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The Expansion of Medical Outsourcing Companies in India

THE EXPANSION OF MEDICAL OUTSOURCING COMPANIES IN INDIA

Author: Kiran Reddy Seelam

ABSTRACT:

A fully networked environment with internal links connecting all clinical activities and external coordination with other healthcare units is what COVID-19 has compelled healthcare institutions to build. To build a cohesive environment, healthcare providers can use medical outsourcing companies to handle non-core duties including patient engagement, claims to handle, and revenue cycle management.

Offering a first-rate customer experience gives healthcare providers the chance to create a big, lasting effect. By understanding the customer journey, anticipating the communication process, and utilizing cutting-edge technologies, healthcare service providers can give their customers peace of mind and memorable experiences that promote customer loyalty, customer and agent satisfaction, and positive brand perception.

Keywords: Outsourcing, Healthcare, Clinical, Management, Expansion, Patient care.

INTRODUCTION:

Healthcare Outsourcing is a commercial activity in which a healthcare organization engages with an outside vendor to manage its support functions. To execute the task, healthcare institutions can engage independent contractors or other service providers who specialize in healthcare outsourcing.

Healthcare firms are excellent at managing non-medical chores like accounting, computer and information technology-related jobs, etc. To offer consumers effective and efficient healthcare services, the majority of businesses in this sector opt to outsource their non-core operations. When healthcare organizations outsource non-core tasks, they may concentrate all of their time and resources on patient care while also improving workflow efficiency. Healthcare facilities’ human resources, revenue cycles, claims, supply chain, team member training, financial and accounting, and IT operations can be handled by other outsourcing companies.

This article titled: “The expansion of medical outsourcing companies in India” explores the factors that contributed to the rise in popularity of healthcare outsourcing companies in India.

OBJECTIVES:

To reduce costs, increase efficiency, and accelerate operations, businesses frequently outsource. Companies that choose to outsource depend on the third-party suppliers’ proficiency in completing the work they have chosen to contract out for these advantages. Outsourcing helps businesses reduce labor expenses, such as staff pay, overhead, equipment costs, and technology expenditures.

Enterprises can utilize outsourcing to cut back on non-essential activities and concentrate on their core competencies while spinning off the less important tasks to other companies. The drawbacks include potential communication difficulties and increased security risks when numerous parties have access to sensitive information. Outsourcing is a strategy used by certain businesses to reorganize their balance sheet.

“Outsourcing, or transferring internal activities to third parties”

“Outsourcing decisions frequently result in organizational change”

SERVICES PERFORMED BY MEDICAL OUTSOURCING COMPANIES:

Medical coding and billing services:

Hospitals and medical workers must often deal with medical data needing complex classification and invoicing. When processing patient information and invoices without the proper knowledge and expertise, healthcare professionals may incur major errors and processing delays. There won’t be any billing or coding complications if you outsource medical billing to a healthcare company.

Data collection and entry services:

Healthcare organizations deal with numerous patient interactions each day as well as numerous consumer data points. These data (insurance information, prescription information, previous health records, and patient health information) need to be gathered by organizations and saved in the appropriate forms. The internal employees may focus on more challenging decision-making tasks as the bulk data can be correctly input by healthcare outsourcing professionals.

Medical claims processing services:

Another non-core aspect of healthcare that is commonly outsourced is processing patient insurance claims. Doctors’ offices and other healthcare providers will continue to be the key drivers of the need for claims processing services. There will be an even greater increase in medical appointments. As a result, in the next years, there will be an increase in the number of patient insurance claims.

Medical transcription services:

Medical record transcription is trickier than it appears. Even while it would seem simple to convert audio recordings into text forms, it might be difficult to grasp what the doctor said if you aren’t familiar with the medical language. This activity should be delegated to skilled medical transcriptionists because it can be quite time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) Services:

Due to the growing cost of RCM guidance and the regularly changing laws and regulations, daily operations have grown time-consuming for healthcare operators. Through the use of specialist revenue cycle analytics services and healthcare outsourcing, hospitals may benefit from increased patient satisfaction, improved claim submission, and higher returns.

Pharmacy Management:

The greatest pharmaceutical services are offered by healthcare BPO companies by fusing human expertise and knowledge with cutting-edge technology. In addition to understanding and controlling the hospital-dominated pharmacy market, hospitals also seek to keep costs under control while maintaining the highest levels of quality.

BENEFITS OF MEDICAL OUTSOURCING COMPANIES IN INDIA:

Cost Reduction:

The majority of the healthcare industry provides services to their customers at reasonable costs. Healthcare companies in India pay their staff in local currency and compared to most other nations, their other costs are likewise quite affordable. This boosts the profit margin and contributes to cost savings.

Access to Skilled Expertise:

The healthcare industry in India employs and trains a sizable labor force that can handle various responsibilities and profiles. By the demands of their clients, they also provide specialized training for their specialists in skills, language, and accent. Each case is treated attentively and properly by these experts.

