From Referral to Diagnosis: How Automation Can Streamline Patient Care and Diagnostic Pathways

Session led by Digital Workforce

Timely diagnostic information is critical to effective patient care, yet care pathways often span multiple teams, organisations and systems. Fragmented information, administrative workloads and manual handovers can cause delays and limit visibility from referral through to treatment and ongoing care.

This session will explore how an end-to-end approach to automation, AI and process orchestration can transform entire care pathways—not simply improve individual tasks in isolation. Drawing on real NHS examples from cancer care, the speakers will examine opportunities spanning referrals, diagnostic investigations, appointment management, reporting, multidisciplinary review and treatment planning.

The discussion will demonstrate how connected automation can reduce duplication, strengthen handovers, create a clear, shared view of the entire pathway and ensure information reaches the right people at the right time. It will also consider how NHS organisations can identify bottlenecks, prioritise high-value opportunities and introduce automation safely and sustainably.

• Where operational friction and administrative pressure occur between referrals, diagnostic investigations, reporting and pathway tracking
• How automation, AI and process orchestration can reduce repetitive work and improve visibility across care pathways
• How information can flow more effectively between departments and systems
• Practical NHS examples, including diagnostic request processing, appointment management, image transfer, reporting allocation and cancer pathway tracking
• How to identify and prioritise automation opportunities according to patient benefit, operational value and deliverability
• The governance, clinical oversight and workforce considerations needed to introduce automation safely and sustainably
• How organisations can move from isolated initiatives towards transforming entire workflows and coordinated patient care