Why Rural Healthcare Must Invest in RPA Now

Every operational decision matters in rural healthcare, where resources are tight, and the pressure to do more with less is constant. Manual processes, limited staff, and outdated systems have become a serious risk — one that rural providers can no longer afford.

Enter Robotic Process Automation (RPA): a practical, scalable tool that can help even the smallest healthcare organizations unlock capacity, reduce errors, and boost efficiency and revenue.

The Case for Automation in Rural Healthcare

Rural hospitals and clinics face numerous challenges:

• Shrinking margins
• Workforce shortages
• Administrative complexity
• Widening gap in access to care

Many organizations still rely on manual processes for everything from claims submission to report generation, which create delays, increase errors, and burn out already overstretched teams.

With RPA, software “bots” automate routine, rules-based tasks — without the need for a complete overhaul of your systems or processes. Whether logging into a payer portal, checking claim status, or pulling data for reporting, bots can complete these tasks faster and more accurately than humans.

For COOs and practice administrators, RPA means reclaiming staff time and freeing teams from repetitive, error-prone tasks — without increasing overhead.

Why Now: The Hidden Cost of Inaction

In rural healthcare, operational inefficiencies don’t just create delays; they increase denial rates, extend days in A/R, and stretch staff thin. The result? Slower reimbursements, frustrated patients, and overwhelmed employees.

In the Medicaid claims process alone, manual work is time-consuming and error-prone. Our work in RPA for Medicaid submission forms shows that automating just a few key steps can result in:

• More accurate and timely claims
• Improved cash flow
• Significant time savings for staff

These results aren’t limited to Medicaid. Whether commercial or Medicare, the opportunity to reduce manual effort across the revenue cycle is enormous.

CFOs and finance directors gain faster, cleaner reimbursements — improving cash flow and enabling more accurate forecasting.

At Eide Bailly, we’ve seen rural organizations see clear ROI from day one. Key processes that are ripe for automation include:

• Claims status checking
• Eligibility verification
• Appointment reminders
• Report pulling and distribution
• Supply chain ordering

RPA can integrate with legacy systems, minimize disruption, and scale automation over time — without a full system overhaul.

RPA as a Foundation for Future Growth

By automating repetitive tasks, rural providers free up their teams to focus on higher-value work: patient care, strategic planning, and innovation.

RPA also lays the groundwork for more advanced technologies like AI and data analytics — tools that will be critical as value-based care, telehealth, and population health models evolve. A recent survey found that an automation strategy is a critical need in healthcare, and 54% of those surveyed already had a strategy in place.

Ready to Get Started?

Eide Bailly helps healthcare organizations of all sizes launch RPA with confidence. From initial assessments to implementation and support, our team works alongside you to identify high-impact opportunities and deliver measurable results.