Quality control and assurance:

There are committed to raising the bar on quality and streamlining processes for both clients and staff in India. Through the use of defined standards and methods, they ensure that their clients receive excellent services by ISO-9000 requirements.

Better Customer Experience:

Consumers think that the healthcare and life sciences sectors are more focused on satisfying their requirements than those of the patients, according to 47% of customers.

Increased Revenue:

Healthcare firms may save money by outsourcing services instead of using local resources, which is another benefit. One of the main elements that result in large savings is the ability to access inexpensive labor and infrastructure through outsourcing.

Trends in Indian medical outsourcing:

Globally, the healthcare business process outsourcing industry is now growing at a pace of roughly 21.4% CAGR. Pharmaceutical outsourcing makes up the largest portion of this, at almost 64.3%. The market is expected to be extremely saturated, hence the sector is only expected to grow at a CAGR of about 14.6% between 2011 and 2016. With a CAGR of about 31.9% between 2011 and 2016, healthcare service providers are predicted to have the greatest CAGR. This is a result of the transition from the ICD 9 to the ICD 10 classification scheme. Additionally, a 30% increase in the healthcare payer outsourcing industry is anticipated within the forecasted time frame.

“The healthcare BPO market is anticipated to reach US$441.8 billion by 2026, representing a 9.3% compound annual growth value of US$311.7 billion in 2022. (CAGR).”

Although it only makes up a small portion of India’s burgeoning outsourcing business, medical outsourcing is increasing at a pace of 150 percent annually and is not expected to slow down anytime soon, according to experts. “India still has a small amount of healthcare outsourcing”. At the moment, the industry is worth roughly $300 million. However, it is a location with great potential and appeal, “the CEO of Apollo Health Street, Divya Sehgal, explains. Since many jobs can be completed for a lot less money abroad than in the United States, healthcare providers, insurance firms, pharmaceutical companies, and healthcare IT businesses make up the four groups that turn to India for their outsourcing needs. As healthcare business organizations look for new technologies, this tendency will only increase.

According to Mr. Sehgal, Apollo, which has been operating in this market for the past six years, has grown by 200% in the past year through both organic and inorganic means. Healthcare IT businesses, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and payers (health insurance companies) make up the four clients of medical outsourcing. “About $100–105 million of the payer side’s outsourcing to India is for data entry work”. Medical billing and claim-raising for hospitals and doctors are part of the provider-end function. India receives outsourcing worth up to $30–40 million. About $100 million in medical transcription work is outsourced to India.

Fig: Accenture healthcare outsourcing: patient improving outcomes

HEALTHCARE OUTSOURCING MARKET: KEY PLAYERS

Information about the business overview, financials, goods, and effective business strategies are included in the competitive climate of the healthcare industry. The very competitive healthcare industry has several prominent players. Few powerful rivals currently own the majority of the industry in terms of market share.

The expanding need for mobile health and advancements in healthcare infrastructure are also assisting a few other smaller businesses to enter the industry with a substantial percentage. The market’s leading players include such like UnitedHealth Group and Cognizant Technology Solutions, as well as Accenture, Global Growth, GeBBS Healthcare Solutions, Genpact, IBM, Parexel International Corporation, IQVIA, and Sutherland Global Services.

KEY FINDINGS:

• The operational expenses involved with recruiting, educating, and maintaining the internal personnel as well as managing the infrastructure are reduced as a result of some healthcare services being outsourced, which generates financial savings.
• The key reason for outsourcing healthcare is to do away with all auxiliary distractions and concentrate on the core competencies.
• One of the major advantages of contracting out healthcare services is the availability of skilled, trained individuals who are specialists in doing certain tasks and are constantly ready to finish challenging projects on short notice.
• Medical outsourcing companies make sure that their clients’ demands are satisfied promptly, effectively, and without any hassle.
• There would be few billing or coding complications if you outsource medical billing to a healthcare BPO.
• The primary barriers preventing the expansion of the healthcare BPO industry are data security and confidentiality concerns.
• The key reason for outsourcing healthcare is to do away with all auxiliary distractions and concentrate on the core competencies.

CONCLUSION:

Multiple transformations are now taking place in the healthcare industry. Every healthcare institution looks for ways to save expenses without sacrificing service quality. Utilizing the facility for healthcare data management outsourcing is one of the most impressive strategies to deal with this issue.

To increase productivity and efficiency, the majority of healthcare businesses place a high priority on outsourcing their medical transcribing and healthcare data entry labor.

Businesses have started outsourcing data management responsibilities, including those related to clinical research, management systems, patient histories, health outcomes, diagnostics, and more, but this is because of the rise in consumer demand for high-quality services.

Practices can save time and money by outsourcing their healthcare procedures to outsourcing. Practitioners are given the flexibility to concentrate on patient care. It handles all the administrative tasks and enables a company or practice to focus on several projects at once.

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