Is the glass half-full or half-empty?

That timeless question comes to mind with the release of a recent survey by OliveAI, an AI solution provider, which that “only” half of hospital leaders say they are “familiar” with the concept of AI.

“We’re still in the early stages of AI adoption in healthcare and there is an educational process for those looking at technology that improves efficiency across the enterprise,” Rebecca Hellmann, chief marketing officer of Olive, told one publication.

The survey queried 115 healthcare executives about their familiarity with both AI and robotic process automation (RPA), and of them only 23 percent said they were actively looking AI/RPA investment opportunities in their organizations.

That means, of course, that AI and automation proponents have some outreach to do.  Said Hellman, “An important piece of that education is learning to identify the places where RPA can make the most impact within an organization. This means evaluating where employees are spending the most time on high-volume, repetitive, rule-based tasks. Ultimately, automating such processes or workflows with the addition of a “digital employee” can dramatically impact efficiency.”

As if to highlight that educational opportunity/challenge, the survey also found that those familiar with AI/RPA are two times as likely to implement AI, as opposed to leveraging existing systems, to solve current workflow challenges.

Part of the challenge for healthcare executives, the survey found, is determining how best to incorporate automation into an organization’s structure. 

For example, forty-three percent of hospital leaders preferred to choose a company to build, deliver, monitor and support automations, while 26 percent preferred to choose the platform themselves, then hire consultants to build their solution.  A smaller number (18 percent) preferred to choose the platform themselves and have their employees build the solution, while 13 percent preferred to hire consultants to both choose the platform and build the solution.

As Hellman sees the prospects, “One in three of the dollars spent in healthcare is earmarked for administrative costs. Repetitive, high-volume tasks like processing insurance claim information is a perfect place for AI/RPA to increase efficiency across organizations. Ultimately, this enables human employees to focus on tasks that require a more human touch — and hospitals can reallocate those funds to make more resources available for tasks that directly benefit patients.” 

The survey was conducted in conjunction with Sage Growth Partners, an independent healthcare market research, consulting and marketing firm, and respondents included CFOs, CIOs, and revenue cycle managers at hospital systems and independent hospitals across the country.