Author: Devaraj A, Oxford College of Pharmacy

We all know how Nobita gets his work done from Doremon, and we all wish we had a buddy like him to provide a helpful hand. In the large region of the healthcare industry where many treatments must be conducted, it takes a lot of time, energy, and money.

Healthcare workers must handle activities such as billing and accounting, management services, claims management services, research and development, pharmaceutical services, medical coding, medical transcriptions, and other administrative jobs that are needed to be managed by healthcare professionals.

BPO (Business process outsourcing) companies may assist in completing many of these tasks with higher quality and efficiency, better risk management, and access to specialized specialists in a certain sector at the lowest possible cost so that they have enough time to focus on their own specialty.

The elements influencing healthcare outsourcing deployment and its future prospects in India have been discussed in this article.

Healthcare Business Process Outsourcing (BPO): An overview

The process of employing a third-party company to offer healthcare services in place of or in addition to those supplied by in-house employees is referred to as healthcare outsourcing.

When it comes to the USA, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy expressed the disturbing prediction that there would be a shortfall of 3 million lower-wage healthcare workers in the next five years and a deficit of roughly 140,000 physicians by 2033. In a recent WHO bulletin, it was reported that among healthcare workers, the overall single-point prevalence of burnout ranged from 2.5 to 87.9%, and the pooled prevalence of a high level of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment was 28.1%, 16.4%, and 31.9%, respectively.

It is extremely difficult for physician to manage all the tasks simultaneously, for instance, it can be challenging for physicians to remember and manage medical coding along with patient care, hence they can outsource this task to medical coders, who will use standardized codes such as codes of Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) or International Classification of disease (ICD) codes to accurately describe the patient’s diagnoses, procedure, and treatments.

Important risk factors for occupational stress, burnout, and weariness among health workers include lack of control over work tasks, time pressure, lengthy workdays, shift work, a lack of support, and moral injury. Since the pandemic, this risk has been rising. As a result, BPO firms assist in overcoming obstacles and offering advantages as a provider of integrated healthcare services.

WHY INDIA WILL BE A FAVOURABLE PLATFORM FOR HEALTHCARE BPO:

According to the world economic forum and OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) Brazil, Russia, India, China, and Southeast Asia are expected to have a 117% growth in health expenditure over the next ten years and the worldwide healthcare BPO industry is expected to expand at a strong CAGR of 9.3% from 2022 to 2028.

India has developed into a desirable market for healthcare BPO because of its well-established healthcare system, favorable business climate, availability of a sizable pool of bright, educated medical experts, and technical assistance.

The expansion of the medical care industry in India is anticipated to be fuelled by a number of reasons, including corporate agglomeration, the growing use of electronic health data, and the concentration of highly specialized treatments and services (e.g., teleradiology and oncology).

In recent years, there was significant growth in healthcare business process outsourcing in India, and become one of the leading countries for healthcare business outsourcing in Asia.

Here are 10 key points that highlight why India will be convenient and appealing for the growth of BPO:

1) Going on Paperless procedures: Adaptation of electronic medical records made Patient data, Staff management, Clinical trial information, Financial & insurance records, medications data of patients, and pharmacy services & billing are being computerized so that the hefty paper works and labor associated with them is reduced gradually.

According to industry experts, processing cross-border payments or accepting payments from other nations may be difficult due to the need to adhere to complicated rules. However, the Indian government’s plan to introduce digital currency (digital rupee), the mode of payment, and other transactions appear to be simpler and easier.

2) Advanced technology: Technology made life easier, and in the healthcare field the technologies such as medical software, financial software, computerized laboratory reports, and drug development methodology with technologies like machine learning, artificial intelligence, biotechnological procedures, automatic encounter processing, and automated encounter management, etc. are boon to many healthcare industries.

Database development, accurate data collection, storage, data security in terms of privacy and confidentiality, ease of updating data, and efficient integration of information in healthcare settings all contribute to making the workflow of the healthcare setting easier and smoother.

Tasks like advertising job opportunities, screening and interviewing candidates, onboarding new recruits, managing staff schedules, and so on are also made possible by technology.

3) Awareness of Health-Insurance among citizens: There has been substantial growth in the insurance sector in India recently, and there still exists room for growth in health insurance. For example, the Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY is the largest health assurance scheme in the world and is funded by the Government.

As a result, prior authorization, fraud monitoring, analyzing and approving reimbursement claims, and deciding whether to give coverage for requested treatment or procedure are all required.

Therefore, we may also anticipate a major increase in outsourcing of these operations to India for efficient workflow without compromising patient health needs. This is especially important for patients looking to cut out-of-pocket payments, especially in times of economic recession.

4) Cost-optimization: When compared to other developed countries, lower labor and operational cost with better services made India an enticing option for a number of clients, including clinics, hospitals, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical companies looking to outsource their healthcare-related activities.

