Healthcare organizations can outsource business operations to external vendors, allowing them to focus on patient care. Outsourcing can start with IT support and data entry, then move on to billing, documentation, and coding. Outsourcing can save up to 50% on operating costs.
Healthcare business process outsourcing (BPO) is a practice in which healthcare organizations outsource business operations to external vendors. Having less staff and equipment on site to manage computers, employees, customers and accounting allows a healthcare business to focus primarily on patient care. Outside vendors can handle information technology (IT) tasks, human resources, employee training, finance and accounting, as well as customer relationship management and supply chain management. The concept of healthcare BPO started in the 1980s and it is now common for healthcare companies to outsource their operations at many different levels.
The first step in healthcare BPO is for the company to find a provider that specializes in providing services for the processes it manages. Each vendor must also have the ability to train and maintain a team focused on customer satisfaction, in addition to having a well-established IT team and support system. Project management and the ability to collaborate with the client company are essential. Important skill sets also include providing financial services and managing healthcare.
An organization does not need to outsource everything at once. Companies can take a step-by-step approach, and outsourcing often starts by offloading IT support operations and data entry. At this level, a provider doesn’t need a lot of healthcare experience or technical knowledge. The healthcare BPO can then move on to transaction processing tasks such as billing, billing, documentation and coding. Outsourcing can then extend to patient interactions, call center management and various customer service tasks, for which a provider needs to have extensive knowledge of the healthcare industry.
A vendor may eventually hire staff formerly employed by the customer and undertake to improve business processes on its own. At the highest level of healthcare BPO, the vendor is responsible for everyone in the business, all processes and technology, and for delivering pre-determined improvements in performance, directly tied to vendor compensation. A healthcare company can save up to 50% on its total operating costs by outsourcing business processes to an experienced provider.
Other processes that can be outsourced include shipping operations, converting paper documents into electronic versions, and invoices and accounts payable. Health insurance claims and billing can also be outsourced, as well as Explanation of Benefits processing provided with insurance payments. Also included are operations from revenue cycle management to denial management. There are some healthcare BPO providers that specialize in providing the full range of business processes to clients.
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