Automation in Healthcare: Key Benefits and Examples

Healthcare has always been a high-pressure field, with professionals spending countless hours on repetitive manual tasks. This is where automation in healthcare is becoming essential. Healthcare automation technologies are now providing the solutions needed to reduce errors, extra costs, inefficiencies, and risks to patients.

In this post, you’ll learn what automation in healthcare is, how it benefits everyone (patients, professionals, and companies) involved, and where the future of this critical industry is headed.

What Is Automation in Healthcare?

Automation in healthcare refers to the use of technology (including artificial intelligence, machine learning, robotics, and more) in healthcare-related processes to reduce the need for manual input. 

Investing in automated medical technology makes healthcare processes more efficient and accurate at less expense. With this extra time and stronger data, healthcare professionals are creating better patient experiences and outcomes.

Healthcare automation commonly replaces simple, repetitive processes like administrative tasks, data management, and billing. However, some professionals also use it for complex, scientific procedures like protein sample analysis, gene expression pattern mapping, and more.

Benefits of Automation in Healthcare

The widespread adoption of healthcare automation has resulted in several tangible benefits, from increased efficiency to reduced staff fatigue. Below, we’ll explore some of the benefits that healthcare companies and personnel are experiencing thanks to automation. 

Improved Efficiency and Productivity

Automating tasks as a whole has enabled healthcare professionals to focus more of their time on critical tasks. Rather than worrying about a constant stream of administrative tasks or conducting totally manual analysis, staff can focus on decision-making, research and development, and care.

Reduced Costs

Although the upfront cost of healthcare automation technologies may look daunting, they actually help reduce costs in the long run. By reducing errors, optimizing resource allocation, and lowering task completion time, investment in automation could directly save healthcare companies a lot of money.

More Accurate Data Management

Healthcare automation technologies can accurately manage high volumes of data at once, from intake and processing to analysis and forecasting assistance. This allows staff to spend less time handling the data and more time acting on it. Fewer manual errors mean less hassle for everyone.

Stronger Regulatory Compliance

Automated data management has also simplified the process of maintaining compliance with relevant laws and standards like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and 21 CFR Part 11. 

This can help protect companies against the risk of incurring penalties or delays from a regulatory violation or security breach.

Additional Accessibility Options

AI and automation in healthcare have opened doors for people who wouldn’t normally be able to access the services they need. For example, solutions like telehealth and remote monitoring enable people living in rural or remote areas to access specialized care without having to travel far away. 

Lower Staff Fatigue

Automation often helps prevent staff burnout by eliminating tedious, repetitive workflows that contribute to the high stress of healthcare jobs. This allows professionals to focus on critical tasks, which may:

• Prevent voluntary turnover
• Increase job satisfaction rates
• Improve end-result quality

Better Patient Engagement and Satisfaction

Investment in healthcare automation can result in more engaged and satisfied patients. Empowering your staff with the tools they need to deliver faster, higher-quality, and more personalized care helps build trust and encourage loyalty.

Types of Automation in Healthcare

Automation in healthcare can apply to nearly any type of process relevant to the healthcare industry. Below, we will provide some examples of common ways that companies implement healthcare automation solutions:

1. Data Analysis Automation

Automation can be applied to streamline and improve complex analytical tasks and scientific procedures, enabling skilled healthcare professionals to deliver research breakthroughs and accurate diagnoses faster.

Top biomedical engineering companies can leverage automated technologies to aid research and development, resulting in quicker turnaround times for new drugs and therapies for various diseases and conditions. 

According to the 2025 StudioRed Robotic Trends Report, robotic product development has taken off in the biotech sector, with only the consumer electronics and manufacturing sectors showing a higher degree of investment.

Healthcare professionals could use automated medical devices to streamline processes like medical image analysis, biomedical analysis, and lab testing. This helps healthcare professionals deliver faster, more accurate diagnoses with nuanced insights to craft an optimal treatment plan.

2. Clinical and Patient Care Automation

Automated solutions can help healthcare professionals execute clinical tasks and maintain constant patient care without manual intervention. This helps enable staff to provide precise attention to each patient’s well-being and effectively manage a high volume of patients.

• Surgeries: Automation solutions can be confidently used in procedures as complex and critical as surgeries. For example, a surgeon might employ a robotic assistant to complete various tasks during a surgical procedure, enabling them to focus their attention on the most critical and delicate tasks and lower the risk of complications.

• Medication administration: At any given time, hospitals are managing a lot of inpatient care cases at once. Hospital automation solutions like automated dispensing units, barcode scanners, and smart pumps can help nurses administer precise, timely doses of medication to each patient individually.

3. Training Automation

One of the more recent developments in healthcare is the implementation of automation into training procedures. 

For example, you can use AI-powered learning platforms to automatically build out personalized learning paths for staff. Automation can even be used to train for highly technical procedures like surgeries at no risk to patients through AR or VR environments.

4. Supply Chain Management Automation

Companies can use automated solutions to handle complex supply chain management procedures and ensure they always have what patients need on hand. 

For example, AI algorithms can conduct demand forecasting analysis and interface with other technologies or platforms to inform inventory management decisions. It can also help you augment or complete administrative SCM tasks like procurement and reorders.

5. Administrative Automation

By default, healthcare companies have a lot of administrative work to deal with daily. While these tasks are essential, they often take time away from your staff, which they could otherwise spend tending to a patient. 

Examples of administrative tasks that can be automated:

• Data management: Modern, automated platforms can handle the high volume of data that healthcare companies deal with, ultimately freeing up valuable time for staff members to focus on critical tasks. 

