RPA tools allow software robots to outsource a significant portion of the routine, leaving only the complex, creative tasks that require communication with others or directly impact business performance to pharma workers. The pandemic has forced pharmaceutical companies to look for ways and opportunities to support business continuity in a remote work environment to meet the growing demand for their products and cope with supply chain challenges. As a result, pharma companies have turned to tools like RPA to improve productivity and operational efficiency while minimizing the time and resources required to deploy IT.
Analysts estimate that pharma has become one of the fastest-changing industries in 2022. The industry's timeline for implementing new digital technologies is shrinking from several years to just weeks or even days.
Pharmaceutical businesses have seen the benefits of digitalization, and according to a Bain survey, 84% of industry companies have decided to accelerate business automation. The pharmaceutical industry is projected to spend more than $4.5 billion on digital transformation by 2030. IT spending will grow at an average of 27% per year, significantly higher than other industries. However, it's not all that simple.
Why does the pharmaceutical industry need RPA?
The main reason is the abundance of routine, both in general business processes (such as filling out invoices or entering customer information into databases) and in specific ones: in drug research and development, in drug manufacturing and supply, in ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements, including patient safety. All of these processes are incredibly labor-intensive, involving a large number of simple, monotonous operations with data and documents. At the same time, they consume dozens, if not hundreds, of person-hours, and any error is fraught with severe consequences, up to and including risk to human lives.
RPA tools allow software robots to outsource a significant portion of this routine, leaving only the complex, creative tasks that require communication with others or directly impact business performance to pharmacists. RPAs can automate at least a third of all jobs for any healthcare provider.
Robot pharmacist assistants
With all their advantages, the use of RPA in pharmacy can not be a complete substitute for human resources. Robotic technologies should be seen as an auxiliary tool that frees up staff time, allowing them to focus on more critical tasks that require creative and critical thinking.
