Plenful raises $9M to automate healthcare workflows
Discover How Plenful Innovatively Automates Healthcare Workflows, Elevating Pharmacy Operations and Alleviating Technician Burnout
Joy Liu, Co-founder and CEO of Plenful brings to the table an innovative platform and a first-hand understanding of the challenges that permeate the healthcare industry, especially pharmacies. Her journey from being a health system speciality pharmacy operator with Shields Health Solutions, now under the Walgreens umbrella, to leading Plenful is a testament to her commitment to alleviating the manual and time-consuming pharmacy workflows that often bog down teams and dilute efficiency.
The pharmacy industry, a critical pillar in the healthcare ecosystem, is currently navigating through a storm of challenges, notably technician burnout and workload overload, which are contributing to high turnover rates and a palpable labour shortage in the industry. Plenful, with its innovative platform, seeks to carve out time for technicians and care teams, enabling them to focus on top-of-license activities by automating administrative work and menial tasks.
But why is this so crucial? Because a survey from health tech company Holon Solutions reveals a staggering 77% of healthcare workers are experiencing burnout, with a significant portion of their time being engulfed by administrative work. Furthermore, 72% expressed a keen interest in technology that could alleviate this workload. Plenful isn’t just a platform; it’s a much-needed ally for healthcare workers, enabling them to redirect their focus from paperwork to patients, from administrative tasks to essential, life-saving activities.
Plenful’s platform is meticulously designed to seamlessly integrate with a health system’s existing data sources, thereby monitoring and attempting to prevent errors by automating manual data entry and data validation. It ingests data in myriad formats, including PDFs and electronic medical records, applying algorithms to generate what Liu describes as “actionable insights” for clinical decision-making. This isn’t merely about automation; it’s about enhancing the quality and efficacy of clinical decisions, ensuring that every piece of data is accurately recorded and validated, thereby safeguarding the integrity of healthcare processes.
Moreover, Plenful’s customers are utilising the platform to automate document data entry for onboarding and referring prescription orders, auditing, and identifying potential areas of savings, among other use cases. This isn’t merely about reducing workload; it’s about unlocking new potentials for savings and efficiency, ensuring that every penny is judiciously spent and every process is optimised for maximum efficacy.
In a landscape where Plenful competes with startups like Notable and Infinitus, which also offer automation tools aimed at expediting healthcare administration, Liu asserts that Plenful stands robust, partly because the platform was architected from the ground up to minimise the implementation and maintenance burden on IT and engineering teams. Plenful isn’t merely a tool; it’s a partner, designed to seamlessly integrate with existing systems, ensuring that the transition to automated workflows is as smooth and hassle-free as possible.
Founded amidst the pandemic, Plenful has woven its services with a strong response to the urgent needs arising from COVID. The industry’s heightened interest in AI, increased healthcare spending, and persistent labour shortages have significantly contributed to the company’s rapid growth. With multiple years of runway, Plenful remains focused on scaling through leveraging its proven use-cases and expanding its customer base.