If you run a medical practice, you know that employing administration staff is costly. On average, the administration team accounts for 12% to 20% of costs.
So, what if you could recruit robots?
If you happen to be a contractor doctor, can you imagine giving instructions to a robot?
I have written an article on how AI will change the job space. If you happen to be a practice owner, you also know that if administration staff can be replaced by robots, practice profits could be about to rise.
About 7 years ago, when I was in the Philippines, I was shown a hologram of a receptionist. They would be an actual person based in Manila but projected as a receptionist in a Brisbane medical practice. The idea was that you would pay the receptionist $10 an hour in Manila instead of $35 in Australia.
The problem was:
• Australia did not have the bandwidth to ensure the program would run properly. Surprisingly, the Philippines did, which just shows us how, in many ways, Australia is backward.
• The cost of implementing and setting up the whole thing was prohibiting.
The next best thing is robots but that seems for the future, so we do not take it seriously.
But not anymore.
Because in the UK, the NHS will use robotic process automation to schedule appointments. It is a 15-year workforce strategy.
Now I know what you are thinking. You already have automation of scheduling appointments. But this is different. If the start point is appointments, can you imagine where this is going to end up?
Many medical practices use transcription services; AI will replace that shortly, too.
And most medical practices will be forced to change. This is because there are skill shortages across the industry, and the demand for services will skyrocket over the next 20 years as we live older but mostly sicker.
I was recently at a seminar which showed that there will be over 500,000 workers coming into Queensland over a 2 year period. About 200,000 of them will end up in healthcare and in aged care services.
But the view is that it will not be enough. There will still be shortages.
The long-term idea is to use AI, robotics, and technology to harness and fundamentally change the way the health service is organised and interacts with patients, as well as for diagnosis and screening.
The UK has many problems and issues. But it realises that technology and innovation, particularly AI, are changing the nature of healthcare, and the Health Secretary is keen that they play a huge part in improving diagnosis and treatment, cutting waiting lists.
It believes AI will help reduce workload and raise productivity, supporting staff and freeing up their time to focus on caring for patients.
One of the ways they expect things to change is the use of bots that can be used to carry out patient bookings, flag test results, and analyse patient referrals, reducing the workload of medical secretaries so that more of their time is spent interacting with patients.
There is a programme already in place that will see machine learning used to analyse lung X-rays, to diagnose cancer, and to ensure rapid diagnosis of stroke. And this is just the start.
But it also begs the question, can doctors jobs become redundant, too? I believe some parts will. But that means doctors need to change the way they operate. I believe there will be more doctor-patient contact in the future, with more information about prevention rather than reaction.
Australian healthcare is reactionary. In November last year, I wanted to get a full medical done. I wanted to know if there were any medical issues I should be aware of.
I tried to get this done in Australia, but it is not covered by Medicare, which means I would have had to pay about $10,000 for the tests. The most frustrating part is that for the tests to be done, I would have to be referred to each specialist by my GP, which would mean tests are undertaken at different times and places—it would take up to 3 months to get it all done.
But go abroad and it is half the cost and can all be done in 2 days.
Research shows that Australians are like me – they want to avoid issues going forward rather than be reactionary and deal with an issue when it arises.
In Australia, if something is a problem medically the medical system fixes it. I think we will move more to a system of preventative medicine.
But like all things, that means medical businesses need to adapt and change. There have been a lot of changes in the health space in the last 10 years. There is going to be a lot more in the next 10.
Running a lean mean medical practice is step 3 and 6 of our 9 steps to working less, earning more and creating more wealth.
If you would like to know more contact Hitesh at hitesh@medisuccess.com.au or call 07 3172 0819.
