Can AI Finally Fix Health Care’s Paper Jam?

Honey Health drives early stage AI adoption that cuts admin load and urges leaders to assess readiness for broader automation

3 Dec 2025

US health systems are beginning to adopt artificial intelligence to manage administrative tasks as staffing shortages and heavier paperwork pressures push providers to explore new forms of automation.

Honey Health is among the groups leading this shift. Its software drafts clinical notes, organises patient records, processes refill requests and accelerates prior authorisations, a frequent source of delay in treatment. Practices using the system report more consistent output and reduced workloads, allowing staff to spend more time with patients. Several managers said the tools are prompting a reassessment of team roles as routine duties are reassigned.

Other companies see the same pattern emerging. Navina, a clinical intelligence platform provider, links rising interest in back office automation to the broader move toward value based care, in which providers are rewarded for patient outcomes rather than volume of services. Analysts say the two trends may reinforce each other, though they caution that the scale of the long term impact remains uncertain. Many organisations are only beginning pilot programmes.

Concerns over accuracy, oversight and the operational effort required to integrate new systems remain significant. Specialists note that automation is not a one off upgrade but needs continuous monitoring as clinical workflows evolve. Despite these reservations, early trials are showing efficiency gains, and some analysts argue that inaction carries growing risks as competitors adopt new tools.

Investment in administrative automation is increasing and initial results suggest that AI could become a standard feature of back office operations. Adoption, however, is still at an early stage. The extent of the transformation will depend on whether health system leaders can scale the technology and how far they are prepared to adjust long established processes that support day to day care but often remain out of public view.