Change management is a critical element to successfully implementing an automation solution and recognizing return on investment [ROI]. Our latest #SuccessStories blog revisits how our Customer Experience team worked alongside one global healthcare provider to facilitate the change management process, determine metrics for success, and reimagine their business processes.
There is often a mismatch between the promise of tech and what it is able to deliver in a production environment. As companies everywhere adopt automation technology, how can they work with their solution providers to ensure they are setting the right goals, communicating with key stakeholders, and measuring and achieving the correct KPIs?
Establish Open Lines of Communication
Operational transformation isn’t easy. When it comes to implementing a new solution, particularly one that impacts various day-to-day roles and responsibilities, communication, education, and cross-functional alignment are critical. There needs to be clarity on the goals you are looking to achieve with automation software. For example, operations leaders may look for an easy-to-use UI that won’t slow down their teams or create unnecessary bottlenecks, while executives might prioritize product stability or data security.
Without internal and external alignment, it will be more difficult to recognize where a new solution is stumbling or performing well, preventing you from capitalizing on quick wins or rapidly adjusting early misses to maximize long-term return. This requires regular communication across decision-makers, IT, operations teams, and the vendor to examine existing workflows, determine how systems need to speak with each other and think through the best ways to implement and operationalize new solutions.
Shifting Mindset
Many customers start with a vision of 100% automation, but the reality is very different. There is no silver bullet solution available today. Automation requires rewiring and re-thinking how you organize your people and processes, unlocking new areas for improving operations along the way.
That’s why our approach to implementation and customer success includes shadowing our client’s current document processes to map the full journey – from document ingestion to indexing to data extraction and where it’s sent. By understanding their existing workflows, our team can help customers recognize how Hyperscience will unlock value at their organization.
It’s rewarding to see that shift in mindset when customers realize that while automation is important, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. The entire picture requires human-machine collaboration and a clear articulation of the goals and outcomes that will drive business value.
It is in this spirit that a global health insurer and Hyperscience partnered to optimize their workflows and define metrics for success. Before Hyperscience, the insurer used human knowledge keyers to manually extract business critical data. It was a tedious process since they have five types of invoices and each provider type requires data from different fields.
After reviewing their end-to-end processes, we discovered that all incoming forms were being classified as the same invoice by default, despite being distinct invoice types with different properties and relevant fields for extraction. The lack of upstream classification added delays and bottlenecks downstream.
The insurer was initially hesitant to add a step to the beginning of the process, and they were worried about incorporating humans in the loop to review and resolve exception/edge cases. They entered the project expecting 90% of their processes to immediately be automated – no human involvement required – and to result in things immediately taking 90% less time.
It became clear that we needed to help them focus on achieving their overall business goals, as opposed to pure automation.
Driving Outcomes
The client recognized that there were bottlenecks in their processes but found it hard to pinpoint where their exact issues lay. This is where our expertise comes in.
The metrics and anecdotal evidence indicated that the core Hyperscience product was driving a meaningful reduction in overall average handling time. This customer realized that even without the highest levels of automation for every step in the process, the overall average handling time per invoice was decreasing.
By focusing on this early win and success, the insurer recognized that average handling time was the key metric that correlated to greater productivity and overall time savings. While the firm was skeptical at first, it helped them appreciate the value of incorporating humans-in-the-loop to drive the greatest accuracy and efficiency.
Working together to outline these goals and implement reimagined processes, processing times went from nine minutes per packet of documents to three minutes with a combination of humans and machines, ultimately resulting in a two-third reduction in average handling time.
What’s more, the conversations and feedback with the team brought new features and functionality to the Hyperscience roadmap.
The Path to Success
Successful implementations require a close partnership between the team responsible for introducing automation and those who oversee day-to-day operations. It’s also essential to find a technology partner who will work with you to adopt a “test methodology” mindset, leveraging subject matter expertise and applying best practices to limit disruption to your business and overall operations. Change is never easy, particularly when dealing with cutting-edge tech that makes companies rethink how they organize people, processes, and systems, making it important to focus on early wins and expand from there.
With internal and external alignment, clearly defined metrics, and a close partnership with your vendor, your firm will be well-positioned to streamline operations, scale to enterprise-wide deployment, and ultimately ROI.
