Medical outsourcing boom in the US favors Filipino nurses, physicians

Posted at 2:09 pm September 06, 2011

Tags: Outsourcing

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By Anna Valmero

QUEZON CITY, METRO MANILA—Recent legislation affecting healthcare institutions in the United States favors medical outsourcing in Philippines, according to an executive of outsourced services firm Medicall.

Medicall established local operations in 2004 and currently operates facilities in Metro Manila and Cebu. It employs Filipino nurses and physicians whoprovide remote clinical services to insured individuals in the US like “health coaching” and case management.

Medicall president Jeff Williams noted several laws – including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act (HCERA) - that encourage medical companies in the US to look into outsourcing to reduce operational costs.

“Cost reduction is a major trend impacting all healthcare delivery organizations in the US. The healthcare sector’s share of the US economy hit 17.3 percent of gross domestic product and is forecast to reach 19.3 percent by the end of the decade,” Williams said, replying to questions via email.

Williams also cited a “megatrend” in the increasing acceptance in tapping Philippine-based clinicians for the US market.

According to the 2008 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses by the US Department of Health and Human Services, 5.6 percent of 170, 235 registered nurses in the US are trained outside of the US. Of this total, almost half (or 48 percent) are from the Philippines.

All Philippine-based universities that teach four-year nursing courses use the same curriculum as the US because the program was initially designed to help nurses enter the US workforce. This makes for a perfect fit to service the US market.

Tapping Filipino healthcare providers is also hinged on the requirement for the US healthcare industry to shift to the ICD-10 global standard standard, said to be the most updated code for medical processes and diagnosis.

ICD 10 stands for International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems and uses 14,400 codes to classify diseases and health symptoms, and can be expanded to over 16,000 codes.

At present, the US medical industry uses the earlier ICD-9 version. Efforts to meet the October 2013 deadline by training the existing workforce in the US and comply with ICD 10 would be difficult.

“Significant resources will be required to conform and meet the increased demand. The Philippines is displaying its foresight and is actively working to train and prepare a ready and able workforce to address the coming demand for ICD 10 qualified individuals,” said Williams.

This industry is poised for such growth that thousands of additional medical professionals will be needed to adequately address the demand, added Williams.

For its part, MediCall has tapped Filipino clinicians, citing the country’s talented workforce. To be part of the company, Filipino healthcare providers must have at least a four-year nursing degree and a minimum of three years clinical experience. Physicians and pharmacists must have maintain a “license to practice” in good standing.

Given this, Williams urges nursing professionals and the education sector, in general, to retool skills and add IT outsourcing capability to service the growing market. Registered nurses and other medical professionals deliver an evolving suite of high-end services, including medical workers’ compensation and pharmacy support services, primarily to clients in the United States.

Specialized IT-related expertise is required to address strict patient data privacy and security standards for the auditing processes at federal, state and of course individual client levels in the industry.

Apart from the usual degree for nurses or clinicians, continuous education and skills upgrade is required for all employees in the field to meet industry demands. For MediCall, it endorses and pays for exam fees of its Philippine-licensed nurses to the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) in support of their continuing education.

Get more information about Medicall