Health plan and hospital leaders consider revenue cycle management as a critical area of innovation that has taken the limelight during the pandemic
A vast majority of healthcare executives are excited about artificial intelligence as the top emerging tech in the healthcare industry. The main reason for this is- it has widespread use in different types of industries.
Healthcare leaders believe that AI tech has helped hugely with rapid response during the pandemic. However, healthcare professionals believe that much more could have been done, if the maturity of the healthcare industry with regard to AI leverages was at a higher level. But a very small proportion of the data was utilized for AI, which can be attributed to the fact that healthcare data is not structured in the formats needed for analysis by AI platforms.
This problem can arise because data collation is driven by a different set of tools and structuring and analysis is done by another- and AI is being used as a secondary tool. Thus streamlining the data to be used for AI is complicated and needs huge investment in technical resources and talent. Hence, while a majority of the health providers wish to integrate AI tech in their systems, but very few are making the required investments.
The real need for data maturity
Innovations in the healthcare field have changed; from the standpoint of pre-pandemic usage. Telehealth was one such field that has gained higher priority during the pandemic. Healthcare leaders pushed for the adoption of virtual care as a necessary innovation that needs to be taken up on top priority.
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Telehealth visits have increased suddenly, and most leaders believe that they were able to completely meet the demand within the regulations that have been laid down by compliances, with regards to virtual care.
C-suite executives in the healthcare industry believe that continued expansion of the telehealth tech is vital and requires improved security, infrastructure, and integration related to the virtual care strategy.
They are focused on successfully integrating more salient features with the telehealth services that serve the required experience as offered during in-person visits in a digital space.
One such example is providing questionnaires right before the consultation and feedback surveys after the visit during an in-person interaction. Leaders are pushing for wrapping up such features as part of the virtual care visit and integrate it with patient portals.
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Revenue cycle management is one more area that requires an upgrade, according to the healthcare leaders. They are looking for ways to boost the efficiency of RCM workflows and processes. Some consider AI and predictive analytics a potential solution, but most leaders feel that innovation is required for higher price transparency.
Larger trends
ML and AI models like AI-based electronic health record data preprocessing, diagnostics, and clinical decision support are the exciting emerging trends regarding the healthcare industry. The tech can improve customer experience and lives; however, its capabilities shouldn’t be overstated.
But the real value of AI will arise only when it is intelligently and successfully combined with other collaborative tools – which will help to enhance its value to the healthcare sector.