Despite the lifesaving nature of the work, everyone who works in healthcare understands that, for better or worse, modern healthcare runs like a business. For health systems to operate at total efficiency, they need to make intelligent business decisions that save money wherever possible and allocate that money to wherever it makes the most significant operational difference. 

With more hospitals closing due to poor funding and staffing shortages, health systems are struggling to find solutions to keep the lights on. While the reasons for closure and variety of pain points are manifold, the one thing all health systems have in common is the need for more clinician support and better money management. 

The current integration of AI-driven clinical platforms into health systems nationwide promises to streamline workflows and save clinicians time and money, right on time. In an industry that desperately needs immediate solutions to big problems, these AI tools offer a massive opportunity for health systems to save where it counts without breaking a sweat. Below are four ways AI-driven clinical platforms can save health systems money, one streamlined operation at a time. 

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1. Automated documentation

A 2016 study in the Annals of Internal Medicine determined that doctors spent two-thirds of their work-day doing paperwork, keeping them at their desks much longer than with their patients. When AI came along, everything changed. Filling out clinical notes is the exact type of administrative task that an automated tool does best. By utilizing AI-driven ambient listening technology, clinicians can now speak right into recording devices that instantly automate all of their notes.  

How does AI-automated documentation save health systems money? Traditionally, clinicians hired scribes to dictate and type up their notes. Now, with AI-driven ambient listening technology accessible via their own mobile devices, there’s no need to hire scribes for an entire health system. Because clinicians are saving hours per day that used to go to paperwork, that extra time goes back to their practice and more patients, increasing the general productivity of each workday. 

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2. Clinician burnout/ turnover

Everyone knows clinicians are exhausted, but only some realize the financial impact of that exhaustion on health systems. A study published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings determined that nearly $1 billion in excess healthcare costs were due to patient turnover from burnout.  When burned-out clinicians quit, staffing shortages can lead to communication gaps that negatively impact patients and providers. When patients need new physicians, that’s also more money out of their pockets.

How does AI help lower the costs of clinician burnout? Simply put, it transforms the conditions that lead to burnout in the first place. By supporting clinicians through all the pain points that usually lead to burnout, AI tools take the tremendous burden of busywork off their shoulders from the start. With the support of AI assistance, which helps the most frustrating aspect of their work days, clinicians can return to the purpose and passion that made them study medicine in the first place: patient care. 

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3. HCAHPS hospital ratings

The mantra should go, Happy patient = happy health system. The imHighfaction scores on health system success are paramount, especially in our modern landscape of consumer-led market value. However, more than public opinion alone, more satisfied patients lead to higher revenues for health systems. 
By increasing patient satisfaction, health systems also increase patient loyalty. When patients respect and trust their health systems, they return more frequently and tell their friends and family about their positive experiences, bringing in more patients. 
Also, clinicians working for health systems with high HCAHPS ratings are less likely to quit, avoiding all the costs that come with employee turnover and training, 

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4. Preventable hospital readmissions

Hospital readmissions are expensive for patients and providers alike. Typically borne from poor miscommunication between providers and patients, they occur when patient health rapidly de-escalates, which no one can control. Other times, they indicate that something wasn’t done correctly on the first visit. 
AI-driven clinical platforms that radically improve communication between providers and patients act as a safety net against medical errors and the costs that come with them.  When exact clinician instructions are recorded at the point of care, everything is preserved in translation. Everyone on a patient’s care team understands the exact diagnosis and treatment goals, enabling the patient to heal faster and more effectively under such unified care. By getting treatment right the first time, health systems save all the costs of repeat treatment and another full hospital bed. 

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Playback Health’s AI-driven clinical platform helps health systems save money where it counts. Get started today.

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