Digitizing back-office processes is critical to the success of healthcare businesses
The health services market is continuously evolving
The healthcare industry plays an important role in the global economy. Even back 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. The healthcare sector is one that is constantly evolving and facing new challenges such as regulatory changes, technological innovations, and new procedures and requirements for billing and payment. Patient expectations are also changing 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 tasks of healthcare professionals was already hectic enough pre-pandemic, and were then exacerbated by the pandemic itself. In today's post-pandemic era, many of these pains have lingered -- it would be safe to say that nearly all healthcare establishments have had to face several structural evolutions. One particular area to note is the 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 healthcare professionals:
- 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 the health service industry.
One of the most important challenges is the adoption of new technologies. The pandemic has highlighted the importance of digitalization -- especially the digitalization of document processes. According to a study conducted jointly by Adobe and Forrester Consulting, 450 senior IT and business decision-makers were surveyed and found that since the arrival of COVID-19, they have changed their perception of digital tools related to document processing. While they had always perceived digitalization 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 ultimately delivers significant value across their business. Companies that use digital document processes exclusively are seeing five times more improvement in maintaining business continuity than companies with minimal or no digital document processes. Among the top five benefits highlighted in the Adohe/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.
To learn more about how a digital solution dedicated to healthcare service providers can help you, visit our healthcare-specific page here.
