Monthly Archives: May 2022

Back to Basics is a weekly feature that highlights important but possibly overlooked information that any EHS professional should know. This week, we examine automation, the use of automation in EHS reporting, and how it can increase the productivity of the workforce.

New technologies are constantly being invented and distributed to consumers, including versions of artificial intelligence that are used in various ways to make peoples lives simpler. In the EHS industry, there has been a surge of individuals and organizations who are advocating for the automation of EHS processes, especially when it comes to reporting and data collection.

Many companies have come up with their own algorithms and data input resources to help EHS professionals with their jobs, and as this continues to happen, its becoming increasingly important to understand what automated EHS means and how it can impact the workforce. Jake Freivald, the Vice President of Fulcrum, spoke in a recent webinar about the benefits of automation in EHS and what the implementation of artificial intelligence would look like, specifically in the case of safety inspections.

In order to increase productivity and efficiency, EHS leaders should first consider the processes that their employees go through while doing their jobs. Freivald said there are two levels of processes, the workers process, and the enterprises process. The worker, an EHS professional in Freivalds example, may send out a team to do an inspection on-site with checklists, then someone has to return to transcribe that data into a spreadsheet, which is then used as a part of a master spreadsheet that is turned into a report for stakeholders.

This workflow fits into the larger enterprise process, which can involve using the spreadsheets to bill clients and making sure the work being done is remaining in compliance. Freivald stated that in this framework, the data is only useful depending on the quality, which is why it is important to consider the workflow to see if there are any gaps or errors in reporting that can be potentially addressed by automation.

There are many different ways to introduce automation into a workflow or process, and its important to have realistic expectations of what automation can do. Freivald said that rather than artificial intelligence (AI) making every process magically easier, the reality is that AI will likely have a specific set of capabilities that are a solution for a single problem, and it will be able to solve that problem faster than a human.

There are multiple pathways that employ automation and technology that Freivald outlined that are specific to the EHS industry.

In terms of digitizing inspection processes, Freivald recommended finding methods that make it easier for users to input data. When picking between fill-in-the-blank or a pick list with options, choose the pick list. If the worker needs to type in their observations, add in an audio feature so they can use their voice to record what they need to. Break up text and questions into appropriate chunks, and only display certain information or questions when the circumstances make it necessary. Lastly, include diagrams and any other data the user needs in the inspection checklists, and generally simplify more than what might seem necessary. The goal is to streamline processes to increase efficiency.

The first step to increasing productivity with automation is to find parts of the workflow or process where there is a significant amount of data passing between people. Freivald recommended looking for areas where poor data quality has caused significant issues, because automating those data handoffs will reduce transcription errors which makes reporting more efficient and accurate. However, it is important to find a balance when determining which problem to tackle with automation. If the problem or process is too simple, the outcome will not be significant enough for the results to matter, but avoid trying to take on too much at once.

Freivald used remediation as an example, which is a process that basically consists of identifying the problem, communicating it, fixing it, and then communicating the fix. Typically, inspectors will perform inspections, identify issues, and then transcribe the data they found in a report which gets sent to the superintendent. The superintendent will identify issues in the report and contact the remediation crew. Remediators will fix what they need to and make another report, which goes back to the superintendent, who then confirms the remediation and closes out the case. Freivald stated that this process would be easier if automation was used during the first inspection step with data collection, since it would reduce transcription errors and streamline the reporting process.

In terms of measuring success, Freivald said to leverage data flow to create and publish metrics, and he suggested using two different types safety performance and inspection performance. Safety performance metrics can include remediation time and cost, fines, calendar days lost, and person-days lost. Inspection performance metrics can include inspection time and cost, the time workers wait for inspection completion, and safety problems found post-inspection. Freivald also warned against being punitive, and emphasized that punishing hazard reports teaches people not to report hazards, which is not the ideal outcome.

Finally, in order to convince upper management to invest more in automation, AI, and technology in general, EHS leaders should emphasize the end result of more productivity and the downstream effects of that productivity. Freivald said the number one thing to do is focus on specific problems that upper management sees, not just the niche issues. Frame the conversation around how automating inspections or other processes with reduce the number of billing days and the days it takes to send the bill to clients, which will increase the speed at which the company gets paid.

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Back to Basics: Increasing Productivity with EHS Automation - EHS Daily Advisor - EHS Daily Advisor

Mentions of industrial automation within the filings of companies in the medical devices industry were 12% lower during 2021 than in 2016, according to the latest analysis of data from GlobalData.

When companies in the medical devices industry publish annual and quarterly reports, ESG reports and other filings, GlobalData analyses the text and identifies individual sentences that relate to disruptive forces facing companies in the coming years. Industrial automation is one of these topics - companies that excel and invest in these areas are thought to be better prepared for the future business landscape and better equipped to survive unforeseen challenges.

To assess whether industrial automation is featuring more in the summaries and strategies of companies in the medical devices industry, two measures were calculated. Firstly, we looked at the percentage of companies which have mentioned industrial automation at least once in filings during the past twelve months - this was 62% compared to 55% in 2016. Secondly, we calculated the percentage of total analysed sentences that referred to industrial automation.

