Systems and Automation: Save Time, Reduce Risk, and Refocus on Athlete Care

By Karen Finnin | 03/05/2025

In elite sport, Human Performance Healthcare leaders wear many hats — strategist, clinician, mentor, administrator. But let’s be honest: the admin load can be overwhelming.

From shift rosters and credential tracking to injury reports and onboarding, these behind-the-scenes tasks consume hours that could be spent improving athlete outcomes. That’s where systems and automation come in.

By leveraging simple tech tools — many of which are already at your fingertips — you can dramatically reduce manual effort, enhance compliance, and reclaim your time for what matters most: performance and care.

Common Administrative Tasks in Human Performance Healthcare Leadership

Let’s start by naming the tasks most leaders are quietly juggling:

Appointment scheduling across multi-service departments
Shift planning for a rotating team
Tracking athlete status and rehab timelines
Weekly or location-specific health reporting
Recording of staff training and certifications
Ordering of consumables and managing departmental budgets
Health professional credential and licensure management
Documentation of team member feedback and performance evaluations
Onboarding of new clinicians

If this list feels familiar — good. Because every one of these tasks can be streamlined.

Automation in Action: Before & After

Here’s how smart systems can transform your daily operations:

Appointment Scheduling

Before: Manual booking and reminder emails
After: Use Google Calendar or Microsoft Bookings to auto-schedule, send reminders, and manage cancellations

Staff Shift Scheduling

Before: Post-It note rosters, WhatsApp swaps, last-minute chaos
After: Automate with Google Workspace Shift Scheduler or Microsoft Teams Shifts — live updates, mobile access, fewer errors

Athlete Status Tracking

Before: A cut and paste document accessible on laptop or desktop
After: Platforms like Airtable or Microsoft lists offer real-time dashboards accessible by all stakeholders across all devices

Reporting

Before: Cut and pasted or written from scratch from different sources
After: Automated reports using Microsoft PowerBI, Google Sheets with formulas/scripts or Airtable Interfaces

Training Documentation

Before: A folder of PDFs no one checks
After: Use LMS tools like Kajabi or Thinkific to automate course delivery, track completions, and manage certificates

Consumables Management

Before: “Can we afford this?”
After: Build a live budget tracker in Sheets, Excel or Airtable, automate reorder alerts, and log spending for analysis

Credential Management

Before: Last-minute “Is your registration current?” emails
After: Store documents in a shared drive with a table triggering auto-renewal reminders — simple, secure, trackable

Performance Management

Before: Forgotten feedback and sporadic check-ins
After: Use templates or performance software to log goals, set reviews, and track follow-through

Onboarding New Team Members

Before: Time-consuming in-person orientations
After: Automate onboarding with Kajabi or Google Workspace to share structured training, policies, and induction content

Introducing AI: From Buzzword to Time Saver

AI is no longer a future concept — it’s here, and it’s helpful. In high-performance healthcare, AI tools can:

Perform research reviews
Suggest training and rehabilitation plans
Create trainings and presentations

Important: Always ensure AI tools meet compliance standards for your region — HIPAA, GDPR, PIPEDA, etc. De-identification of clinical data is also crucial.

GSuite & Microsoft 365: The Tools You Already Have

Most organisations already operate within either Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 — and both are goldmines for automation when used well.

Google Workspace Highlights

Google Forms + Sheets: Collect data, trigger alerts, build live dashboards
Google Calendar: Automate meeting scheduling with team or external users
Apps Script: Custom scripts to automate approval flows, reminders, and data updates

Microsoft 365 Highlights

Power Automate: Build workflows that move files, send reminders, and update systems
Microsoft Teams + Shifts: Real-time rostering and team communication
Microsoft Bookings: Client-friendly scheduling that connects to your calendar

Whether you use Google or Microsoft, the key is not just to have these tools — it’s to use them intentionally.

Self-Audit: Is Your Admin Helping or Hindering?

Use these prompts to assess how well your systems are working:

Am I still doing tasks manually that could be automated?
Are our tools being used to their full potential (or just the basics)?
Do team members have access to clear systems for scheduling, reporting, and documentation?
Are compliance requirements (e.g., credentials, privacy) built into our systems — or dependent on memory?
Can I trace how much time our team spends on admin — and could it be less?

If you’re answering “no” or “not sure” — there’s opportunity on the table.

Conclusion: Systems Are a Performance Tool

In high-performance sport, every edge matters. Systems and automation aren’t just about saving time — they’re about protecting quality, reducing burnout, and making room for what matters most: your people and your athletes.

As a leader, your job isn’t to do everything — it’s to build systems that do the right things, automatically.

Because when administration flows, care improves. And that’s the performance advantage most people overlook.

Systems and Automation is one of the ten pillars for success in human performance healthcare teams.

>Explore the other pillars here

Are you an effective human performance healthcare leader?

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Further reading:

Alsiddiq, W. (2025). Accelerating healthcare with AI: Reducing administrative burdens. Forbes Business Council. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesbusinesscouncil/2025/01/07/accelerating-healthcare-with-ai-reducing-administrative-burdens/

American Medical Association. (2025). 2 in 3 physicians are using health AI—up 78% from 2023. AMA Digital Health. Retrieved from https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/digital-health/2-3-physicians-are-using-health-ai-78-2023 American Medical Association

Gupta, A. (2024). Generative AI can ease administrative burden in healthcare. Google Cloud Blog. Retrieved from https://blog.google/products/google-cloud/generative-ai-healthcare-administration/Informa TechTarget+6blog.google+6MM&M+6

Lavoie-Gagne, O., Woo, J. J., Williams III, R. J., Nwachukwu, B. U., Kunze, K. N., & Ramkumar, P. N. (2025). Artificial intelligence as a tool to mitigate administrative burden, optimize billing, reduce insurance- and credentialing-related expenses, and improve quality assurance within health care systems. Arthroscopy. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arthro.2025.03.020 PubMed

Athenahealth. (2025). AI-powered capabilities in athenaOne. Athenahealth Resources. Retrieved from https://www.athenahealth.com/resources/blog/reduce-administrative-burden-with-athenaone-ai-tools athenahealth

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