Outsourcing has dropped its anchor in many an industry today. It started with small time projects such as a telephone answering service or a garment manufacturing company but now there is no such industry which does not have at least one part of their operational functions outsourced to someone else who is probably better equipped to do it, is cheaper and can produce the same quality as an in-house team would have provided. There is tremendous competition too among the various outsourcing companies. The demand is high and more and more people are jumping in trying to do their bit to gain international exposure and benefit from the obvious financial outcome of dealing in foreign currency.
Outsourcing in the healthcare industry began as soon as people realized that there is so much that can be done especially with BPOs and call centers having proven that already. Healthcare industry has also chosen to adapt outsourcing in an attempt to reduce costs and possibly delivery time as well. Standards and service level agreements were brought in to ensure that quality of work that is so critical in healthcare is not compromised.
Some or the other form of outsourcing was always seen in hospitals and medical institutions. You had security and housekeeping and pest control services being run by external agencies. Some hospitals do not have a full time medical staff, but call in consultants and physicians running a private practice to help out when the necessity arises. For eg, a children’s hospital may not need a full time skin specialist on board. After all, how many children would come in with skin complaints everyday. However they just cannot do without a pediatrician. Healthcare services gradually realized that they could cut down on full time non-essential services and still retain the choice of calling for help when required.
Medical transcription and medical billing soon followed suit. As with any other reason for outsourcing, even in healthcare people figured out that some services did not require them to employ full time staff and that they could get the same job done in half the time paying half the money elsewhere. The latest in healthcare outsourcing is telemedicine. Specialist doctors in India and Israel are able to look at scans and X-rays through internet tools and advise other doctors or patients without both incurring any additional costs. Technology has advanced to such a level that you no longer need to physically visit a doctor or fly in a specialist to get treated, you can do it sitting at home.
Outsourcing involves focusing on the core competencies of a business and then assessing where strategic management can best involve market specialists, and passing work out to those people best suited to providing that resource, such as IT outsourcing, payroll, amongst other areas. The most important thing to consider is whether outsourcing achieves the maximal benefits for the business. One result of modern business practices focusing on the internet is the need for security, with outsourcing IT security being ideal for maintaining a business’ compliance procedure and retaining business confidence in website security. After establishing outsourcing is best for your business, a third-party organization becomes responsible for undertaking that particular field of work and ensuring its completion as per standards defined.
Once successful outsourcing has been established, the main business is able to focus on the rest of the business, enabling the workforce to be utilized most effectively. It promotes growth and provides access to the best technology and the most proficient experts. In the long run, it enables your business to reduce outgoings and make the best of what is available. Before setting up an outsourcing policy within your business you need to ensure this is going to be a cost-effective exercise. However, approached properly, outsourcing can improve customer service and provide a valuable service to your business.
It needs to be remembered that, if you are using an outsourcing specialist, their work is representative of your company and mechanisms need to be in place to ensure your security. Payment terms would also have to be agreed to ensure the company you are outsourcing to get paid an appropriate rate for their input and confidentiality clauses or non-disclosure regulations have been agreed upon. Before outsourcing commences, the pros and cons need to be carefully considered – and this does include the amount of control the main business would have to relinquish for outsourcing to be viable. Finding reliable suppliers would naturally be one of the first considerations and developing a business relationship with those suppliers would naturally be the best way to ensure dependability.
Outsourcing is not just a feature of small business efficiency, but many global companies also acknowledge that, outsourcing work appropriately, closer to where their customer base is, makes geo-demographical sense and is more cost efficient for the main business. It helps largely in freeing up valuable resources for the main business to focus its skill base elsewhere.
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