Automation in Healthcare Revenue Cycle Operations Jumps 12% in Less Than a Year

There has been rapid adoption of automation among hospitals and health systems, according to findings from a recent AKASA survey. The survey found 78% of health systems are currently using or are in the process of implementing automation in their revenue cycle operations - a 12% increase compared to results of last year’s survey.

The survey findings signify automation in healthcare is no longer an emerging trend but is mission-critical for driving efficiency and cost-effectiveness in revenue cycle operations.

COVID-19 has placed many healthcare organizations under intense cash-flow pressure and created volatile claim volumes and workloads for revenue cycle teams. These dynamics are driving more revenue cycle leaders to look to automation to provide flexibility and resiliency in their operations while minimizing their organization’s cost to collect.

The survey also found that 37% of organizations currently not using automation plan to do so this year or sometime in 2022.

“The findings underscore that automation serves as a backbone for healthcare financial leaders looking to streamline complex staff workflows,” said Malinka Walaliyadde, co-founder and CEO of AKASA. “The opportunity going forward for provider organizations is to expand their ambitions and scope for automation."

Instead of identifying dozens of small, discrete use-cases and never getting past the first few due to high setup and maintenance costs, Walaliyadde suggested leaders should consider solutions that can be deployed rapidly with minimal disruption.

"The goal is foundational, end-to-end automation for entire functions, driving giant leaps in efficiency,” Walaliyadde added.

Commissioned by AKASA, the survey fielded responses from nearly 400 chief financial officers and revenue cycle leaders at hospitals and health systems across the United States through the Healthcare Financial Management Association’s (HFMA) Pulse Survey program between May 27, 2021 and June 28, 2021. The national survey was designed to assess the adoption of automation in revenue cycle operations at hospitals and health systems across the U.S.