Outsourcing in The Healthcare Industry

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.