Current Trends in Medical Outsourcing in India

The outsourcing of medical processes in the UK and US is no news to us. Given the high costs incurred by medical treatment in these countries, medical outsourcing seems a feasible option for all parties involved. But an interesting trend has been taking place in India, the outsourcing player par excellence. India, which garners the major chunk of medical outsourcing contracts worldwide, is itself witnessing outsourcing within the country on a feverish scale. This extends to the fields of diagnostics, data management, HR, payroll, soft skill management etc which are being delegated to other companies. From billing, back-office work, revenue cycle management (RCM) for credit billing, to patient records transcription or medical transcription, diagnostic facilities and medical records storage (electronic and hard copy), Indian Hospitals are today outsourcing services with the intention of streamlining their in-house processes So what are the ramifications of all these outsourcing activities and what other trends are governing the Indian medical scenario? Find out right here!

Data conservation

One major initiative towards simplifying medical administration in general is in the direction of outsourcing medical record management. In the interest of space and fewer tactical and organizational issues, hospitals are outsourcing the storage and upkeep of records to offsite specialized centers that ensure fool proof protection. According to a healthcare professional, "Outsourcing medical data facilitates collation and digitization of information from multiple sources – maximizing information access to the patient and practitioner, giving secure, long-term storage of medical records, minimizing cost of storage and sharing information globally and minimizing cost of travel."

Credit and insurance cycle management

The entire stream of credit cycle management is being outsourced to skilled revenue cycle management (RCM) consultants. A primary connecting link between the hospitals, patients and the payers, they ensure that the hospital’s interests are met comprehensively. As the MD of Health and Insurance Integrated elaborates, "The hospital has to get the authorization for the patient issued by the payer who can be anyone from an insurance company to a Government organization, a bank or a PSU. The work involves taking care of anything and everything in the credit cycle stage—from the moment a patient walks into the hospital to getting his approvals, assisting in claim documentation, filling and following it up with the payer." RCM experts are expected to drive 30% of the market in the coming years.

Diagnoses and process delegation

A thriving trend in the medical outsourcing scene today is the delegation of high end diagnostic tests. Some institutions are even going as far as outsourcing the complete management of laboratories to sound players in the market. Madras Medical Mission (MMM) in Chennai has handed over its clinical unit the Institute of Liver and Digestive Diseases to Chennai Transplant Centre (CTC). CTC functions in the same premises, providing services in general surgery, gastroenterology and multi-organ transplantation. The companies share revenues, at the same time freeing up medical skill and infrastructure for MMM to use more constructively.

Hospitals are also outsourcing bio-medical equipment maintenance and ancillary operations. Manipal Goa Hospital (MGH) is an example. "It is difficult for the manufacturers and suppliers of medical equipment to have trained technical manpower deputed at all their installation sites due to the costs involved. Thus in-house engineering support becomes all the more imperative for healthcare facilities and hospitals," says the CEO of MNE Technologies & MSFM, Bangalore. Some hospitals are also outsourcing biomedical waste management (BMW), which can be quite a costly affair if done in-house.

Staff recruitment and training

Many hospitals prefer to outsource the recruitment of nursing staff and other administrative staff to agencies. This way credentials are verified by the agents, apart from reducing paper work and expenditure on time and effort. The same goes for the training and grooming of staff. Mumbai's Dr L.H. Hiranandani Hospital has entrusted the training of its nursing staff to University of Sydney in Australia, opining that this "improves their grooming skills, leadership qualities, and clinical competence."

Benefits of medical outsourcing:

• Streamlines time lines
• Facilitates project completion
• Enhances cost management
• Improves focus on core strengths
• Ensures stability and consistency in services
• Brings in wider value expertise & technology

Vidhu Panicker
Outsourcenews.com network