After leaving R1 RCM in June 2020, I have been fortunate to work on a variety of data engineering/data architect projects. I have had a few small business clients and some larger corporate clients. These projects utilize my skills in data architecture, data engineering, and machine learning. I have morphed into what I think of as a Hybrid Data Engineer. I do everything data, and that mostly requires Enterprise Modeling, Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) Modeling, and programming in Python, .NET, Java, or SQL Scripting. The programming is exclusively for manipulating data.
R1 RCM is a Revenue Cycle Management company where they help providers realize the payment of claims by insurance companies. The better they can do this, the more likely providers are to purchase their services. So, what does better mean? Better normally means processing claims faster and in greater capacity. Given that they have a limit on the number of claims processors and the hours these processors can work, they must rely on automation to help. The goal is to get a clean claims process for a particular insurance claim. A clean claims process means that the claim is processed completely without the use of an intervening human. The technology that makes this possible is called Robotic Process Automation.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the creation and execution of “Software Robots”, as opposed to robots that work on a car assembly line. Software robots are programs whose purpose is to automate some mundane task that a human has typically done repetitively.
One of my larger corporate clients (a global consulting company) is really ramping up in RPA right now. They are deploying this technology into their customers’ environments in a very big way. They utilize a company called UIPath, a firm dedicated to building the software infrastructure for building and deploying RPA. In fact, I am a heavy investor in UIPath. I have seen first hand how 2 companies, one in the healthcare, and the other in the software consulting space are all-in with RPA.
I am currently taking courses in UIPath technology as my continuing education. I have been able to re-invent my skills over time and this technology is just at the intersection of all my strengths: programming, database, people skills, and business process re-engineering. Looking to get future projects with this new skillset very soon!