Category Archives: Automation

Microsoft To Do, the companys task management service should become much more useful with the just announced integration with IFTTT. For those unfamiliar, IFTTT (If This Then That) is a popular automation platform that competes with Microsoft's Power Automate, previously known as Microsoft Flow.

This update enables users to create IFTTT-powered triggers, queries, and actions to get automated notifications for changes in their task list. As an example, To Do users can use IFTTT to sync new Google Tasks in Microsoft To Do, or notify a Slack channel when Microsoft To Do tasks are completed. You can find other integrations examples on this page.

Microsoft To Do already integrates with Microsoft's Power Automate, though it's currently only possible to use To Do with Power Automate with a work or school account. IFTTT supports personal Microsoft accounts as well as work and school accounts, and you can get started by creating your free IFTTT account on the company's website.

Link:

Microsoft To Do gets better automation capabilities with IFTTT support - OnMSFT.com

CHELMSFORD, Mass., Nov. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Brooks Automation, Inc. (Nasdaq: BRKS) today announced that its newly branded Azenta Life Sciences business has been contracted by QTC Management, Inc., a Leidos company (NYSE: LDOS), to provide the storage and distribution of vaccines to the U.S. Department of Defense.

Earlier this year, QTC was awarded the prestigious Reserve Health Readiness Program III contract, under which they will provide commercial health services to all U.S. military reserve forces. Azenta will work with QTC and the Defense Health Agency to ensure the safe, reliable supply of vaccines for service members. This includes the provision of temperature controlled secure storage for active vaccines, and timely shipment and delivery of vaccines to QTC clinics and temporary events located across all 50 U.S. States, territories, Washington DC, and locations in Germany.

"We are proud to be selected and to apply our expertise in cold storage solutions and services to support our nation's service members," said Linda De Jesus, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Azenta Life Sciences. "Providing our services to protect vaccines with exacting cold chain requirements and ensure they are made available where and when needed is a natural extension of our sample management services business."

For more information about Azenta Life Sciences, please visit http://www.azenta.com.

About Brooks AutomationBrooks (Nasdaq: BRKS) operates two global, market-leading businesses, Life Sciences and Semiconductor Solutions, each with its own distinct area of focus and expertise. The Life Sciences business, to be operated under the new Azenta brand, provides a full suite of reliable cold-chain sample management solutions and genomic services across areas such as drug development, clinical research and advanced cell therapies for the industry's top pharmaceutical, biotech, academic and healthcare institutions globally. On September 20, 2021, the Company announced the pending sale to Thomas H. Lee Partners of its Semiconductor Solutions Group business, which provides industry-leading precision vacuum robotics, integrated automation systems and contamination control solutions to the world's leading semiconductor chip makers and equipment manufacturers as well as collaborative robotics and automation capabilities for multi-market applications. Brooks is headquartered in Chelmsford, MA, with operations in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit http://www.brooks.com.

About QTC ManagementQTC Management, Inc. (QTC), acquired by Leidos in 2016, partners with each customer to identify existing and forecasted program needs and delivers a full complement of disability-focused medical examination and diagnostic testing services. Since 2000, QTC has provided more than 9 million physical examinations and diagnostic tests. For more information, visit http://www.qtcm.com.

About LeidosLeidos is a Fortune 500 information technology, engineering, and science solutions and services leader working to solve the world's toughest challenges in the defense, intelligence, civil, and health markets. The company's 40,000 employees support vital missions for government and commercial customers. Headquartered in Reston, Va., Leidos reported annual revenues of approximately $12.30 billion for the fiscal year ended January 1, 2021. For more information, visit http://www.leidos.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Roula GinisDirector, Global Marketing CommunicationsAzenta Life Sciences774.284.3442[emailprotected]

INVESTOR CONTACTS:

Sara SilvermanDirector, Investor RelationsBrooks Automation 978.262.2635[emailprotected]

Sherry DinsmoreBrooks Automation978.262.2400[emailprotected]

SOURCE Brooks Automation

http://www.brooks.com

See original here:

Brooks Automation Announces New Agreement With QTC Management, Inc. To Support The Military Reserve Health Readiness Program - PRNewswire

LUXEMBOURG & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alter Domus, a leading provider of integrated solutions for the alternative investment industry with $1.3 trillion in global AUA, and Canoe Intelligence (Canoe), a financial technology company redefining data management processes for alternative investors and allocators, today announced a strategic partnership to provide clients with alternative data management solutions that combine best-of-breed automated technology and data accuracy.

