80% healthcare administrative automation by 2029

The concept of workflow automation has moved from being a futuristic dream to a tangible reality. We can now double productivity at a fraction of the cost focusing on tasks and activities humans find mundane and repetitive—thus freeing up humans to accomplish higher-value work.

While automation will have lasting impacts on every industry, the opportunity for AI and automation to transform healthcare is particularly profound. According to the 2024 CAQH Index, the industry has the potential to save upwards of $20 billion by shifting to more automated workflows, alleviating administrative burden, and allowing for more concerted efforts to improve patient care and access.

The landscape of administrative burden in healthcare

Currently, approximately 60% of healthcare system budgets are spent on labor, with a staggering 24% of that focused on administrative tasks. These roles include handling faxes, making phone calls, managing work queues, and chart-scrubbing—tasks that are repetitive, tedious, and mundane for employees. High attrition rates—ranging between 20-35% annually for administrative roles—only compound this challenge and significantly inflate recruitment, training, and retention costs.

The toll extends beyond finances. As clinicians and administrators balance mountains of administrative work, the quality of care delivery often suffers. And physician burnout remains a critical issue, with 45.2% of physicians reporting at least one symptom of burnout when surveyed. Automation presents an opportunity to not only bridge these gaps but to entirely redefine how healthcare operates.

Supercharging healthcare automation

Automation in healthcare isn’t a new concept, but data challenges have historically hamstrung its scalability and effectiveness. There are a few key advancements in technology that have helped multiply the impact of automation in recent years: 

1. Integration. Integration sits at the heart of transformation. Foundational technologies like HL7, FHIR, and growing support for Health Information Exchange (HIE) networks have laid the groundwork for seamless data movement between systems. 
   

2. Extraction. However, integration alone isn’t enough. Without robust data structure and advanced tools to extract meaningful insights, artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities fall flat. This is where strides in technology have begun to shine, as AI and automation platforms integrate every step into their core infrastructure. By avoiding piecemeal approaches, platforms like Notable provide consistent functionality that adapts to rapid technological innovation.
   

3. Large Language Models (LLMs). The evolution of LLMs is another game-changer for healthcare automation. With access to the latest LLMs, platforms can enhance their automation capabilities in near real-time. For example, tasks like hierarchical condition category (HCC) coding—complex and critical in healthcare reimbursements—are being profoundly reshaped by these advancements.
   

Notably, smaller, purpose-driven language models are also being developed to address exact use cases. When high-volume workflows emerge (e.g., provider credentialing or appointment scheduling), these models are customized to optimize efficiency. This agility allows healthcare platforms to create tailored solutions quickly, staying ahead of the curve in a fast-changing ecosystem.

4. Visualizations and low-code interfaces. Low-code, drag-and-drop interfaces enable both technical and non-technical users to understand, manage, ideate, and deploy new workflows more easily, making automation more accessible for healthcare organizations. Additionally, reporting capabilities have advanced to include data visualizations, allowing users to quickly identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, or gaps in current workflows and make actionable decisions. The evolution to more accessible user experiences makes workflow logic transparent, flexible, and easier to evolve. 

The human element: Building solutions for people

With the emergence of many companies automating healthcare work, what now sets advanced healthcare solutions apart is their human-centered approach – building technology not for its own sake but to solve real-world problems that affect real people. 

The focus becomes using automation to eliminate the work no one wants—those menial, repetitive tasks—while empowering employees to focus on higher-value, more satisfying work. 

Montage Health automated referrals to free up clinical staff and improve patient follow-through. MUSC Health identified and automated processes that depend heavily on human engagement, including patient intake and registration, appointment scheduling, and more. Augusta Health streamlined pre-registration for a digital-first approach, benefitting both staff and patients. 

As one healthcare leader aptly said, "They don't want to do these jobs." By automating repetitive roles, organizations can offer more meaningful opportunities for their workforce—a step critical for retention in today’s challenging labor market.

Data-driven optimization and the new workforce

Healthcare organizations that resist automation risk losing both their talent base and financial sustainability. Without adoption, current attrition rates mean that a healthcare workforce could fully turn over in the next five years. Meanwhile, organizations still reliant on manual workflows will continue to spend huge sums on recruitment and retraining, only for employees to leave for jobs in more progressive industries.

Automation flips this model. By deploying intelligent agents to identify and streamline automatable tasks, health systems can reallocate resources to critical functions. Employees become care facilitators rather than clerical workers. In turn, patient care becomes more streamlined, human, and satisfying for all parties involved.

This transition also calls for a new kind of workforce model—an elastic workforce—where AI-enabled agents can be flexibly deployed across touch points to stabilize operations during spikes in demand, reduce burnout, and ensure consistency in service delivery. Rather than layering point solutions over legacy workflows, organizations must embrace platforms designed to orchestrate AI at scale and empower their teams to adapt fluidly as new capabilities emerge.

Automation is an opportunity to save costs and rehumanize the healthcare experience. By 2029, an AI-powered transformation of 80% of administrative tasks will be the industry standard. The question for every healthcare leader today is: Will you be the agent of change, or will you be left watching from the sidelines?

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