Digitizing back-office processes is critical to the success of the healthcare SMB
The health services market is continuously evolving
The healthcare industry plays an important role in the global economy. In 2020, the global market for healthcare distribution was estimated at $876.2 billion US dollars* combined, in developed countries with aging populations and in emerging countries. It is also a sector that is constantly evolving and facing new challenges such as regulatory changes, technological innovations, cyber security, new procedures and requirements for billing and payment. Patient expectations are rising and are they demanding greater price transparency. All these factors have created a new environment that is fundamentally changing the way of working.
Business pains emphasized by the pandemic
The daily life of healthcare professionals was already very complicated before the pandemic. Managers of healthcare establishments have had to face several structural evolutions. In particular, reduced staffing levels resulting in an increase in their workload partly due to the exponential rise of administrative tasks.
Among the most common pain points cited by hospital and clinic directors:
- Lack of visibility into document processes
- Satisfying a large number of stakeholders
- A change in the way the business operates with a greater focus on profit and reducing costs due to increased competition and more demanding patients
The adoption of new technologies: an important challenge for health service industry
One of the most important challenges is the adoption of new technologies. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of digitalization and in particular the digitalization of document processes. According to a study conducted by Forrester Consulting of 450 senior IT and business professionals, since the arrival of COVID-19, decision-makers have changed their perception of digital tools related to document processing. While they had always perceived digitization as an essential operational strategy that allowed them to reduce costs, they now consider digital tools to be strategic for the continuity of their business.
The adoption of a digital document process by healthcare professionals not only enables them to address all of the business pains listed above but delivers significant value across their business. Companies that exclusively use digital document processes are seeing 5X more improvement in maintaining business continuity than companies with minimal or no digital document processes. Among the top 5 benefits highlighted in the Forrester study are faster document processing, improved employee productivity and time savings, increased patient satisfaction, but also improved employee collaboration, easier access, and sharing of documents while working remotely.
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Sources: Global Health Outlook 2020 report, Frost and Sullivan; Forrester Consulting thought leadership paper “How Digital document processes are shifting from best practice to business necessity," August 2020
