high quality expected by patients, workflow automation will prove essential. With Tungsten platforms and Marketplace solutions together, you can find robust options for telehealth support today. Explore more about these opportunities when you visit the Marketplace.

Source: https://pos.org/2024-national-telehealth-survey/