Of the 10 biggest employers in the medical devices industry, BD was the company which referred to industrial automation the most during 2021. GlobalData identified 20 industrial automation-related sentences in the United States-based company's filings - 0.2% of all sentences. Danaher mentioned industrial automation the second most - the issue was referred to in 0.14% of sentences in the company's filings. Other top employers with high industrial automation mentions included Roche, Fresenius and IQVIA.

Across all companies in the medical devices industry the filing published in the fourth quarter of 2021 which exhibited the greatest focus on industrial automation came from Agilent. Of the document's 1,720 sentences, nine (0.5%) referred to industrial automation.

This analysis provides an approximate indication of which companies are focusing on industrial automation and how important the issue is considered within the medical devices industry, but it also has limitations and should be interpreted carefully. For example, a company mentioning industrial automation more regularly is not necessarily proof that they are utilising new techniques or prioritising the issue, nor does it indicate whether the company's ventures into industrial automation have been successes or failures.

In the last quarter, companies in the medical devices industry based in Western Europe were most likely to mention industrial automation with 0.16% of sentences in company filings referring to the issue. In contrast, companies with their headquarters in the United States mentioned industrial automation in just 0.08% of sentences.

Development and Production of Medical Devices and Primary Packaging

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Filings buzz: tracking industrial automation mentions in the medical devices industry - Medical Device Network

Global payment orchestration platform BlueSnap has announced the results of its 2022 Automating Accounts Receivable survey.

For this report, BlueSnap surveyed executives globally to examine the extent to which businesses are adopting automation in their accounts receivable (AR) processes and its benefits. One takeaway from the findings: organisations have only automated a fraction of their AR processes with plenty of gaps left to close to reap the full rewards of true end-to-end AR automation.

Supply chain issues and inflation put increased pressure on businesses to get paid on time. Now more than ever, businesses must find ways to increase efficiencies to keep a positive cash flow. BlueSnap's survey results found that 89% of businesses that have automated AR processes are getting paid within their agreed payment terms or faster.

The data shows that nearly half (49%) of global businesses are stuck using legacy AR processes. While many organisations have started to automate AR processes, they are often only automating one or two steps. When it comes to generating invoices, only 19% have completely automated the process and a mere 15% have completely automated sending the invoices.

Only 8% of the companies surveyed had completely automated the setup and management of customer payment plans, while more than half (51%) said they had the process mostly, but not completely, automated. These fragmented attempts are small steps in the right direction, but to see the full operational benefits like better cash flow, increased customer satisfaction, and improved employee productivity, it is essential for businesses to completely automate AR processes.

The factors preventing organisations from fully automating their AR processes include a lack of understanding of the technology available (71%), a fear that automation will take the human element out of the business (47%), lack of technical expertise to implement new systems (44%), and a concern that people will lose their jobs (23%).

To find out more about BlueSnap, please click here.

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Survey: businesses aren't reaping the benefits of accounts receivable automation - The Paypers

Pune, May 17, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hyper Automation Market by type/solution, service, organization size, end-use verticals, and Region Global Hyper Automation Market Forecast to 2030, published by Market Data Centre, The Hyper Automation Market is projected to grow at a solid pace during the forecast period. The presence of key players in the ecosystem has led to a competitive and diverse market. The advancement of digital transformation initiatives across multiple industries is expected to drive the worldwide Hyper Automation Market during the study period.

This COVID-19 analysis of the report includes COVID-19 IMPACT on the production and, demand, supply chain. This report provides a detailed historical analysis of the global Hyper Automation Market from 2017-to 2021 and provides extensive market forecasts from 2022-to 2030 by region/country and subsectors. The report covers the revenue, sales volume, price, historical growth, and future perspectives in the Hyper Automation Market.

Download Sample PDF@ https://www.marketdatacentre.com/samplepdf/15744

Regional Analysis:

On the basis of Geography, the Global Hyper Automation Market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Rest of the World (RoW). North America is expected to hold a considerable share in the global Hyper Automation Market. Due to increasing investment for research and development process and adoption of solutions in the region whereas Asia-Pacific is expected to grow at a faster pace during the forecasted period.

The growing number of Hyper Automation Market players across regions is expected to drive market growth further. Moreover, increasing investments by prominent vendors in product capabilities and business expansion is expected to fuel the market during the study period. Many market players are finding lucrative opportunities in emerging economies like China and India, where the large populations are coupled with new innovations in numerous industries.

In deep ToC includes

233 Tables

45 Figures

300 Pages

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Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION1.1. Market Definition1.2. Market Segmentation1.3. Geographic Scope1.4. Years Considered: Historical Years 2017 & 2020; Base Year 2021; Forecast Years 2022 to 20301.5. Currency Used2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY2.1. Research Framework2.2. Data Collection Technique2.3. Data Sources2.3.1. Secondary Sources2.3.2. Primary Sources2.4. Market Estimation Methodology2.4.1. Bottom-Up Approach2.4.2. Top-Down Approach2.5. Data Validation and Triangulation2.5.1. Market Forecast Model2.5.2. Limitations/Assumptions of the Study3. ABSTRACT OF THE STUDY4. MARKET DYNAMICS ASSESSMENT4.1. Overview4.2. Drivers4.3. Barriers/Challenges4.4. Opportunities5. VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS6. PRICING ANALYSIS7. SUPPLY CHAIN ANALYSIS8. MARKET SIZING AND FORECASTING8.1. Global - Hyper Automation Market Analysis & Forecast, By Region8.2. Global - Hyper Automation Market Analysis & Forecast, By Segment8.2.1. North America Hyper Automation Market, By Segment8.2.2. North America Hyper Automation Market, By Country8.2.2.1. US8.2.2.2. Canada8.2.3. Europe Hyper Automation Market, By Segment8.2.4. Europe Hyper Automation Market, By Country8.2.4.1. Germany8.2.4.2. UK8.2.4.3. France8.2.4.4. Rest of Europe (ROE)8.2.5. Asia Pacific Hyper Automation Market, By Segment8.2.6. Asia Pacific Hyper Automation Market, By Country8.2.6.1. China8.2.6.2. Japan8.2.6.3. India8.2.6.4. Rest of Asia Pacific (RoAPAC)8.2.7. Rest of the World (ROW) Hyper Automation Market, By Segment8.2.8. Rest of the World (ROW) Hyper Automation Market, By Country8.2.8.1. Latin America8.2.8.2. Middle East & Africa

ToC can be modified as per clients' business requirements*

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Hyper Automation Market - Vendor Assessment (Company Profiles, Market Positioning, Strategies, Recent Developments, Capabilities & Product Offerings / Mapping), Technology Assessment (Developments & Economic Impact), Partner & Customer Ecosystem (Product Services, Proposition & Key Features) Competitive Index & Regional FootPrint by MDC Research

Key Questions Answered in This Report:

Vendor Assessment

Vendor assessment includes a deep analysis of how vendors are addressing the demand in the Hyper Automation Market. The MDC CompetetiveScape model was used to assess qualitative and quantitative insights in this assessment. MDC's CompetitiveScape is a structured method for identifying key players and outlining their strengths, relevant characteristics, and outreach strategy. MDC's CompetitiveScape allows organizations to analyze the environmental factors that influence their business, set goals, and identify new marketing strategies. MDC Research analysts conduct a thorough investigation of vendors' solutions, services, programs, marketing, organization size, geographic focus, type of organization and strategies.

Technology Assessment

Technology dramatically impacts business productivity, growth and efficiency.Technologies can help companies develop competitive advantages, but choosing them can be one of the most demanding decisions for businesses. Technology assessment helps organizations to understand their current situation with respect to technology and offer a roadmap where they might want to go and scale their business. A well-defined process to assess and select technology solutions can help organizations reduce risk, achieve objectives, identify the problem, and solve it in the right way. Technology assessment can help businesses identify which technologies to invest in, meet industry standards, compete against competitors.

Business Ecosystem Analysis

Advancements in technology and digitalization have changed the way companies do business; the concept of a business ecosystem helps businesses understand how to thrive in this changing environment. Business ecosystems provide organizations with opportunities to integrate technology in their daily business operations and improve research and business competency. The business ecosystem includes a network of interlinked companies that compete and cooperate to increase sales, improve profitability, and succeed in their markets. An ecosystem analysis is a business network analysis that includes the relationships amongst suppliers, distributors, and end-users in delivering a product or service.

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Regions and Countries Covered

North America (US, Canada), Europe (Germany, UK, France, Spain, Italy, and Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (Japan, China, Australia, India, Rest of Asia-Pacific), and Rest of the World (RoW).

Report Coverage

Hyper Automation Market Dynamics, Covid-19 Impact on the Hyper Automation Market, Vendor Profiles, Vendor Assessment, Strategies, Technology Assessment, Product Mapping, Industry Outlook, Economic Analysis, Segmental Analysis, Hyper Automation Market Sizing, Analysis Tables.

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Market Data Centre (Subsidiary of Yellow Bricks Global Services Private Limited)

Market Data Centre offers complete solutions for market research reports in miscellaneous businesses.These decisions making process depend on wider and systematic extremely important information created through extensive study as well as the most recent trends going on in the industry.The company also attempts to offer much better customer-friendly services and appropriate business information to achieve our clients ideas.

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Hyperautomation Market | Surge in demand for robotic process automation technology to drive growth - MDC Research - GlobeNewswire

Nanoparticles and other nanomaterials are essential components of cutting-edge science and technology, including photochemistry, energy conversion, and medicine. New research suggests that automating nanomaterial synthesis can reduce the environmental footprint of these advanced materials while at the same time improving quality and scalability.

Image Credit:Ico Maker/Shutterstock.com

The groundbreaking paper, Towards automation of the polyol process for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles makes the argument for automated synthesis to enable the manufacturing of colloids with properties that are precisely tunable and crucially for industrial nanomaterial synthesis reproducible.

The study, which was published in the journal Scientific Reports in 2022, could have a significant impact in various fields of science, as the metal nanoparticles its authors synthesized are used at the forefront in photochemistry, energy conversion, and medicine.

The interdisciplinary team behind the paper materials researchers, nanotechnology specialists, and chemical engineers from Germanys Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, and Humboldt-Universitt zu Berlins Department of Chemistry focused their research on silver nanoparticle synthesis.

Silver was a suitable test candidate for the automated synthesis method because, while it is one of the more commonly used nanoparticles due to its antibacterial properties and sensing and catalysis applications, it is difficult to produce in well-defined products. The obstacles to this are silvers high polydispersity: it is difficult to precisely control or tune silver nanoparticles sizes.

Responding to this challenge, the German researchers developed an automatic approach for on-demand silver nanoparticle synthesis. The method enables fabricators to synthesize silver nanoparticles between 3 and 5 nm, employing a modified polyol process.

To test their results, the team employed small-angle X-ray scattering, dynamic light scattering, and a number of other investigations. All results showed that the new automated synthesis method is suitable for yielding reproducible and tunable properties in synthetic colloids.

Synthetic nanomaterials are made with shapes or structural components that measure between 0.1 and 100 nm or 0.1 to 100 billionths of a meter. The metal nanoparticles that the present research focuses on find numerous applications in research, medicine, and technology contexts.

Synthesis methods for nanoparticles have to provide a high degree of control over the nanoparticles size, shape, and polydispersity while limiting the effects of aggregation or agglomeration (ensuring an even distribution). They also need to take into account the rheological properties of nanoparticle dispersions and the long-term stability of the solution.

Challenges with synthesizing nanoparticles include reproducibility and colloidal stability. These challenges mean there are limited nanoparticle-based references available, despite calls for such materials from environmental, health, and safety concerns for a number of years.

For example, gold nanoparticles are ubiquitous in nanotechnology due to their straightforward synthesis requirements, distinct size regulation, and ability to realize predictable nanoparticle sizes and dispersion.

But, despite a high demand due to silvers well-known antibacterial properties and use in catalysis, photochemistry, sensing, and optoelectronics, silver nanoparticles remain difficult to synthesize with available methods.

One available method is based on a polyol process. Here, silver nanoparticles are formed by reducing silver ions in the presence of polyacrylic acid in hot ethylene glycol. The ethylene glycol acts as both a reducing agent and a solvent.

This method is considered important because it stabilizes nanoparticles in a water-based solution by adjusting the solutions pH balance to 10, creating a negatively charged shell that means particles can remain unchanged in the suspension for over six months.

As a result, the nanoparticles produced make good candidates for reference materials. Reference materials are used in nanomaterial synthesis to quantify the size, distribution, and concentration of nanoparticles in doped materials.

Reference materials need to be made in bulk and able to remain stable for a long period of time in storage to be useful. The adapted polyol process described above can achieve these requirements, although it is not best suited for the task.

To develop reference materials like silver nanoparticles faster, researchers focused on developing an automated platform for rapid on-demand synthesis.

An automated platform could avoid the need for bulk quantities and long-term stability by offering required reference materials to researchers at minimal cost and without excessive lead-in times.

It would also enable targeted testing of nanomaterials physicochemical properties and a shorter development cycle before arriving at the desired properties.

To achieve this, the German scientists developed an automated silver nanoparticle synthesis method with the polyol process producing a colloidally stable silver.

They deployed the so-called Chemputer for the first time in the field of inorganic chemistry. The Chemputer is an automated platform that was developed by the Cronin group to execute multi-step, solution-based organic synthesis and purification tasks.

The Chemputer works in a batch mode with common laboratory items like heaters and glassware connected to a backbone made out of HPLC selection valves and syringe pumps. Liquid solutions are transferred across the backbone and manipulated along its various modules in different ways.

Every operation is controlled with a software script, which ensures a high rate of reproducibility. The accompanying software also makes it easy to adjust the synthesis conditions as required and documents all changes in the reaction log file.

Caldern-Jimnez, B. et al. (2017). Silver nanoparticles: Technological advances, societal impacts, and metrological challenges. Frontiers in Chemistry. doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2017.00006.

Dong, H. et al. (2015). Polyol synthesis of nanoparticles: Status and options regarding metals, oxides, chalcogenides, and non-metal elements. Green Chemistry. doi.org/10.1039/C5GC00943J.

Kaabipour, S., and S. Hemmati (2021). A review on the green and sustainable synthesis of silver nanoparticles and one-dimensional silver nanostructures. Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology. doi.org/10.3762/bjnano.12.9.

Wolf, J.B., et al. (2022). Towards automation of the polyol process for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles. Scientific Reports. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-09774-w.

You, H., and J. Fang (2016). Particle-mediated nucleation and growth of solution-synthesized metal nanocrystals: A new story beyond the LaMer curve. Nano Today. doi.org/10.1016/j.nantod.2016.04.003.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the author expressed in their private capacity and do not necessarily represent the views of AZoM.com Limited T/A AZoNetwork the owner and operator of this website. This disclaimer forms part of the Terms and conditions of use of this website.

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Should Nanomaterial Synthesis Rely on Automation? - AZoNano

The Covid-19 pandemic further complicated the ability of healthcare providers to collect on services rendered, a process that was already a challenge. A poll by MGMA in November 2021 poll found that 49% of medical practice leaders reported an increase in the aging of accounts receivable.

Healthcare Financial Management Associations (HFMA) 2021 Pulse Survey reveals that the pandemic has caused:

Many insurers are now taking more than 90 days to pay, despite most state and federal regulations mandating a 30- to 40-day remittance limit.

Another factor in lengthening the aging of accounts receivable is the current healthcare staffing shortage. Denied claims must be researched, reworked, and resubmitted to avoid write-offs, but overworked back-office staff doesnt have the time to be this tenacious.

This crisis has pushed an already dysfunctional healthcare revenue cycle to the breaking point, making it increasingly unviable to ignore the greater underlying inefficiencies. But this also creates an opportunity for providers to rethink and build an even better A/R strategy.

In this article, we go over how to build an intelligent, analytics-driven A/R strategy to significantly improve collections in todays healthcare environment. This article goes over the pillars of this approach as well as what metrics you should focus on in your implementation. First though, what are the limitations of providers current approaches?

Limited data and data analysis leads to revenue recovery deficits

Currently, providers generally rely on several, disconnected silos of data, leaving them with an incomplete and fragmented picture of their overall revenue cycle operations. The packaged reports their EMRs create from this disparate data fail to render sophisticated or often, even helpful, answers.

In addition, downloading the data index style and then analyzing it with simplistic, brute force manual techniques (think Excel spreadsheets) leaves providers with only a few dimensions on which to analyze it. Without a comprehensive view of the data, conclusions can be swayed by stakeholders subjective opinions.

This approach is extremely limiting. For example, when staff often only goes after high-dollar claims, they leave a whole slew of accounts untouched that could have been recovered. By the time staff determines that A/R has the potential for recovery, filing and field limits have passed and the debt must be written off. Decisions based on limited data lead to lower recovery and overall cash flow.

1. Analytics is the backbone of an intelligent A/R strategy

Robust, multidimensional analytics driven by artificial intelligence that can learn from itself, on the other hand, has the potential to deliver actionable information that translates into significant improvements in your collections.

2. Benchmark existing metrics and then effectively prioritize tasks

Your first task is to benchmark existing analytics and establish your metrics. Read about these metrics below. Good technology should be able to predict what A/R is recoverable, as well as prioritize tasks and realize revenue.

Machine learning is essential to do this as a simple set of rules will not be able to predict this alone.

Next, you need an effective way to prioritize recovery tasks that factors in your available resources. All A/R challenges arent equal. If you merely prioritize your outstanding accounts based on high-dollar claims, you arent factoring in the complexity and probability of recovery.

For example, a complex denial around prior authorization has a very low probability of recovery. So you have to be smart about which ones to tackle and recognize which ones arent worth your time. Claims resources are limited, after all. Analytics works hard to determine which claims have the highest recovery potential.

3. Use analytics to monitor and improve your A/R workflow

Good analytics can also provide real, data-informed metrics on how efficiently your staff and workflow are pursuing and winning A/R recovery and denials appeals. Efficient analytics depend on metrics that reveal changes over time.

To collect maximum revenue, you need a good workflow solution thats prioritizing the tasks and providing guidance to agents to help execute the recovery. Analytics can pinpoint bottlenecks in your recovery process; providers need to know where specialists stumble so they can troubleshoot.

Unfortunately, the EMRs that most providers currently have and rely on for analytics cant provide useful insights. Is it long phone times, particular kinds of appeals, or Cigna changing its guidelines thats causing the issue? Figuring this out from the comments section of an EMR is unfortunately very challenging. But an analytics-based workflow solution can provide these answers so you can optimize the results of your A/R collections process.

Best metrics and reports to reduce A/R aging

The first step to an effective analytics-based strategy is benchmarking existing metrics and comparing those to industry averages. This will allow you to identify and deep dive into trends and challenges.

Specific metrics and reports to focus on include:

For significant backlogs, bring in a partner to maximize collections

Many providers are already in a situation where they are dealing with significant aging of accounts receivable. In these cases, the fastest way to get revenue collection under control is to bring on a third party. A partner will help you to scale your recovery efforts rapidly so you can collect as much of the aging A/R as possible.

Experienced revenue cycle staff understand payer guidelines and can negotiate with payers to resolve A/R. These experts help providers achieve faster cash flow, fewer denials, and higher recovery rates. Particularly in our current staffing environment, however, these professionals are hard to find or train.

When engaging a partner, be sure to look for one who can offer both domain expertise and best practices from a workflow perspective for A/R. As you evaluate your third-party partner, make sure they know of and are dedicated to measuring the above metrics or make an effort to implement these analytics capabilities on your own to best utilize your staffs time.

A/R collections in a challenging environment

Kaufman Hall reported that the first month of 2022 was devastating for hospitals and health systems nationwide. As a result of the Omicron wave of COVID-19 cases, actual hospital margins were negative for the first time in 11 months. Meanwhile, expenses will continue to rise, with labor shortages and supply chain interruptions increasing costs. Volumes and revenue will likely continue to be unpredictable.

Providers cannot afford unnecessary revenue leakage in 2022. But your hospital or healthcare centers financial health does not have to be a sitting duck for this turbulent outlook.

Providers can unleash AI and machine-based analytics and workflow technologies to minimize losses during a period where demand for healthcare services is increasing. RCM inefficiencies are straining margins. Improve your A/R strategy now to create the cash flow and capital that propels your practice or center through the next decade.

Photo: adventtr, Getty Images

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How to use analytics and automation to build an intelligent A/R strategy - MedCity News

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Truck drivers will continue to provide key contributions to the freight industry as automation is steadily adopted throughout the transportation landscape, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh said recently.

While the secretary acknowledged elements of the freight industry are being served by automated components, he said truckers will remain central figures in high-demand areas of the commercial transportation marketplace.

I havent seen that automation that completely knocks people out yet. And I dont think that. I think theres a ways down the road, and Im personally not concerned about that today, Walsh said on Transport Topics Newsmakers series May 16.

As far as autonomous trucks and autonomous vehicles, I think its still a little too early to talk about when that day comes, the secretary added. I still think the technology is not quite there yet. I mean, were obviously going to watch that very closely. But I still think at the end of the day, theres going to be a need for truck drivers in America.

Host Michael Freeze discusses insurance coverage and costs with Jane Jazrawy of Carriers Edge and David Berno of Hub International.Tune in above orby going to RoadSigns.TTNews.com.

The Biden administration has announced initiatives designed to recruit and retain individuals seeking careers in the trucking industry. This year, the Labor Department partnered with American Trucking Associations for an apprenticeship program designed to tackle the industrys driver shortage. ATA has determined the industry is short about 80,000 drivers.

On Capitol Hill, federal policymakers have yet to agree on comprehensive policies that would serve as a regulatory framework for the autonomous vehicles industry. In the private sector, major automotive technology firms insist on being committed to testing autonomous trucks with the purpose of introducing them to the marketplace.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and amid supply chain bottlenecks, stakeholders sought to elevate the profile of commercial drivers. Their role in distributing goods and assisting in the manufacturing sector has been described as essential.

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Secretary Walsh Touts Truck Drivers Amid Automation Advances - Transport Topics Online

In many hotel businesses, revenue and marketing teams still work in silos, separately from one another and in some cases unaware of the initiatives each team is focusing on. This gap has become an industry-wide concern as it directly impacts the hoteliers bottom line.

Recently weve seen a shift in roles where the responsibilities of revenue management and marketing have merged, known as the commercial director. This is an attempt to marry the two which makes sense, but not all hotels can or will appoint a commercial director. However, the challenge of harmonizing revenue and marketing on an executional level remains.

Hotel tech specialist Userguest is revolutionizing the way hotels can solve this challenge: by introducing a new concept know as RevMarketing Automation for hotels.

RevMarketing Automation (RMA) is a practical and logical evolution in hotel tech.

RMA is designed to help close this gap by empowering revenue and marketing collectively through intelligent automation. By combining the efforts of the hotel revenue manager and the marketing team, RMA helps to align goals and strategies between the two. The solution is not about replacing marketing teams or revenue managers but enabling these teams to work better and smarter together.

Both roles are clearly understood, so whats the missing link?

Whilst putting revenue strategies together is an important job, once these are in place, a widespread problem occurs: These strategies are not always presented to the end-user! And in some cases, they are not leveraged enough to bring real value to the user and/or hotel due to limited digital touchpoints.

Revenue management systems (RMS) are not connected to the hotel website, they are primarily connected to the booking engine, directly or via the PMS. Typically the guest will land on a hotel website (arriving from various traffic sources) and if they like what they see the booking process starts. Unfortunately this only happens 20% of the time for many hotels. In most cases, 80% of hotel website traffic will drop off at this point and continue their search elsewhere. This happens for multiple reasons, but website performance and user experience are significant factors.

So heres the catch, at this critical first digital touchpoint the user wasnt presented with any type of persuasion or incentive to book. All the pricing strategies carefully developed by the revenue team went by the wayside. All because the user never made it to the booking engine.

The end-user only lands on the booking engine once information regarding dates has been entered. This is where revenue strategies (offers, pricing, incentives) finally become visible.

The impact of potentially 80% of website traffic not being influenced at the crucial website stage is a huge loss, meaning hoteliers are missing the opportunity to convert users with the right offer 8 out of 10 times! This missed opportunity in user engagement is essential for successful marketing initiatives and website performance.

Without having access to data through the RMS, it becomes very hard to optimize marketing campaigns and convince the traffic landing on the hotel website to complete a booking. Marketing investments are in many cases inefficient due to:

So how do we fix this problem? How can revenue strategies be more effective directly on the hotel website?

This is where RMA can help, by implementing smart revenue strategies directly on the hotel website, allowing revenue and marketing to align by pushing these strategies out to the user and engaging them.

A data-first approach: by collecting and interpreting valuable hotel website data and using those insights more effectively.

This means when a hotel website + the booking engine + the hotel PMS are connected via RMA, the users booking behaviors, demand trends and the hotel's inventory goals are perfectly aligned - just the way they should be.

In practice, RMA is about identifying a revenue opportunity based on the hotel's own data and using marketing techniques coupled with revenue strategies to influence users towards a desired outcome.

RMA strategies can be used to overcome many challenges that hotels face daily. Multiple strategies can be applied depending on the hotel's specific needs and objectives and some examples include:

In summary RevMarketing Automations purpose is to; increase revenue for the hotel, increase occupancy where needed, improve Average Daily Rates, extend booking lengths of stay, and sell higher category rooms, in line with the hotels strategy.

RMA is a concept that has been developed by hotel tech specialist Userguest. By adding Userguests technology to a hotel website, the tool automatically applies the RMA concept - matching a users booking intent with the hotel's inventory priorities. Ultimately, unlocking the hotel website and allowing revenue and occupancy to be driven through automated offers and incentives.

Find out more by visiting the RMA pioneer Userguest and request a free 30-day trial.

USERGUEST is a travel tech company founded in Amsterdam in 2019 by Hicham Benyebdri, Assil Bernossi, and Ahmed Chami. The start-up strives to empower hotels by not being so dependent on OTAs, helping to close the gap between revenue managers and marketers. After identifying that most hotels seek to increase their unmediated revenue stream, the founders set out to develop a tool to help hotels boost revenue via their direct websites. They developed a SaaS solution that leverages data to maximize hotel website revenue and improve customer experience.

A smart notifications tool. It uses smart algorithms to display customized notifications to each website user, prompting them at crucial points in the booking process to complete their reservation. The tool is compatible with all booking engines, which makes integration and implementation easy and seamless for hotels. Some features include smart pop-ups, social proof messages, and personalized notifications. All of these are automated, once set up the tool get's to work!

Visit http://www.userguest.com

Nicole VarelaHead of Marketing

Excerpt from:

RevMarketing Automation Solves The Gap Between Hotel Revenue & Marketing Teams - Hospitality Net

Data protection giant Veeam Software Corp. today introduced a new version of Kasten K10, its backup and recovery platform for Kubernetes environments.

Kasten K10 became part of Veeams product portfolio in late 2020 through a startup acquisition. The platform enables companies to create backup copies of the data in a Kubernetes environment and recover them if the original data becomes unavailable because of a technical issue. It can also be used for a number of other tasks, such as moving workloads between public clouds.

Kasten K10 V5.0, the new release of the platform that Veeam debuted today, introduces an expanded set of cybersecurity features.

Veeam has added a ransomware detection mechanism that can spot malicious attempts to encrypt a companys data. Moreover, a new console in Kasten K10s interface enables administrators to more easily manage user access to a Kubernetes environment. The console makes it possible to create rules regulating which users may access a Kubernetes environment and how.

Companies encrypt their data, including the data in backup files, to make it inaccessible for hackers. Organizations with particularly advanced cybersecurity requirements encrypt their data using cryptographic keys that they manage in-house. To support this use case, Veeam K10 now provides integration with two of the industrys most popular cryptographic key management services: Amazon Web Services Inc.s KMS and HashiCorps Vault.

This latest release provides secure backup and recovery for Kubernetes data and applications while eliminating the complexity in deployment and operations for Kubernetes in the enterprise, said Veeam Chief Technology Officer Danny Allan. As more Veeam customers look to leverage Kubernetes, Kasten K10 V5.0s ease of use will be critical to support data protection and backup in their new environments.

Besides improving cybersecurity, Veeams other major focus with todays update is to make Kasten K10 easier to use. To that end, Veeam has equipped the platform with several automation features designed to simplify administrators day-to-day work.

Kasten K10 V5.0 can automatically ensure that newly deployed applications adhere to configuration best practices. A company could, for example, have Kasten K10 prevent an application from deploying if it contains configuration issues that may increase the risk of a data breach. Similarly, it can block workloads that dont have backup and recovery features set up correctly.

The platform also helps companies address configuration issues in workloads that are already deployed. An organization in a regulated industry may require that an application retain data for at least one year. Kasten K10 can detect if the application only retains data for six months, then adjust its settings automatically to address the issue.

Yet another task that Veeam has sought to ease with the new release is the process of setting up the platform on AWS. Many companies run their Kubernetes environments on Amazon EKS, the cloud giants managed Kubernetes service. Veeam has added deployment templates that reduce the amount of effort required to set up Kasten K10 in Amazon EKS deployments.

The new features for AWS users are part of an entire series of upgrades designed to make Kasten K10 work better with third party solutions. Veeam has added tools that make it easier to back up business data in the SQL Server and PostgreSQL relational databases. Moreover, theres improved support for VMware Inc.s vSphere with Tanzu platform and OpenShift, Red Hats distribution of Kubernetes.

Kasten K10 V5.0 is set to become generally available in June. The new release is rolling out following a year in which adoption of the platform increased significantly. This past January, Veeam detailedthat its Kasten business unit experienced a 900% year-over-year increase in bookings during 2021 and quadrupled its headcount.

See the original post here:

Veeam adds new cybersecurity and automation features to its Kasten K10 platform - SiliconANGLE News

DUBLIN, May 16, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "South and Central America Robotic Process Automation Market Forecast to 2028 - COVID-19 Impact and Analysis - by Component and Industry Vertical" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

Increasing BPO and Shared Services Fuels South and Central America Robotic Process Automation Market Growth

The South and Central America robotic process automation market size is expected to grow from US$ 115.3 million in 2021 to US$ 1,145.2 million by 2028; it is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 38.8% during 2021-2028.

Robotic process automation (RPA) provides its users with an ability to in-source and off-shore RPA managed services, which further enables them to regain governance over process without any surplus cost. The cost incurred might even be lesser than off-shore process without RPA. Furthermore, the buyers are attracted toward the robust return on investments offered through RPA deployments.

The evolution of cognitive RPA would expand the market scope and raise the demand for expertise, as such expertise is rare in organizations. This would pave opportunities for RPA service providers, particularly for consulting and training services. Various industries, such as financial services and oil & gas, are expected to be benefitted most from the cognitive RPA.

The demand for enhanced and innovative cognitive RPA is expected to increase in the next 3-5 years. Companies operating in the RPA ecosystem are expected to illustrate their expertise to attain RPA demands at multiple levels.

BPO service providers, who have already implemented RPA solutions, have significantly improved their productivity levels and experienced noteworthy financial gains in the past few years. This has further encouraged several other BPO service providers to implement RPA at an early stage to identify future growth opportunities, reduce debts, and evade unwanted costs.

RPA innovations and increasing BPO and shared services are targeted to minimize human involvement. They would retool their business models to reflect higher service levels such as cost reduction and enhanced cycle speed. This refurbished business model of BPOs will have to incorporate RPA products, further boosting the South and Central America robotic process automation market growth.

Story continues

South and Central America robotic process automation market analysis by component, the South and Central America robotic process automation market is bifurcated into solution and services. South and Central America robotic process automation market analysis by industry vertical, is segmented into BFSI, retail, telecommunication, healthcare, transportation & logistics, and others.

In the pre-COVID-19 pandemic situation, the demand for robotic process automation (RPA) was rising, owing to the growth of the e-commerce sector in SAM countries. With 649 million people living in SAM and mobile subscribers making up 68% of the population, there is significant potential for growth across the region.

Along with these digitally-connected consumers and SAM is one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in the world, comes significant potential in the region. For instance, in 2019, over 150 million South Americans had bought goods and services online, while retail sales alone had surpassed approximately US$ 84.7 billion by 2019, according to the article published by Crunchbase Inc. in December 2019. Thus, the need for RPA in the e-commerce sector had supported the South and Central America robotic process automation market growth in 2019.

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had positively impacted the robotic process automation market in SAM due to the increase in spending in the healthcare sector. As per observation, in October 2020, the Brazilian government spent over 120 billion Brazilian reals (US$ 21.31 billion) on health, out of which more than 37% was aimed at the hospital and outpatient care. Thus, the healthcare industry was positively impacted during 2020. Therefore, the overall COVID-19 impact on the South and Central America robotic process automation market share was positive in 2020.

Further, in 2021 and 2022, with the positive growth of defence, financial institutions, and telecommunication sectors had positively impacted the South America robotic process automation market growth. South America's fintech sector is booming. For instance, a total of US$ 2 billion had been invested in financial services, according to Crunchbase Inc. in June 2021. Therefore, the South and Central America robotic process automation market share will grow during the forecast period due to the growth in the fintech sector.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Introduction

1.1 Study Scope

1.2 Research Report Guidance

1.3 Market Segmentation

2. Key Takeaways

3. Research Methodology

3.1 Scope of the Study

3.2 Research Methodology

3.2.1 Data Collection:

3.2.2 Primary Interviews:

3.2.3 Macro-Economic Factor Analysis:

3.2.4 Data Triangulation:

3.2.5 Country-level data:

4. South and Central America Robotic Process Automation Market Landscape

4.1 Market Overview

4.2 PEST Analysis

4.3 Ecosystem Analysis

4.4 Expert Opinion

5. South and Central America Robotic Process Automation Market - Key Industry Dynamics

5.1 Market Drivers

5.1.1 Increasing BPO & Shared Services

5.1.2 Cost Benefits of RPAs

5.2 Market Restraints

5.2.1 Frequent Alterations in Business Rules

5.3 Market Opportunities

5.3.1 Cognitive RPA to Generate Growth Opportunities

5.4 Future Trends

5.4.1 Advanced Analytics and Data Mining Capabilities

5.5 Impact Analysis of Drivers and Restraints

6. South and Central America Robotic Process Automation Market Overview

6.1 Market Overview

6.2 South and Central America Robotic Process Automation Market Forecast and Analysis

6.3 Market Positioning - Global Key Players

7. South and Central America Robotic Process Automation Market Analysis - By Component

7.1 Overview

7.2 South and Central America Robotic Process Automation Market Breakdown

7.3 Solution

7.4 Services

7.4.1 Overview

7.4.2 Services: South and Central America Robotic Process Automation Market Revenue and Forecast to 2028 (US$ Million)

7.4.2.1 Professional Services

7.4.2.2 Managed Services

8. South and Central America Robotic Process Automation Market Analysis - By Industry Vertical

8.1 Overview

8.2 South and Central America Robotic Process Automation Market Breakdown

8.3 BFSI

8.4 Retail

8.5 Telecommunication

8.6 Healthcare

8.7 Transportation & Logistics

8.8 Others

9. South and Central America Robotic Process Automation Market - Country Analysis

9.1 South and Central America Robotic Process Automation Market Breakdown, By Country

10. Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Robotic Process Automation Market

10.1 South and Central America

11. Industry Landscape

11.1 Overview

11.2 Market Initiative

11.3 New Product Development

11.4 Merger and Acquisition

12. Company Profiles

Growtec

Atos Se

Nice Ltd.

Automationedge

Pegasystems Inc.

Sap Se

Blue Prism Group

Helpsystems

Uipath

IBM Corporation

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/229vu6

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220516005629/en/

Contacts

ResearchAndMarkets.comLaura Wood, Senior Press Managerpress@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

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South and Central America $1.14 Bn Robotic Process Automation Markets to 2028: Increasing BPO and Shared Services Fuels Market Growth & Cognitive...