The advantage of lower currency value in comparison to the developed nations such as USA, UK etc. can also be a key factor to be considered while outsourcing your business process in India.

5) Availability of medical expertise: India is hub of a large number of medical professionals with necessary education and experience, as well as exceptional abilities, skills and talents.

Physicians, Pharmacists, data analysts, medical coders, clinical research staff, telecommunicators, consultative agents, and customer service providers, and the availability of such workforce may aid in the future growth of the Healthcare BPO industry.

6) Digitalization: Another reason for the rise of medical outsourcing companies in India is the improving infrastructure and telecommunications in the country. This has made it easier for companies to connect with their clients and partners, as well as for workers to access the resources and tools they need to fulfil their responsibilities.

It’s crucial to note that digitization helps patients as well. It is now possible to collect, integrate, and store large amounts of data from patients via online surveys, phone calls, e-mail, and so on, and to answer patient queries. Thanks to the Internet revolution taking place in India, many physicians and pharmacists are now able to answer queries from a large number of patients with ease, even while both the patient and healthcare professionals are at home.

7) Legal and regulatory standards:

Some of the legal and regulatory standards are providing encouraging environment to Business Process Outsourcing such as Tax advantages with regard to healthcare BPO.

For instance, the Government of India recently took steps to ease the regulatory load and registration requirements for BPO enterprises in the telecom and IT-enabled services sectors, with the aim of enhancing flexibility and productivity in this industry.

8) Promising market Players: Many BPO companies in India like Allscripts Healthcare, LLC, Capgemini Services Sas, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp., Infosys Ltd., Lonza Group Ltd, Iqvia, Tata Consultancy Services, United Health Group, Wipro Ltd. are providing a customized solution that best fits the need of the Healthcare industries.

These companies offer medical services to several corporate clients while managing healthcare and financial outcomes using a combination of technology, research, and data analytics.

These market players aid in preventing staffing bottlenecks, which occur when several workers are assigned to the same task at once, decreasing the effectiveness of the work process.

9) Government policies: The government of India has implemented policies and initiatives to contribute to the growth of the healthcare BPO industry in India

For example, the government of India also introduced the “India BPO Promotion Scheme (IBPS)” which offers qualifying businesses financial assistance in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF).

10) Demand for healthcare services: There is a biggest potential demand for healthcare services is due to India’s expanding population, rising elderly population, and prevalence of chronic disorders including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases, among others.

The country now has a greater need for healthcare BPO services to help providers and organizations manage their administrative and operational responsibilities while reducing the complexity and obstacles faced by the healthcare team.

Factors to take into account when choosing a healthcare BPO:

1. Timely Delivery: Outsourcing provides a more economical means for an organization to obtain expertise while allowing the business to remain more focused on the core goals. However, it is crucial to complete the outsourced project on time.

For instance, when outsourcing long-term pharmacy care operations, customers must be able to rapidly and reliably deliver medications to their stores without compromising stock levels. Therefore, it’s crucial to pick a BPO provider that can complete the task at hand on schedule.

2. Compliant with quality standards: verify if the medical billing company is HIPAA compliant and Ensure better levels of process efficiency by finding out if the medical billing firm is ISO certified.
3. Adherence to the regulations: The BPO must abide by rules governing confidentiality and privacy. Find out how the firm safeguards patient information in addition to adhering to HIPAA regulations.
4. Affordability: A company that offers a service within your financial demands should be chosen. Check for any hidden fees before hiring them.
5. BPO firm with a solid track record: To determine the legitimacy and credibility of a firm, find out how long it has been in business and research its clients and partners.

The corporation must assure the accuracy and quality of the data being entered, including double-checking and validating data input to ensure it satisfies your organization’s requirements. They must also adhere to the agreements established with the clients and should be transparent in the procedure.

6. Product or service offered by the firm: choose the BPO firm that can give the service you planned, with industry-specific expertise and skills to get successfully targeted solutions, and select the BPO company which can provide the service you intended.
7. Good Customer support: It’s important to thoroughly assess potential outsourcing partners to make sure they have the knowledge and resources needed to manage the outsourced operations.

It is also critical to create clear communication lines and performance goals to verify that the outsourcing agreement meets the demands of the facility. As a result, choosing a BPO firm that provides a 24/7 client query resolution is also equally important.

Overall, Business Process Outsourcing is an emerging field in the healthcare sector. From Clinical trials to the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and patient data management to financial services, the BPO is a new Doremon of the healthcare sector.

About Staffingly:

With exceptional service to more than 300 I.T, government, and healthcare clients, exceptional delivery standards of 99%, global presence in more than 5 countries, and more than half a decade of experience, staffigly is a HIPAA-compliant BPO that can provide you a 24/7 support for Clinical customer service, Pharmacy coding, Prior authorizations, Billing and rejections and long term care with a savings up to 70% on operational costs

Why wait? Begin your outsourcing journey right away!