Hospital Automation Fully Examined: Benefits and 12 Innovative Ways to Implement

Posted: February 20, 2025

Last Update: February 26, 2025

Hospitals are under immense pressure to provide the best care possible for more patients while also needing to maximize resources and deliver the results that stakeholders expect.

Hospital Automation

Photo Attribution: Irina Strelnikova/Shutterstock.com

Hospital automation and using software and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based systems to automate hospital systems are some of the most effective ways to alleviate some of that pressure on hospital staff.

Automation and technology in hospitals is nothing new. However, the pace of automation and its use cases are accelerating.

In this article, we will look at hospital automation in more detail and provide 12 examples of its positive impact. For our purposes, "automation" refers both to the use of automation workflows in software and AI-based tools that are being used in healthcare software and medical procedures, including robots.

What is Hospital Automation?

Hospital automation is the use of technology to streamline and enhance numerous operational, administrative, and clinical processes in hospitals. These can include:

Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Machine Learning (ML)
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Intelligent Automation (IA)

When hospitals automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks, busy medical staff can improve efficiency, reduce errors, and help healthcare organizations and professionals keep focused on caring for patients.

AI and robotics can also play an active role in patient care. It's becoming increasingly common for hospitals to use:

AI to analyze CT scans more effectively. Computed Tomography (CT) scans are being enhanced by AI-enabled camera technology and AI reconstructions of an affected area. This gives doctors a much clearer picture than current Computed Radiography (CR) technology, thereby improving diagnostic confidence and patient outcomes.
AI and robots to plan and guide endovascular surgery, and other minimally invasive procedures
AI to support radiologists reading scans: "Lung nodule detection can perform nodule search 26% faster, detecting 29% of previously missed nodules compared to manual inspection"

And there are many more examples of automation playing an active role in hospital operations, diagnosis, and even treatments.

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Why Should Hospitals Increase the Use of Automation?

Implementing automation in hospitals already delivers several mission-critical advantages:

Enhanced Efficiency: Automation accelerates processes such as patient admissions, scheduling, and data management. This can lead to reduced wait times and improved patient flow. That's an outcome that overworked hospitals badly need the world over.
Improved Accuracy: Automated systems minimize human errors in tasks like medication dispensing and medical record-keeping, ensuring higher accuracy. Mistakes cost hospitals money. Medical errors, infections patients get in hospitals, and mistakes cost anywhere from $20 to $45 billion annually in the US. Anything that can be done to reduce this is an advantage.
Cost Reduction: Using AI and automation to streamline operations and reduce waste is equally necessary. Even making workloads lighter improves patient outcomes and reduces human errors. AI's don't get tired and stressed. That's a big advantage in healthcare.
Better Patient Experience: Automation facilitates improved communication and reduces administrative burdens. This means that healthcare providers can dedicate more time to patient care. Better patient outcomes are better for everyone, including hospital stakeholders and insurance providers. If AI can help increase positive outcomes then it's worth continuing to invest in.

Pros and Cons of Hospital Automation

As with every technological innovation, there are always pros and cons worth considering. Automation isn't without its flaws and we are a long way from true AI.

Hospital Automation Pros

Consistency: Automated systems provide uniformity in processes, leading to predictable and reliable outcomes.
Data Management: Automation enables efficient data collection and analysis, supporting informed decision-making.
Resource Optimization: Hospitals can allocate staff to more critical tasks, enhancing overall productivity.

Hospital Automation Cons

Initial Investment: Depending on what you invest in, the upfront costs for implementing automated systems can be substantial. Robots and diagnostic equipment are always going to cost more than, say, a SaaS-based telehealth system.
Technical Challenges: Integrating new technologies with existing systems may present compatibility issues. There are also compliance issues to consider. Every new piece of technology needs to adhere to various regulations, including HIPAA.
Staff Training: If something is very new, medical staff need adequate training to effectively use automated systems.

Hospitals, governments, patients, and healthcare professionals are more in favor of automation than against it. Here are 12 ways automation is already being used, and what this means for the future of healthcare.

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12 Innovative Ways to Implement Hospital Automation

Let's look at 12 ways hospital automation is already being implemented across the country and worldwide.

Patient Admissions

Automated admission processes can save time, improve patient experience, and enhance operational efficiency. Digital check-in kiosks allow patients to enter their information directly. This can reduce wait times and minimize manual data entry errors. These are already commonplace in doctors' surgeries and hospital departments.

However, what we're now starting to see is hospitals using AI to streamline patient allocations more accurately.
Diagnosis and Testing

Automation in diagnostics includes the use of AI-powered tools that assist in analyzing medical images and lab results. This can lead to faster and more accurate diagnoses. AI scanning tools and sophisticated Computer Vision (CV) models can help radiologists detect anomalies in imaging studies more efficiently.

An example of this is AI-based image reconstruction in Magnetic Resonance (MR). MR scans help to shorten the pathway from a scan to the diagnosis, and AI tools are helping to improve the image resolution.

