Automating Patient Data Entry for Medical Practice
Statera Health, a Melbourne-based medical practice, reduced manual data entry time by automating the processing of patient referrals received via email. Using n8n, OCR, and AI, patient data is extracted, formatted, deduplicated, and entered into Xestro and Zoho CRM.
Overview
Statera Health faced inefficiencies from manual entry of patient referral data, which consumed over 30% of practice managers’ time. Osher Digital developed an n8n-based automation that monitors Microsoft 365 email inboxes, extracts data using OCR and AI, deduplicates records, and integrates with Xestro and Zoho CRM. This solution eliminated repetitive tasks and improved data accuracy.
About the client
Statera Health operates a medical practice in Melbourne, Australia. The team handles patient referrals sent via email, requiring data to be entered into Xestro (their practice management system) and Zoho CRM. Prior to automation, managers spent significant time on manual transcription across systems.
Business Problem
Practice managers dedicated over 30% of their time to manually entering patient data from email referrals into Xestro and Zoho CRM. This process involved reading attachments, transcribing details, checking for duplicates, and formatting information for each system. Errors occurred frequently, and the workload limited time for patient-focused activities.
OUr Solution
Osher Digital built a custom automation in n8n to process referrals end-to-end.
- Monitored the Microsoft 365 referrals inbox for new emails.
- Used OCR to extract text from email bodies and attachments (such as PDFs or scanned forms).
- Applied AI to parse and structure patient data, including names, contact details, referral reasons, and medical history.
- Deduplicated records by cross-checking against existing entries in Xestro and Zoho.
- Formatted data to match data requirements to create and updated records in both systems.
The workflow implements a human in the loop step to ensure data quality.
Business Improvements
- Reduced data entry time by over 90%, freeing managers for higher-value work.
- Eliminated transcription errors through automated extraction and validation.
- Prevented duplicate patient records via built-in deduplication.
- Processed referrals in minutes instead of hours, improving response times to referring providers.
- Freed up the practice manager to focus on more critical tasks.
- Achieved full integration with no ongoing manual steps.
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