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Regional Health System Saves 226 Working Days Per Year

How a healthcare network transformed patient intake by reducing a 20-minute manual process to just 2 minutes with Power Apps automation.

226Days Saved/Year
90%Time Reduction
20→2Minutes Per Task
MorePatient Care Time

The Challenge

A regional healthcare network serving hundreds of thousands of patients annually faced a common but critical challenge: administrative tasks were consuming time that clinical staff could spend on patient care. The patient intake process was particularly problematic.

Every patient encounter required extensive administrative work:

  • Manual data entry from paper forms into multiple systems
  • Verification of insurance and demographic information
  • Duplicate entry across clinical and billing systems
  • Paper-based workflows prone to errors and delays
  • Staff frustration with repetitive, low-value tasks

A single administrative task that had to be performed for every patient was taking approximately 20 minutes of staff time. Multiply this across thousands of daily patient encounters, and the cumulative impact was staggering.

The Solution

The healthcare network implemented a Power Apps solution to automate and streamline patient intake workflows. The app consolidated multiple manual steps into a single, guided digital process.

Power Apps Power Automate Dataverse EHR Integration

Key features of the solution:

  • Digital Forms: Patients can complete intake forms on tablets or phones before arrival
  • Automated Validation: Real-time verification of insurance eligibility and data accuracy
  • System Integration: Direct data flow to EHR and billing systems, eliminating duplicate entry
  • Guided Workflows: Step-by-step process ensures completeness and compliance
  • Exception Handling: Automatic flagging of issues requiring staff attention

"What used to take 20 minutes now takes just over 2 minutes. That time goes directly back into patient care. Our staff are happier, our patients get more attention, and our error rates have dropped significantly."

— Director of Clinical Operations

The Results

226 Working Days Saved

The equivalent of 226 full working days per year was redirected from administrative tasks to patient care activities.

90% Time Reduction

The intake task that previously took 20 minutes now completes in just over 2 minutes—a 90% reduction in time per encounter.

Reduced Errors

Automated validation and elimination of manual data entry significantly reduced errors in patient records and billing.

Improved Staff Satisfaction

Clinical staff report higher job satisfaction as they spend more time on meaningful patient interactions.

Key Takeaways

  • Target High-Frequency Tasks: Small time savings on tasks performed thousands of times create massive cumulative impact
  • Integrate Deeply: Connect to existing systems to eliminate duplicate data entry
  • Design for Mobile: Tablet and phone-friendly interfaces enable flexibility
  • Measure in Staff Time: Quantify savings in terms leadership understands—working days returned to care
  • Focus on Patient Care: Frame technology investments in terms of patient care improvement

Technology Stack

  • Power Apps: Canvas apps for patient-facing and staff-facing interfaces
  • Power Automate: Background workflows for validation and system updates
  • Dataverse: Structured data storage with healthcare compliance
  • Custom Connectors: Integration with EHR and billing systems

References

This case study is based on healthcare automation patterns documented by Microsoft:

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