Healthcare BPO services in the Philippines

What is healthcare BPO?

Healthcare BPO is the practice of hiring an outside provider to run non-clinical work like billing, coding, and patient support.

• It lets doctors and nurses focus on patient care.
• It cuts costs and lowers errors in back-office tasks.
• The Philippines is one of the top hubs for these services.

The Philippine healthcare BPO sector has been a steady source of jobs for years. Revenue grew fast early on. In fact, it rose from $102 million in 2010 to $460 million by 2012. The growth within this industry continues even today, providing jobs to up to 100,000 Filipinos.

Healthcare BPO services support healthcare groups in their daily work. First, they help cut operating costs. In addition, an outside provider can fix problems like coding and billing errors.

Healthcare BPO services

BPO for healthcare covers many niches. The most common one is the call center. Still, it also spans medical billing, coding, transcription, and insurance claims work.

These roles handle the back end of healthcare groups. As a result, medical staff can focus on their real work. So they spend less time worrying about admin tasks.

Many firms find that outsourcing helps them grow their business to its full size.

Top services outsourced by healthcare providers

Here are some of the most common services in healthcare business process outsourcing.

Medical coding and billing

Medical coding turns medical diagnoses, procedures, equipment, and services into a shared code. These alphanumeric codes make the revenue cycle easier to manage. As a result, providers get paid faster and with fewer mistakes.

Revenue cycle management

Revenue cycle management (RCM) is the money side of healthcare groups. It often uses medical billing software. Because of this, patient tracking, registration, and scheduling run more smoothly. In short, it spans everything from medical billing to claims work.

Customer support

Patient support works much like customer support in other fields. The daily duties of a healthcare support agent may include:

• Fielding inbound calls from patients
• Calling insurance companies for proper medical claims of patients
• Standing as a point of contact between patients and the healthcare provider

Third-party BPO firms already run these channels. As a result, healthcare groups can plug in fast and save setup time.

Human resource services

Healthcare groups can also turn to BPO firms for human resource (HR) work. This way, a provider can cut costs and improve hiring at the same time. These firms often use top HR software to speed up the process. So the result is faster quality hires and fewer wasted resources.

Top healthcare business process outsourcing solutions

Some of the top healthcare BPO solutions include:

• Medical data entry services
• Remote monitoring
• Revenue cycle management
• Patient enrolment & strategic planning
• Patient care
• Medical transcription
• Medical Imaging
• Device monitoring
• Provider management
• Care management
• Medical billing services
• Account management services
• HR services
• Data/utilisation management
• Customer service/support lines
• Healthcare analytics
• Insurance claims management
• Product Development and Business Acquisition (PDBA)
• Research and forecasting
• Electronic health records (EHR) platform design
• Electronic medical records (EMR) platform design
• Other Non-clinical Services

Why does Healthcare BPO exist?

Repetitive tasks pull specialists away from real care. So handing off those tasks lets staff focus on their core job. In addition, outsourcing keeps costs fair for both providers and patients.

Healthcare BPO companies for different functions

The global market for healthcare outsourcing is now worth more than $400 billion. Moreover, analysts expect it to keep growing at about 10% to 11% each year. This growth comes from a simple truth. Certified staff do not want to handle every task during their workday.

These tasks include:

• Improved quality of services
• Costs of operation
• Lack of in-house professionals

Some companies, like CVS Pharmacy and Blue Cross Blue Shield, outsource their healthcare needs. Hospitals do this too. As a result, doctors and nurses can focus on patient care.

Healthcare is a highly regulated field. So these firms make sure to partner with compliant BPOs, like MVP Asia Pacific.

Within a hospital, an assistant often helps with IT admin tasks on-site. Meanwhile, IT staff fix any system problems in the office. Virtual assistants are common these days too. In fact, they are available with just a phone call or chat.

Benefits of healthcare BPO services in the Philippines

There are many benefits of healthcare BPO services in the Philippines. As a result, this field can be a great fit for job seekers and for firms that need an outsourcing partner.

Healthcare outsourcing brings several clear gains, such as:

• Lowering important errors
• Broadening a company’s services
• Boosting productivity
• Supporting a sector that now provides about 1.9 million direct jobs in the Philippines

Other benefits include the following:

• Better compliance. Healthcare groups can meet industry standards and rules more easily.
• Enhanced medical data security. Healthcare BPO partners in the Philippines follow the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). As a result, they boost a provider’s data security and encryption.
• Improved patient care services. In short, outsourcing improves patient care by automating some routine processes.

Why global companies outsource their healthcare services to the Philippines

The Philippines remains the call center capital of the world. Filipinos bring strong skills, wide experience, and a good education. In addition, the country has a large pool of nurses.

Because of this, many nurses move into the outsourcing business for healthcare. They want a path beyond the usual hospital or clinic role. Today, the wider IT-BPM sector supports about 1.9 million jobs. Meanwhile, healthcare roles keep adding to that total each year.

This is good news. Many people train as nurses but do not want to stay in a hospital or clinic.

Healthcare BPO is a fast-growing field in the Philippines. Many trained nurses cannot find a traditional nursing job. So this path gives them another option.

As a result, healthcare BPO firms let these nurses use their skills in a new way. Better still, they can earn good pay while they do it.

There is much to expect from this sector. In fact, there is a lot more in store that will be developed in places like the Philippines, simply because they are one of the leading countries in the BPO world.

Frequently asked questions about healthcare BPO

What does healthcare BPO stand for?

Healthcare BPO stands for healthcare business process outsourcing. It means hiring an outside firm to handle non-clinical tasks. For example, this includes billing, coding, and patient support.

What services do healthcare BPO companies offer?

They cover many back-office jobs. Common ones include medical coding, billing, and revenue cycle management. In addition, they offer transcription, claims work, and patient support lines.

Why is the Philippines a top healthcare BPO hub?

The country has a large, skilled, English-speaking workforce. It also has a big pool of trained nurses. As a result, global firms trust it for both clinical support and back-office work.

Is healthcare BPO safe for patient data?

Yes, when the partner follows the right rules. Reputable providers stay HIPAA compliant. Because of this, they protect patient data with strong encryption and access controls.

How does healthcare BPO cut costs?

It removes the need to build in-house teams for routine tasks. So providers save on staff, software, and training. Meanwhile, they still get skilled support at a lower price.

Key takeaways

• Healthcare BPO hands non-clinical tasks to an outside partner, so medical staff can focus on care.
• Core services include coding, billing, revenue cycle management, and patient support.
• The global healthcare outsourcing market is now worth more than $400 billion and keeps growing.
• The Philippines leads the field, thanks to its skilled staff and large nurse pool.
• A good partner stays HIPAA compliant and protects patient data at every step.