We teamed up with UiPath and a local healthcare company to help accelerate test results for the coronavirus using Robotic Process Automation (RPA).
Centric Consulting teamed up with a healthcare company in northern Kentucky to submit and receive COVID-19 test results more effectively and efficiently using Robotic Process Automation (RPA).
RPA is the practice of automating routine business practices with “software robots” that perform tasks automatically. These tasks include transaction processing, IT management and automated online assistants. Such software robots can supplement human beings for routine, repeatable tasks.
Centric, alongside the healthcare provider and UiPath (an RPA software provider), created a bot to receive a feed from the healthcare provider’s Epic medical records system. From there, it captures all the necessary data to place a lab order with a third-party lab site and then log into the lab site’s portal to create the actual order (for COVID only).
Once the order is submitted, it can take upward of 48 hours to receive results before they are available for the healthcare provider to extract the information. In this case, Centric created another bot to pull the necessary test result information from the lab partner and present it back to the healthcare provider, so they can share with doctors and patients accordingly to determine the next course of action.
The shortage of personnel who would typically perform these activities, in addition to the volume of orders needed, made getting timely results back to patients and doctors alike a painful process. With the addition of these two bots, healthcare providers can better focus on patient outcomes versus back-end administration work. Based on the providers’ needs, they can schedule the bots to run as often as necessary throughout the day — around the clock, if needed.
Through the first week of production runs, healthcare providers ordered over 500 tests, averaging only 30 seconds to 1 minute per order. The RPA program schedules a run every 30 minutes and then executes these around the clock, including weekends. The same scheduling takes place on the back end when test results become available from the lab.
Mike Ryba, part of Centric’s RPA practice, said, “We’re happy to do what we can to help the healthcare industry during this time of social distancing. RPA is a great technology that helps to support our healthcare workers so they can spend time where it is most critical; with their patients and others impacted by the coronavirus.”
As a partner, UiPath is providing two dedicated bot licenses (through the end of September) free of charge to help the healthcare provider through this pandemic. As the healthcare provider already runs other bots in its environment, having these dedicated bots will not impact existing workloads. This process will also ensure that they only run COVID-19 test orders through these bots.
What to learn more about how RPA can help in times of crisis?
About UiPath
UiPath sees boundless potential in the way we live. It drives the way they work. They take bold risks, always striving for humility so that we remain open to even greater possibilities. UiPath erases boundaries between themselves and their customers through continuously shared learning and growth. Successes aren’t merely linked. They’re inseparably fused. They accelerate efforts so that everyone can innovate and evolve with speed.
UiPath is defined by diversity of all kinds, open in the way they listen, honest in the way they speak, voracious in their appetite for understanding unique viewpoints and experiences. They believe in using the transformative power of automation to liberate the boundless potential of people.
About Centric Consulting
Centric Consulting is a management consulting firm that guides you in the search for answers to complex digital, business and technology problems by asking tough questions, leading crucial conversations and blending our experts with yours.
Together we optimize your processes, elevate your technology, and help you compete in a digital world. We work together to uncover the answers, so you’re more knowledgeable, confident, and own a lasting solution that grows with you.
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