Tap into the Human Side of Healthcare with Robotic Automation

The robots may be coming for healthcare insurance. But rather than replacing people, they will set us free to strengthen relationships, improve interactions and create a better, more human experience, both internally and externally.

Thanks to the advancement of robotic process automation (RPA) technologies, this friendly digital takeover is gaining momentum. Once limited to automating actions within a single application, such as setting rules to filter emails, RPA technology, in particular “autobots”, can now link multiple applications and streamline the performance of rote processes across an entire organization. As a result, the global RPA market is growing rapidly. In 2015, it was valued at $125.2 million; by 2024, it will have soared to $8.75 billion.

For heavily manual and disconnected healthcare insurance environments, the new generation of RPA will be transformative. Traditionally, handling just one inquiry has involved jumping between several systems, workstation monitors and even departments, making the process painfully laborious and creating tension between staff and customers. Wouldn’t it be great to pull up all the data you need on a single screen in just a few key strokes, for swifter service and greater customer satisfaction? Better yet, what if an autobot did it all for you, so you could use your expertise when it is needed the most.

A simple process that normally takes 15 minutes could be completed in under a minute. Multiply that for two- and three-step processes and you could shave hours of tedious tasks from a working day. By providing a one-stop system and presenting the same data in a uniform way to all staff, healthcare insurers can both reduce call and processing times and improve the quality of information being handled. There will be less risk of human error – such as pulling up the wrong records – and data can be automatically updated across all systems at once.

Ultimately, RPA solutions have the power to take whole sets of repeatable tasks off human hands altogether – completing them simultaneously without having to wait for another system or person to respond. We often wish we could replicate ourselves to get more work done; now with autobots it is possible. RPA technology is enabling firms to support exponential growth without taking on more staff.

However, what the robots are not doing is taking human beings out of the picture. Think of them as giving people a promotion. By ridding staff of low-value, mundane tasks, autobots allow them to use their brainpower more effectively for increased job satisfaction. Robotics also leaves employees more time to focus on innovation and generating revenue – and, above all, to develop stronger personal relationships with co-workers and customers alike.

With human lives and wellbeing at stake, healthcare insurance customers deserve the highest levels of personal care and attention. Through implementation of robotic technologies, insurers can not only run their business more efficiently but also deliver a next-generation customer experience with a uniquely human touch.