Wonder

Research Outline

Prepared for Yvonne B. | Delivered March 17, 2020

Automation-as-a-Service in Hospitals

Goals

To better understand how the "as-a-Service" model is being used in high-cost hospital automation, what kinds of equipment/hardware is involved and who owns it, what services are provided, and what payment models are being used through providing specific examples of vendor/client relationships. "Automation" in this context can refer to software automation (e.g., to improve workflows) or equipment-based automation, such as automating hospital pharmacies.

Early Findings

Automation is Software-Domainated Automation can handle referrals, bookings, laboratory, radiology and pathology results, or create request forms.
In addition, reporting, quality assurance, HR, finance, and IT processes are widely targeted for automation.
As in the example of the Jackson Memorial Hospital / Philips Enterprise monitoring agreement, workflows and administrative monitoring are also being automated.

Drivers for Automation-as-a-ServiceNote: "Automation-as-a-Service is not a term we find in our sources, but one we have coined to describe the possible range of applications as described in the original project transcript.

Recondo Technology proposed "a self-service online price estimator, embedded on the University Health website, that anyone could use" to University Health Care Systems in order to provide price-transparency to prospective patients. 
According to the 2017 CAQH Index, the lack of automation for business transactions costs the healthcare industry more than $11 billion every year even though 70% of hospitals have adopted revenue cycle management (RCM) technology.
The healthcare industry could save $15.5 billion each year if companies processed claims correctly the first time.
Labor costs typically eat up more than half of a hospital’s operating revenue, and that costly challenge is poised to increase as organizations face continued pressure to raise salaries and wages.
The Institute of Medicine estimates that between 44,000–98,000 patients die each year due to general preventable errors.
A heat map of the potential for automation across different healthcare roles can be found here.

ExamplesRecondo is a SaaS company which can embed its AI-driven authorization system, RevSmart, directly within a hospital's native Epic system to realize millions in cash flow improvements. One of their first clients was Bon Secours Mercy Health.
Istekki Oy and the health technology company NewIcon Oy have drawn up a framework agreement for six years concerning eMED ICON smart medicine cabinets, which will speed up the automation of pharmaceutical services in hospitals and health centers.