• Patient communication: You could set up an automation solution to handle any kind of patient communications, from scheduling and billing to feedback surveys and post-visit information. This also may free up more time for staff, who no longer have to worry about manual touchpoints with each patient.

Automation in Healthcare Examples

Healthcare automation can be implemented in various ways depending on the company’s functional needs. Below are some examples of biotech and medical products that scientists have implemented into research and development workflows.

Bio-Techne Leo

Used For: Protein Analysis Automation

The Bio-Techne Leo system is a state-of-the-art tool that fully automates the protein analysis workflow. It processes up to 100 samples simultaneously and provides 96 samples and 4 molecular weight ladders in as little as 3 hours with zero manual intervention.

This system helps scientists and researchers quickly complete complex studies and reach development milestones with extreme precision. Significantly increasing throughput and data quality, it has proven critical for bringing new drugs and therapies to patients in need.

10x Genomics Xenium Analyzer

Used For: Spatial Biology Automation

The 10x Genomics Xenium Analyzer automates the process of spatial analysis of gene and protein expression within tissue samples. 

With precision down to the nanometer level, this technology has completely transformed spatial biology experiments. It has eliminated the need for traditional sequencing methods through spatial context and subcellular resolution. It can also identify the cellular location of many RNA strands in tissue sections.

This system provides scientists and researchers with detailed images of gene expression patterns, cellular interactions, and more. This helps them better understand how diseases form and how they respond to treatment, a key aspect of informing diagnoses and developing safe new therapies. 

Gyros Protein PurePep Chorus

Used For: Peptide Synthesis Automation

The Gyros Protein PurePep Chorus is an award-winning automated peptide synthesizer that automatically completes precise and reproducible peptide synthesis procedures.

This bioanalytic device is part of Gyros Protein’s goals of helping scientists in academia and industry improve biomolecule performance. It’s helping to accelerate drug discovery and fuel pre-clinical and clinical development.

AI and the Future of Automation in Healthcare

Investment in AI and automation in healthcare has been ramping up since the turn of the century and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. In fact, life science, pharmaceutical, and biotech companies reported a 35% increase in robot orders alone. 

As this industry develops, the capabilities and use cases for automated medical devices are set to expand in scale. Below are some recent or emerging healthcare automation trends:

• Healthcare companies are leveraging automated solutions to speed up research and development workflows, which helps scientific researchers bring new drugs and treatments to market faster.

• AI can provide smart diagnostics and treatment support by precisely analyzing medical imagery, scientific data, and patient information. As these analytics algorithms evolve, they could play a growing role in supporting diagnostics and lead to even more effective treatment plans.

• AI virtual assistants/chatbots could be used to automatically handle basic tasks for patients. For example, they could answer FAQs, help patients schedule and remember appointments, or assist with updating medical records.

• The consolidation of patient data into electronic platforms has opened the doors for AI and machine learning algorithms to proactively identify health risks at scale. This can help healthcare professionals serve not just individual patients, but entire populations.

• IoT products and remote monitoring platforms can monitor granular health metrics accurately and without interruption. This could help healthcare professionals continuously regulate patients’ health, measure treatment plan effectiveness, and signal for interventions when necessary.

What Are the Main Challenges for Automation in Healthcare?

There are multiple key challenges emerging as companies increase their investment in healthcare automation. These challenges include:

Trust Concerns 

Automation is powered largely by patient-provided data. Companies and consumers alike are worried about how automated solutions can maintain the privacy and security of that data. Healthcare companies should invest in solutions with strong regulatory compliance capabilities, access controls, and cybersecurity measures.

Legacy System Integration

Healthcare companies often have processes standardized on older, legacy systems that house critical data. Organizations should find automation solutions that can integrate with or replace those legacy systems without compromising functionality.

Biases

AI models and automated solutions are prone to developing incorrect biases or limitations if they’re trained on unrepresentative data. This can lead to faulty recommendations, incorrect analyses, or inequitable care. 

Companies should try to feed algorithms complete data sets to give them representative samples from which to work. Staff should also be trained to identify those biases and factor them into their analysis and decision-making process.

Workforce Resistance

Staff may have concerns about widespread AI and automation implementation, fearing that automation will eventually replace them. Companies investing in automation should clearly communicate that automation solutions are meant to complement the human touch, not replace it.

Financial Challenges

Put simply, healthcare automation is a massive investment. It often involves high up-front and recurring costs. Healthcare companies should conduct thorough cost analysis to be certain that the automation solutions they seek will actually save them money in the long run.

Partner with a Trusted Healthcare Product Development Team

StudioRed specializes in designing industrial automation products, including those in the biotech and medical industries. Automation in healthcare grows every year. Given the complexity involved, you’ll want to consult a product development team capable of developing solutions that are innovative, compliant, and user-friendly.

Contact StudioRed today to learn more about how our expertise in product design can help your healthcare company reap the qualitative and quantitative benefits of automation.

Automation in Healthcare FAQ

How Does AI Improve Diagnostic Accuracy in Healthcare?

AI helps improve diagnostic accuracy in healthcare by analyzing medical imagery and scientific information in the context of patient data to identify diseases, conditions, or other areas of concern. 

AI rapidly identifies nuances and risk factors at an extremely granular level, which can lead to faster, more accurate diagnoses. 

What Is Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Used for in Healthcare?

Robotic process automation (RPA) has a wide range of applications in healthcare, including but not limited to end-to-end data management, billing and claims management, scheduling, and patient onboarding.