By partnering with Canoe, Alter Domus will modernize and bring scale to its existing alternative data management and asset servicing businesses while continuing to deliver exceptional service to its 1,700 global clients. Canoes automated technology for alternatives and private markets will significantly streamline Alter Domus ability to collect and categorize documents, and extract, validate and deliver data to downstream systems. Ultimately, this will enable Alter Domus to bring the most comprehensive alternative data management solution to the market.

Were excited about our strategic partnership with Canoe and look forward to delivering our combined data management solution to alternative investors, said Jared Broadbent, Head of Fund Services, North America at Alter Domus. Our combined data management solution will change how data is consumed by limited partners.

This partnership with Canoe is an exciting one for us and really builds on the technology infrastructure weve developed at Alter Domus, said Darren OBanion, Chief Technology Officer at Alter Domus. We are combining Canoes tools with our own data management tools to provide an industry-leading data solution. Were proud to partner with market leaders to deliver tech-enabled solutions to the industry and look forward to passing these benefits and efficiencies along to our clients.

Since its commercial launch in 2018, Canoe has enabled more than 125 alternative investors and allocators to scale their businesses and has become the industry-standard approach for automating alternatives documents and data management. Canoe leverages shared intelligence from its diverse client base of institutional investors, capital allocators, asset servicing firms and wealth managers, and a growing fund master database of over 14,000 funds across numerous asset classes. This scale enables Canoe to ingest high volumes of complex documents and create instantaneous access to actionable data.

Were proud to partner with leading fund administrators like Alter Domus to bring automation and scale to its existing suite of services for alternative investors, said Jason Eiswerth, CEO at Canoe Intelligence. The combination of Canoes automated technology and Alter Domus data management services will enable investors to have the best of both worlds when it comes to managing their alternatives documents and data.

Following the acquisition of Strata Fund Solutions LLC (Strata) earlier this year, Alter Domus became one of the top three largest private asset servicers for US alternative asset managers. Additionally, Alter Domus has over $1.3 trillion in global assets under administration (AuA), making it one of the largest private asset servicers globally and an undisputed leader in the private equity and venture capital servicing space.

ABOUT ALTER DOMUS

Alter Domus is a leading provider of fund administration, debt capital markets and corporate services for the alternative investment industry. Through vertical integration, dedicated teams provide support and bespoke solutions across entire value chains. By tapping into a talent pool of more than 3,300 employees across 36 offices in 21 jurisdictions, our expertise and cutting-edge technology combine to put clients ahead of the game.

With an established professional focus on private equity, venture capital, real estate, infrastructure, and credit sectors, we offer fund administration, debt capital markets services, corporate services, depositary services, capital administration, transfer pricing, domiciliation and management company services. Our specific experience in the debt capital markets sector allows us to provide specialist solutions such as loan administration, agency services, trade settlement and CLO manager services.

Alter Domus proudly serves 16 of the 20 largest private equity houses, 17 of the 20 largest real estate firms, and 17 of the 20 largest private debt managers in the world. For more information, please visit: http://www.alterdomus.com

ABOUT CANOE INTELLIGENCE

Canoe Intelligence redefines alternative investment data processes for hundreds of leading institutional investors, capital allocators, asset servicing firms and wealth managers. By combining industry expertise with the most sophisticated data capture technologies, Canoes technology automates the highly frustrating, time-consuming, and costly manual workflows related to alternative investment document and data management, extraction and delivery. With Canoe, clients can refocus capital and human resources on business performance and growth, increase efficiency, and gain deeper access to their data. Canoes AI-driven platform was developed in 2013 for Portage Partners LLC, a private investment firm. Learn more: https://canoeintelligence.com/.

Read more here:

Alter Domus and Canoe Intelligence Partner to Deliver Newfound Automation and Accuracy to Alternatives Data Management - Business Wire

Protects against complex web and API-based attacks and mitigates bots with a single, easy-to-use solution powered by Akamai's Adaptive Security Engine

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM), the world's most trusted solution to power and protect digital experiences, today announces the launch of App & API Protector, the company's next-generation web application and API protection (WAAP) solution. It provides a holistic set of powerful protections built for today's modern applications and APIs with intelligent automation and simplicity.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. logo (PRNewsfoto/Akamai Technologies, Inc.)

