Appointment Scheduling
The Problem: A medical clinic was a busy healthcare facility that provides a wide range of medical services to its patients. The clinic's appointment scheduling process was manual, leading to appointment backlogs, patient dissatisfaction, and inefficiencies. They faced issues like –
- Manual Data Entry: The hospital staff had to manually enter required information, leading to data entry errors and longer admission times.
- Communication Delays: Patients often had to wait for their information to be processed and for appointment bookings due to manual coordination.
- Resource Allocation: Staff members spent valuable time on administrative tasks, which could have been utilized for patient care.
The Solution: To address these challenges, the medical clinic decided to implement Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to streamline its Patient Appointment System (PAS). The RPA bots retrieved patient data from the Electronic Health Record (EHR) system, including medical history, preferences, and available appointment slots. The bots also collected data from the clinic's website and patient portals. The bots automatically scheduled appointments based on patient availability, patient preferences, and doctor availability ensuring that no scheduling conflicts occurred. The bots sent appointment confirmation emails or SMS messages to patients immediately after booking. The bots also sent automated reminders closer to the appointment date. Patients could request rescheduling or cancellation through the clinic's portal. RPA bots managed these requests, automatically adjusting the schedule and sending notifications.
The Outcome: Total 20+ bots were deployed to complete the Appointment Scheduling process within a period of 18 months. The company realized below benefits after the successful RPA implantation:
- Improved Efficiency: The automation of Appointment Scheduling process reduced manual effort, allowing staff to focus on patient care.
- Accurate Scheduling: RPA eliminated manual scheduling errors and ensured that appointments were booked correctly reducing the manual error by 90%.
- Enhanced Patient Experience: Patients received timely confirmations, reminders, and hassle-free appointment scheduling improving customer satisfaction.
- Resource Optimization: The medical clinic staff could allocate more time to patient care, leading to better resource utilization.
- Manual Efforts Saved: Total manual efforts were reduced by 80% per month.
- Cost Savings: Total dollars saved were ~60K per year.