What is Robotic Process Automation in Healthcare?

Broadly, Robotic Process Automation (or RPA) is defined in as “a form of business process automation that is based on software robots (bots) or artificial intelligence (AI) agents.” . This definition goes on to add that “RPA should not be confused with artificial intelligence as it is based on automation technology following a predefined workflow.”.

A good way to think about Robotic process automation or RPA is any system where a robotic process (or ‘agent’) performs work a human would previously do. We’ll specifically be considering software agents that are used to do tasks healthcare professionals would normally do in software.

Vendors such as Cortico use RPA to help automate administrative tasks so humans can focus on work that is more rewarding and valuable - opening up more time to care for patients.

Why is RPA Commonly Used in Healthcare?

In short, RPA is a commonly used approach to add functionality to legacy healthcare systems. Healthcare as an industry is generally prone to legacy software systems remaining in use for many years longer than most industries. The prototypical healthcare software system is the EMR (Electronic Medical Record). Many EMRs are multiple decades old, and vendors often struggle to keep these systems updated due to the critical nature and complexity of clinical use.

So, in an effort to add or improve these systems, we may want to pair specialized apps with EMRs. For example a scheduling system that has very high adoption with patients (Cortico) with an EMR system that lacks online scheduling software or has that feature but suffers a low adoption rate. This way, we can benefit from Cortico booking patients online, while keeping the back office schedule fully up to date automatically.

We could go further, by connecting the perfect system for every workflow (AI Scribes, reminders, intake forms) into the EMR for a fully automated medical practice with modern software, while retaining consistent data in the EMR as a source of truth.

Recently, advances in AI are expanding the capability of RPA rapidly, bringing this possibility closer to becoming a reality.

What Are The Benefits of Robotic Process Automation to Healthcare Systems?

RPA in healthcare has capability to:

• Save admin overhead costs

• Improve outcomes by enabling more complete appointment preparation work

• Overcome healthcare worker shortages

• Allow practices to grow by serving more patients with less effort

• Avoid burnout by reducing the repetitive tasks staff are subjected to, allowing for more interesting and enjoyable work.

• Allow software systems to work together in harmony to meet the needs of clinicians and patients.

Social proof paragraph. Highlight an average outcome achieved by Cortico customers or brief summary of specific case study.

Use Cases of RPA in Healthcare

1. Patient scheduling software - RPA can provide a back-end for saving appointments in the EMR

2. Patient intake software - RPA can automate uploading of patient intake forms to the EMR or other destinations

3. Patient engagement platforms - RPA can provide a bridge to other clinical systems such as EMR

4. Macros to automate tedious EMR tasks

5. Patient Portals - RPA can keep the EMR in sync with patient facing portals provided by the healthcare institution

6. Medical Clinic Kiosk - RPA can be used to automate physical intake processes at brick and mortar sites.

How Does Robotic Process Automation work in Healthcare?

There are various technologies commonly used to implement RPA, such as:

• UI automation tools such as TagUI.

• HTTP level automation using any HTTP client.

• Network level automation such as Scapy.

However, our focus here is less on the technology of RPA and more on how these technologies are applied to healthcare specifically.

why not simply simulate a human using the software doing the task. This has many benefits, such as:

• Guarantees the process is done the same way as a human would

• Avoids incentive issues where the EMR may have commercial reasons to prevent a customer automating their work

In recent times, we’ve seen AI agents do nearly any and every task on behalf of humans. So, performing a few clicks in some software is simple enough with very basic software models (AI is barely even required in most cases)

Examples of Robotic Process Automation in Healthcare

• Even simple macros such as Greasemonkey/Tampermonkey scripts commonly used with Oscar EMR can be considered as RPA.

• Many clinics hire developers to implement RPA on their own, such as to build patient portals for systems with low API support such as eClinicalWorks.

• Mindbowser builds custom RPA solutions in healthcare when off-the-shelf solutions don’t achieve the desired results

• At Cortico.health, we use RPA in cases an API is not available to automate administrative tasks. This saves clinics the cost of building a customized RPA solution, since many common healthcare workflows are already supported.

Guaranteed Results from RPA with Cortico

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Just a very rough example would be:

Cortico makes implementing RPA in your clinic or healthcare practice easy. To get started, simply:

1. Book a call with our customer success team

2. Discuss aspects of your administrative workflow and clinic operations that can be automated

3. Start a trial and receive ongoing support and monitoring to ensure your solution is effective.

After seeing our RPA solutions work with dozens/hundreds of providers across different specialties, we’ve implemented an ROI guarantee. In short, if you don’t see a reasonable ROI (as discussed in setup and onboarding), your monthly fees will be waived until we deliver.

Book a demo of Cortico today to see how your practice can benefit from RPA.

What Does The Future Hold for Robotic Process Automation?

With AI agents on the rise, there’s no doubt the prevalence and task complexity of RPA will only increase with time. However, we have a long way to go considering many medical practices are still overburdened by admin tasks that can easily be automated today. That’s why it’s Cortico’s mission to save every doctor and staff an hour of their day, using robotic process automation!

FAQs About RPA in Healthcare

How much does it cost to implement RPA in a healthcare clinic?

Robotic Process Automation can vary in cost depending on the nature of the EMR and the tasks being implemented. The good news, is once a process is automated in one medical practice, it can be ported at little cost to other practices using the same EMR. For Cortico to implement RPA with an EMR we’ve worked with before, there’s no new cost involved. For new EMRs, it may cost $15,000 and up to implement a patient engagement system. Web based EMRs are simpler, and native OS EMRs are more expensive. Cortico uses in-house RPA infrastructure but some systems may also need to pay for tools such as UI Path if those are used, which incurs additional licence fees.

Can I use RPA with my current EMR software?

Yes! It’s a good idea to check if the EMR has an API that fits the bill first however, as that option can sometimes be more cost effective.

Is RPA safe and secure?

Yes! RPA is safe and secure if implemented according to best practices. To be safe, RPA should simulate exactly what a real user does, so there’s no difference at all in how it’s being used except of course we save human workers from hours of tedious tasks. If this approach is followed, security and safety are generally equivalent to human usage as a baseline. However, if the RPA deviates from this pattern and sends commands “over the wire” emulating the EMR’s internal protocols, there are dangers of malfunction. There’s much more to this topic, and we advise partnering with a privacy compliant vendor (ie, holding SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001) to implement RPA safely.