Last month, Akamai released its latest State of the Internet / Security report, 'API: The Attack Surface That Connects Us All,' which highlighted the challenges organizations face in the evolving threat landscape, especially given that Gartner reported APIs will be the most frequent online attack vector by 2022. In fact, by design, API calls are easier and faster to automate than other software endpoints, making them an increasingly appealing target for cybercriminals.

With App & API Protector, Akamai customers have a single, integrated WAAP solution that is designed to deliver the strongest security outcomes, without compromising simplicity and ease of use. Key benefits include:

Automatic API discovery and securityMitigate API-related risks and vulnerabilities with continuous discovery of known, unknown, and evolving APIs. API requests are automatically discovered and inspected for malicious code; and optional API security controls can be enforced at the edge to activate positive API security models. Gartner's 2021 Critical Capabilities report gave Akamai the top spot for the use case on API programmability and security.

Adaptive and more accurate detectionsDetect up to two times more attacks compared to traditional rulesets. Adaptive, threat-based detection employs a multidimensional threat scoring model that combines Akamai's platform intelligence with data/metadata from each web and API request. This data is actioned with decision-making logic that accurately identifies and stops stealthy attacks with surgical-grade precision.

Story continues

Continuous self-tuningAkamai's Adaptive Security Engine not only keeps pace with rapidly evolving threats but reduces false positives by up to five times to alleviate the effort required to maintain and tune policies. Security triggers, whether true attacks or those misidentified as attacks, are automatically and continuously analyzed with machine learning to deliver highly accurate policy-by-policy tuning recommendations with a 1-click implementation.

Built-in bot mitigationAutomatically detect and mitigate unwanted bots with built-in bot visibility and mitigation capabilities. Akamai's industry-leading bot technology features an expansive directory of 1,500+ known bots and provides customers with the ability to create and define bots to proactively monitor analytics and prevent attacks. For more persistent, adversarial bot operators, Akamai offers its category-leading Bot Manager solution to mitigate that threat.

Automatic updatesEnable a "hands off" approach to WAAP with adaptive protections fully managed by Akamai. Our world-class security researchers use advanced machine learning and data mining techniques to continuously analyze over 303TB of daily attack data and automatically update protections against the latest threats. Customers can also opt for manual/evaluation mode of operation to minimize any unexpected impact of new updates.

DevOps integration made simpleEasily integrate WAAP capabilities using the Akamai CLI, Terraform, or scripts in the CI/CD automation pipeline. Enable rapid onboarding of applications, ensure uniform security policy management across large application and API portfolios, and centralize security enforcement across hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructures.

"As the online threat landscape continues to evolve, the need for a holistic, adaptive approach to web application and API security is clear. With the introduction of our new App & API Protector, Akamai customers now have a single, holistic solution that makes sophisticated protection extremely simple," said Amol Mathur, Vice President of Product Management, Akamai. "This builds on Akamai's proven security technologies, introducing new levels of sophisticated, automated intelligence to keep our customers a step ahead of the cybercriminals."

In September, Akamai was named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Web Application and API Protection report and placed highest in the Ability to Execute among the companies evaluated for their ability to protect web applications and APIs. In addition, Akamai also received the highest scores for three of the four Use Cases in the 2021 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Cloud Web Application and API Protection report, including the API Security Use Case.

To learn more about Akamai's designation as a Leader in the Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Web Application and API Protection, 20 September 2021, a complimentary copy of the report is available here.

For more information about App & API Protector, visit here.

About Akamai Akamai powers and protects life online. The most innovative companies worldwide choose Akamai to secure and deliver their digital experiences - helping billions of people live, work, and play every day. With the world's largest and most trusted edge platform, Akamai keeps apps, code, and experiences closer to users - and threats farther away. Learn more about Akamai's security, content delivery, and edge compute products and services at http://www.akamai.com, blogs.akamai.com, or follow Akamai Technologies on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform ActThis release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, failure of the solutions to operate as expected or to address intended market needs, a failure of Akamai's network infrastructure, and other factors that are discussed in Akamai's Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.

Contacts:

Helen Yang Media Relations 858-404-1436 hyang@akamai.com

Tom Barth Investor Relations 617-274-7130 tbarth@akamai.com

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/akamai-redefines-waap-simplicity-and-automation-with-new-app--api-protector-301417763.html

SOURCE Akamai Technologies, Inc.

Read this article:

Akamai Redefines WAAP Simplicity and Automation with New App & API Protector - Yahoo Finance

On November 3, 2021, Brookings Metro Fellow Kristen Broady testified to the U.S. House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth, during a hearing titled Our Changing Economy: The Economic Effects of Technological Innovation, Automation and the Future of Work.

Broadys research, as detailed in her written testimony, details how the pandemic has and is likely to continue to accelerate the automation of jobs and the emergence of the network economy, while the economic crisis has led to unemployment disproportionately impacting Black and Latino workers who are overrepresented in jobs that cannot be done remotely and in jobs considered to be frontline or essential, putting them at higher risk both of being laid off and of being exposed to the virus.

Broady provides several recommendations to counteract automation susceptibility, including investing in higher education, particularly in historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and minority serving institutions (MSIs). Additionally, Broady notes that the higher education sector should focus on retention, graduation, and placement of Black and Latino students.

To read Broadys full testimony, click here. To watch the testimony video, click here.

Read the original here:

Race and Jobs at Risk of Being Automated in the Age of COVID-19 - Brookings Institution

Vincent Hua explains how to make your manufacturing process smarter by automating CNC machines

CNC or Computer Numerical Control is a manufacturing process where a program tells the machine how and where to drill or cut on a block of raw material. Once programmed, the CNC machine works on its own to create the design on the metal block.

CNC machines have been around since the 1960s. They have gained a prominent place in the manufacturing industry over time. With automation becoming the buzzword in recent times, many industries are combining automation with CNC machines to create a smarter manufacturing process. It is often considered the first step towards a dark factory or a completely automated factory.

CNC machines are becoming more and more popular, and it is expected to become a US$115 billion industry by 2026 with a CAGR of 6%. Even 3D printing now uses the CNC process to create various designs. Combine this with the fact that consumer electronics, automobiles, machine parts, etc., are growing considerably. The consumer electronics market is expected to grow at a rate of 8% from 2021 to 2027. The automotive market is also expected to grow at a rate of 4.8% from 2020 to 2025. This is in addition to the fact that there is expected to be a shortage of 2.4 million skilled labourers by the year 2028 in the US alone.

There is a growing need for automating the manufacturing process of these products. Since most of them are reliant on CNC machining, the need for automating CNC machining is on the rise. In addition to this, CNC machining is already partly automatic. The machine carries out the pre-programmed design with little human intervention.

Precision

CNC machines are highly precise and accurate. Once programmed properly, the CNC milling machine can produce multiple parts at the same level of precision. This makes CNC machine a prime candidate for automation as there is no need to readjust parameters to create the same level of precision throughout the manufacturing process.

Create complex machine parts

The CNC machines in the market today can create parts with minute details with a high level of precision. Since most machine parts, consumer electronics, and automotive parts today require minute details, CNC is the perfect candidate for the job.

Reduces user error

There is always a chance for human error to occur on a manually operated machine. As long as the CNC machines are given regular maintenance and the parts are checked for wear and tear, the results are accurate and consistent. It also reduces material wastage as there are no defective pieces.

Reduce labour cost

Since the computer program and the CNC machine are doing most of the work, a single staff can oversee multiple machines. The need for highly skilled labour is less as the overseeing only needs minimal training to change the parts and troubleshoot common problems. They do not have to carry out the drilling and milling process. Automating CNC machining brings down the labour cost significantly.

Easily Integratable

CNC machines have evolved a lot since their inception. Modern machines can be used for various applications and can even be integrated with various other manufacturing units. If you already have an automated manufacturing process, the CNC milling machine will fit right into the line without major alterations.

While automation has various benefits, you need to consider certain things to reap these benefits.

Be proactive

Many think about automation only because it is the trend. However, automation requires proper planning. The entire process must be well thought out so that it is aligned with the needs of automation. Otherwise, you might end up making changes as they come along. These will often lead to manufacturing errors and wastage of resources.

Hire adequate resources and define roles

While automation does cut down the number of employees, the ones that remain have crucial roles. You need trained and skilled employees to create the programs and G-code needed for the CNC machine. After all, it is the code that guides the machines, and any error in the code can be expensive. Similarly, you will need personnel to check the machines and the products to determine if they adhere to the quality set forth by the customers. The roles of all the personnel should be well-defined so that there is no confusion.

Control the environment

While the CNC milling machines can work continuously once they have been programmed, they do generate heat. The heat can impact the machine parts can cause variability in the results. Therefore, you need to ensure that the environment on the manufacturing floor is favourable for the continuous operation of CNC machines.

Get proper tools

Not all equipment is created the same. A high-quality CNC machine is capable of handling the complexities of continuous operation. Select CNC milling machines that can handle complex programs and employ tools that can withstand continuous operation.

Automate the smart way

Automating CNC machines is the way towards a smarter manufacturing process as it can manufacture complex parts at a reduced cost while also creating highly precise results. However, it is a step that should be taken after considering everything mentioned above.

Hiring the right personnel, using top-notch CNC milling machines, and creating a detailed plan for automation are the cornerstones for a successful transition to automation. Automation is not just a trend; it is the future.

Vincent Hua is with TSINFA.

Go here to read the rest:

Integrating CNC machines and automation - Engineer Live

This is a short story about three clients, each in the early stages of an MES (manufacturing execution system) implementation. These clients are in different businesses, but their production processes and shop floor equipment are very similar. They each employ CNC machines and other related equipment to produce their respective products, and each client has plans to connect that equipment to the MES to provide an automated means of gathering critical production data that is, at present, either being recorded manually or not at all.

While each of the three clients face differing challenges in getting their production equipment connected, they each have chosen a different approach to achieve it.

The second client has fewer machines that generally fall into the 20 years old and newer category. This client is also adding new machines to their facility. They currently do not have an automated means of gathering data from the machines they have; they rely on manual collection of production data. They knew up front that they needed production data from their machines to support the MES project. They also knew that it made sense to break up the MES implementation into three phasesessentially a crawl, walk, run approach. The decision was made that as part of the first phase, we would conduct a proof of concept of machine connectivity on a small cross section of their machines. Once the interfaces were proven, the remainder of the machines could be brought online in the second phase of the project.

The third client is primarily installing new equipment. They knew that they would need to get data from the machines for the MES implementation and, based on that knowledge, they engaged early with both the OEMs and the MES team to determine how best to get the interfaces defined. This early engagement resulted in machines being delivered to the facility with an essentially plug-and-play data interface preconfigured by the OEMs.

The takeaway from these stories is that, regardless of the approach taken to machine connectivity, it can always be done to one degree or another. The clients conditions, expectations, and assumptions play a large part in easing the pain and cost of implementation of a MES/IIoT application.

Continue reading here:

A Tale of Three Clients and Their Journeys to MES - Automation World

Microsoft is the technology company best positioned to take advantage of future industrial automation disruption in the industry, according to GlobalData analysts.

The USA-based company comes top of the list in a ranking of overall leadership in the themes that matter most among industrial automation companies.

These themes, which can be defined as any issues that keep CEOs awake at night, describe technological, macroeconomic and industry-specific challenges that companies are currently facing, as well as the opportunities they create. GlobalDatas Thematic Research ecosystem identifies and tracks these challenges, and how they create the long-term winners and losers of the industrial automation industry.

Microsoft scored highly in several areas, particularly when it comes to Virtual and Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, Wearable Tech, Edge computing and Future of work, where it received top marks of five out of five.

Microsoft received scores of four for Cybersecurity, Industrial Internet, Robotics, COVID-19 and Digital twins performances.

These scores represent GlobalData analysts assessments of the competitiveness of each company regarding a particular theme. They are then weighted based on their importance and used to create the final industry ranking.

Microsoft is followed in our ranking by ABB, GE and Siemens.

The interactive graphic below allows you to compare company ratings across the 10 themes in question. The higher up a company is on the list, the better positioned it is to weather disruption in the future, while the companies at the bottom are more vulnerable to disruptive threats.

Click on any of the companies to compare them across all the themes in our analysis.

Our analysis reveals that companies from USA are some of the best-prepared players in the industrial automation game. Companies from China and Japan also performed well.

These scores are based on overall technology, macroeconomic and sector-specific leadership in 10 of the key themes that matter most to the Industrial automation industry and are generated by GlobalData analysts' assessments.

This article is based on GlobalData research figures as of 03 November, 2021. For more up to date figures, check the GlobalData website.

Read the original post:

Microsoft leads the way in industrial automation - Verdict

The following list shows CR-tested vehicles that offer Level 2 automation as defined by the SAE. They have ACC and sustained lane keeping assist standard or as optional equipment. Click on the brand name to quickly access the road tests and ratings.

Acura: ILX, MDX (2022), RDX, TLX Alfa Romeo: Giulia, StelvioAudi: A4, A6, A8, Q3, Q5, Q7, E-TronBMW: 3 Series, 5 Series, 7 Series, X3, X5, X7Cadillac: CT4, CT5, EscaladeFord: Bronco Sport, Edge, Escape, Explorer, F-150, Mustang Mach-E, RangerGenesis: G80, G90, GV80Honda: Accord, CR-V, Civic, Clarity, HR-V, Insight, Odyssey, Passport, Pilot, RidgelineHyundai: Elantra, Ioniq, Palisade, Santa Fe, Sonata Infiniti: QX50Kia: Carnival (2022), K5, Niro, Niro Electric, Seltos, Sorento, TellurideLand Rover: Range Rover, Range Rover SportLexus: ES, IS, LS, NX, RX, RX L, UXLincoln: Aviator, Corsair, NautilusMaserati: GhibliMazda: 3, CX-30Mercedes-Benz: A-Class, C-Class, CLA, E-Class, GLA, GLB, GLC, GLE, GLSNissan: Altima, Leaf, Pathfinder (2022), RoguePolestar: 2Porsche: Cayenne, TaycanSubaru: Ascent, Crosstrek, Forester, Legacy, OutbackTesla: Model 3, Model S, Model X, Model YToyota: C-HR Camry, Corolla, Corolla Hatchback, Highlander, Prius, Prius Prime, RAV4, RAV4 Prime, Sienna, VenzaVolkswagen: Arteon, Atlas, Atlas Cross SportVolvo: S60, S90, XC40, XC60, XC90

Excerpt from:

How Much Automation Does Your Car Really Have? - ConsumerReports.org

It's no surprise that healthcare systems are increasingly focused on how to increase net revenue and cash at a lower cost to collect.

One successful way to achieve this goal is through automation. Revenue cycle processes are often highly repetitive yet still manually performed, making them ideal for automation.

During an October webinar hosted by Becker's Hospital Review and sponsored by Xtend Healthcare, Mike Morris, president and CEO, and Billy Padilla, CIO, discussed why health systems should automate the revenue cycle, steps they can take to get started and the benefits they can expect to see.

Five key insights were:

1. Limited resources, manual tasks, a labor shortage and lack of standardization in the revenue cycle can be improved with automation. "Many IT spend commitments within a health system flow to the clinical side of the house, squeezing the amount of dollars available for innovation and application development to support revenue cycle processes," Mr. Morris said. "There are still too many manual and repetitive tasks that take place every day, and healthcare providers have trouble attracting and retaining qualified staff. Moreover, a lack of standard processes for people who work in a disparate and geographically distributed environment is another impediment that can be removed with the help of stronger automation, Mr. Morris said.

2. Cleansing and validating data is necessary before automation can happen. Health systems must first centralize the collection, cleansing and storage of different sources of data. "All of these disparate sources have to be mapped and put into a centralized repository so you can do common work events across data sources," Mr. Morris said.

Health systems also must ensure that data accurately reflects reality. "You don't want to automate a previously manual function based on imprecise or imperfect data," Mr. Morris added.

3. Automation can add immediate value by triaging tasks. Ideally, automation addresses simple requests with no human intervention and routes complex tasks to an individual trained to handle the complexities. "You want to triage accounts in a manner that aggregates like-kind claims so an agent sees the same complexity over and over and gets more efficient with those types of accounts," Mr. Morris said. "In addition, we want to send employees tasks that match their skill sets so they can practice at the top of their license."

4. Robotic process automation automates manual tasks quickly and efficiently. According to Mr. Padilla, robotic process automation is the action of taking a manual work event and programming the steps so it can be done by a computer. "Processes that are repetitive, very manual, of low value and high touch are perfect for automation," he said. "RPA is becoming table stakes."

5. Applying machine learning and artificial intelligence to the revenue cycle promises to accelerate automation. "It's the future of revenue cycle," Mr. Padilla said.

For example, Xtend applied artificial intelligence and machine learning to one of its clients who wanted to conduct eligibility checks but encountered an issue.

The problem was that the payer required patient gender, which was not reliably captured in our data set. We created a machine learning model that allowed us to feed in examples of first names and genders, which then allowed us to accurately predict with a 97% level of confidence the gender of a patient, Mr. Padilla said.

Automation technologies and revenue cycle management are meeting at a critical crossroad. Health systems can achieve their goal of increasing net revenue at a lower cost by understanding the interplay and adopting new technologies to improve processes.

To register for upcoming webinars, click here.

Original post:

The revenue cycle is ripe for automation 5 insights for how health systems can get there - Becker's Hospital Review