According to a recent survey, the healthcare industry is at least 15 percent behind other industries when it comes to automation.
PayStream Advisors, a Charlotte, NC.-based research and consulting firm, conducted a survey of accounts payable, procurement, treasury and finance professionals in the last quarter of 2008. The online survey was completed by more than 300 companies spanning a variety of industries including more than 85 responses from the healthcare segment.
The survey revealed healthcare invoice and payments processes are still largely in paper format. Research shows the typical invoice takes an average of 23 days from the invoice date to make it's way through the process to an approved state.
According to the survey, hospitals are about five years behind non-healthcare industries in terms of adoption of paperless invoice processing. Of the survey respondents, more than 70 percent of the hospitals received in excess of 80 percent of their invoices in paper format. As a result of this they said resolving matching errors and exceptions were their most challenging tasks.
The study suggests healthcare is behind on automation because of infrastructure and technical issues. However, Software-as-a-Service or Web-based solutions that require lower investment and expertise could provide an alternative, the study points out.
Other barriers cited were persuading suppliers to change their processes to align with buyers' needs and resistance from accounts payable managers to change existing processes.
Healthcare ePayables (invoice and payment automation solutions) will help accounts payable departments increase efficiency, accelerate approval cycles, have fewer exceptions, lower processing costs and increase visibility, the study says. Survey respondents said processing efficiencies and lower costs would be the biggest benefits of automation.
Hospital respondents said their top automation goals for 2009, would be to increase electronic invoicing.
