Innovation and Operational Capability as Critical Decision Points for HIM Outsourcing

Published on 05 Oct 2011

More sophisticated customers now want efficiencies of scale, process capability, consulting capability, operational excellence and financial stability for their service providers in the Health Information Management (HIM) sector.

Veck Basinang, Pointwest CIO, notes that a seeming paradox at the September Healthcare Information Management Outsourcing Services Congress (HIMOSC) in Manila is already common knowledge: there is significant cost pressure among players in the global healthcare market even as customers seek providers who give value beyond cost alone.

Despite the US spending $2.5 trillion on healthcare, major legislative reforms such as the HITECH Act and an increasingly diverse demographic are squeezing profit margins across the board, creating tremendous opportunities for outsourced Health Information Management or HIM.

A ‘back-of-the-envelope estimate’ of Partha Mishra, Managing Director of UnitedHealth Group, looks at $72 billion worth of healthcare services that can be potentially outsourced, with only about $30.5 billion that seems readily addressable in the next few years.

Mishra shared that while healthcare insurance companies cite resources or skills availability alongside cost reduction as key drivers to adopt third-party services, service providers look at cost reduction, process improvements or even incremental innovation as critical decision points to outsource.

In the Philippines, local industry association Health Information Management Outsourcing Association of the Philippines or HIMOAP counts a growing roster of 45 members from various sectors allied to healthcare, some of whom are IT firms who have logically branched out into HIM.

Pointwest Technologies Corp., is a case in point, being relatively new to HIMOAP. It started out in 2006 when it provided healthcare IT to a leading US pharmacy benefit manager, a natural offshoot of its comprehensive expertise in open-source, proprietary, mobile and legacy software, alongside its robust ITO track record in the transportation, utilities, finance and retail industries.

Part of Pointwest’s support to the local HIM industry is raising the national flag at the AHIMA 2011 Convention & Exhibit this October along with fellow HIMOAP members.