This gives referring physicians greater confidence, and improves patient healthcare outcomes, especially if a diagnosis is accurate and made quicker, as that means treatment can start sooner.
Emergency Room (ER) Operations

Automated bed occupancy alerts can optimize patient flow in the ER by providing real-time data on bed availability. This can help ensure timely allocation and reduce patient wait times.

This innovation is critical and can mean the difference between life and death for patients. The more accurate information an AI is given, the quicker it can analyze the seriousness of a patient's condition (if it's something less obvious than say a gunshot wound), and support bed allocations accordingly.
Medicine Documentation

Improving Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems with automation improves the through-flow and input of data. This can include recording medication documentation so that everyone supporting a patient can see the information.

It automates the documentation of patient medications, keeping accurate and up-to-date information readily available to healthcare providers. Otherwise, a patient could be given medication at a hospital, but their doctor may not know, and this could delay them being given further help.

Documenting the medicine given, including the reasons it was prescribed, can save lives.
Referrals to Other Hospitals

Automation can streamline the transfer process by using software to manage inter-hospital referrals. This can help bring timely and efficient patient transfers.

In other cases, automation isn't as much about sending a patient from one hospital to another but improving inter-disciplinary collaboration. In cancer care, that can be essential.

An article by Philips, the technology giant, says that: "AI can help integrate information across different clinical domains such as radiology, pathology, EHR systems, and genomics – providing a clear, intuitive view of the patient's disease state."

AI can be used to simplify and streamline the transfer of information. It can provide a quick summary for busy consultants, and even recommend different treatment pathways that panels, such as a cancer board, can act on.
Insurance Documentation

Automated insurance pre-authorization processes can help patients to navigate multiple insurance portals efficiently. This can reduce manual effort and speed up patient care.

For example, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can handle insurance verifications and authorizations seamlessly. More help when it comes to understanding hospital bills and insurance claims is clearly needed.

According to various statistics, anywhere from 50% to 80% of hospital insurance bills and claims contain errors. These mistakes, such as double-billing, or errors worth $1300 for every $10K+ bill, cost hospitals an average of $68 billion annually.

All of this negatively impacts hospitals, patients, insurers, and the entire healthcare system. Using automation and AI should help reduce these costs and the negative effects of human error during the billing process.
Medical Records

Hospitals have been relying on Electronic Medical Record (EMR) software for many years. However, as medical records get more complex, as well as healthcare regulations, the case for automating EMR is growing.

Automation in managing electronic health records ensures accurate and up-to-date patient information. This can help reduce manual-entry errors and speed up data retrieval.
Medications Being Issued

Automated pharmacy systems assist in the precise dispensing of medications, reducing errors and improving patient safety.

A patient being issued the wrong medication can have serious consequences. Reducing errors with automation is beneficial for everyone.
Patient Flow (Through Departments and Systems)

Automation tools can manage patient scheduling and track their movement through various departments. This can optimize resource utilization and reduce bottlenecks. For instance, automated scheduling systems can efficiently manage appointments and reduce no-shows.

It's also critical that patients are monitored after surgery. In many cases, patients will have a bed in a general ward to recover before they're allowed to go home.

However, because one in five patients experience "postoperative serious adverse events", it's extremely important to keep monitoring them. Unfortunately, busy nurses and hospital staff can miss time-critical signs.

AI tools, as Philips explains: "can help nurses and care teams identify early signs of events such as respiratory failure or cardiac arrest, allowing them to respond rapidly. In doing so, one hospital managed to reduce serious adverse events in the general ward by 35% and cardiac arrests by more than 86%."
Revenue Cycle Management

Automated billing and coding systems streamline the revenue cycle by reducing manual errors and accelerating the claims process. This can lead to improved financial performance.

AI-powered coding automation can enhance the quality and speed of the revenue cycle. This could also help to reduce the $68 billion worth of errors in bills. With more accurate bills, there will be fewer disputes, and that will mean hospitals get paid much quicker.
Inventory Updates

Automated inventory management systems track medical supplies in real-time. This can help maintain optimal stock levels and timely reordering. This both reduces waste and prevents shortages. It also helps to prevent stock from going missing, such as medication theft by staff, which is a serious issue in some hospitals.
Data Collection

Automation facilitates more efficient data gathering and analysis. This can provide valuable insights into patient outcomes and operational performance.

Wearable devices can collect patient health data, which is then automatically analyzed to inform treatment plans. This is becoming more common to help patients with diabetes, asthma, and weight loss.

Key Takeaways: Hospital Automation

Embracing automation in hospital systems leads to enhanced efficiency, accuracy, and patient satisfaction.

While initial investments and technical challenges exist, the long-term benefits of streamlined operations and improved care quality make automation a worthwhile endeavor for healthcare organizations.

Here is a quick recap of what you can automate within hospitals to make them run smoother for staff and patients: