Jeff Erbert | 15 August, 2025
Healthcare Automation Is Here
Faced with rising operational costs, tariffs, cuts to government healthcare programs, workforce shortages, and increasing patient expectations, hospitals are quickly turning to automation to make their operations run smoother, more efficiently, and with much more flexibility.
From AI-assisted imaging technology and automated pharmacy systems to high-speed pneumatic tube networks, healthcare automation is transforming how hospitals function behind the scenes.
For the most effective hospital leaders, the question isn’t if to automate—it’s how fast they can do it.
What Is Healthcare Automation?
Healthcare automation refers to the use of technology to perform tasks that were traditionally manual, repetitive, or time-consuming—freeing up staff to focus on higher-value work. It spans both digital and physical systems and is designed to improve speed, accuracy, and scalability across hospital operations.
Common areas of automation include:
- Pharmacy automation: Robotic dispensing, inventory tracking, and medication verification.
- Tube Systems: Pneumatic tube systems for rapid sample transport.
- Administrative workflows: Automated patient intake, billing, scheduling, and AI-assisted medical notes.
- Clinical decision support: AI-powered alerts, imaging, and predictive analytics.
- Supply chain management: Automated restocking and inventory optimization.
Why Healthcare Automation Matters Now More Than Ever
The healthcare industry faces a unique set of pressures. Aging populations, chronic disease burdens, and post-pandemic staffing challenges have created a perfect storm – then there’s the concern of patient safety and patient experience. Automation offers a way out, not by replacing people per se, but by allowing them to complete higher level tasks or spend more time with people.
According to SS&C Blue Prism, intelligent automation (IA) is helping hospitals reduce administrative bottlenecks, improve data accuracy, and give clinicians more time with patients.
Regardless, automating patient intake, streamlining lab logistics, or optimizing medication management, automation is enabling hospitals to do far more with less. And that’s especially important as these investments will likely pay off exponentially as the organization scales.
The Rise of Smart Hospitals
In 2025, hospitals are preparing for the next wave of healthcare tech. Technologies like remote patient monitoring (RPM), AI-driven diagnostics, and cloud-native platforms are becoming standard. But the real game-changer? Automation that connects these systems into a web of interconnected workflows.
Key trends shaping the future of healthcare automation include:
- Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM): Devices like smart thermometers and glucose monitors are enabling continuous care beyond hospital walls.
- Smart ICUs: AI-integrated dashboards are predicting patient deterioration before it happens.
- Predictive Analytics: Hospitals are using AI to forecast readmissions, optimize staffing, and personalize care pathways.
Pneumatic Tube Systems: The Unsung Hero of Hospital Logistics
If you’ve ever seen a nurse or a lab tech drop a canister into a wall-mounted station and send it whooshing off to the lab, you’ve witnessed a pneumatic tube system in action. These systems are the circulatory system of modern hospitals and connect intrahospital workflows.
Pneumatic tube systems handle thousands of transactions per day, moving medications, lab samples, and supplies at speeds up to 25 feet per second – or about 5x faster than a human courier.
Benefits include:
- Speed and Reliability: With 99.9% uptime, these systems ensure critical items get where they need to go—fast.
- Enhanced Patient Care: Faster lab results mean quicker diagnoses and treatments.
- Operational Efficiency: Automating transport frees up staff time and reduces elevator congestion.
- Security and Traceability: RFID tracking and badge access ensure secure, auditable transactions.
Pharmacy Automation: Precision, Safety, and Scalability
Like the hospital lab, hospital pharmacies are under immense pressure to deliver medications quickly, accurately, and safely. Manual processes are prone to errors, delays, and inefficiencies. That’s where pharmacy automation comes in.
Here, pharmacy automation solutions are redefining how hospitals manage medications. From robotic dispensing to computerized inventory management, these systems are designed to reduce errors, improve compliance, and optimize workflows.
Industry research shows that modern pharmacy automation systems can:
- Reduce medication errors by up to 80%
- Cut inventory waste by 35%
- Improve pharmacist productivity by 40%
- Save hospitals thousands annually in operational costs
Benefits for hospital leaders:
- For CFOs: Reduced waste, better inventory control, and faster ROI.
- For Pharmacy Directors: Fewer manual tasks, improved compliance, and more time for pharmacists to help patients navigate a new wave of AI-assisted drug discoveries.
- For Hospital Planners: Scalable systems that integrate with existing EHRs and automation platforms.
The Bigger Picture: Interoperability and Integration
One of the biggest challenges in healthcare automation is getting systems to talk to each other. Hospitals often operate across siloed platforms, making it hard to share data and coordinate care.
Modern automation platforms are increasingly cloud-based and interoperable, supporting standards like HL7 and FHIR. This allows hospitals to unify data from EHRs, ICU monitors, pharmacy systems, and more—creating a 360° view of the patient journey.
Examples of integration:
- Pneumatic tube tracking data with pharmacy inventory systems
- AI-driven alerts from ICU monitors with clinical decision support tools
- Telehealth platforms with automated scheduling and billing systems
Planning for the Future: What Hospital Leaders Should Do Now
If you’re a hospital planner, here are three steps to future-proof your facility with automation:
- Audit Your Current Workflows: Identify bottlenecks in medication delivery, lab logistics, and patient throughput.
- Invest in Scalable Infrastructure: Choose automation solutions that can grow with your organization.
- Prioritize Interoperability: Ensure new systems can integrate with your existing tech stack and support future digital initiatives.
Final Thoughts on Healthcare Automation
Healthcare automation isn’t about replacing people—it’s about empowering them. By automating the right processes, hospitals can reduce burnout, improve care quality, and operate more efficiently.
Whether it’s a high-speed tube system delivering a critical blood sample or a robotic pharmacy ensuring the right dose reaches the right patient, automation is the backbone of the smart hospital.
