KPO Firms in India See Opportunities in New US Healthcare Regulations
Changes in the US healthcare space represent major opportunities for many KPO companies in India. New services and an even bigger workforce are being required by US healthcare companies to address these changes in both the provider and payer sides. In an interview with Intelenet, one of the global KPO service providers in India, details about the changes, new financial services and the US healthcare space in general come to light. The new regulations is expected to prompt healthcare companies to outsource many of their backend operations to KPO service providers in India or to other BPO and KPO destinations to cut costs and gain maximum profit.
Regulatory changes in the healthcare system will include opening up insurance. Before, insurance companies could only offer and provide insurance for people in a particular jurisdiction or state. This meant that an insurance company recognized by the federal government in the state of Texas is only allowed to provide health insurance to residents of the state of Texas. With the changes in health insurance regulations, this same insurance company based in Texas will be allowed to give insurance policies to individuals or groups across the United States. The changes will also mean that health insurance companies from other states will be allowed to issue policies to residents of Texas. The number of insurance providers is expected to go up due to the new healthcare regulation which in turn, will result to raised costs and profitability to both insurance payers and insurance providers. Changes in US healthcare will also impact its medical coding system as a consequence. A new medical code is also being prescribed for use.
The KPO industry in India is perhaps the most popular offshore outsourcing industry that many American and European companies flock to for their outsourcing needs. Intelenet is one of the many KPO firms in India that provides backend office services to many of these companies. Intelenet is currently providing services for Blackstone portfolio companies and firms operating in the US healthcare space either for the provider or the payer side. Because of the recent regulatory changes to healthcare occurring in the United States, many KPO companies in India – not just Intelenet – see more opportunities for the KPO industry in India to grow.
One of the many KPO services in India that are expected to grow due to US healthcare regulation changes is medical coding. KPO firms in India that offer medical coding see this as an opportunity to come in and help with codification. American companies will need to retrain their people in coding as the system for medical coding changes. They need to get more people into coding due to the number of codes rising. Since this is expected to have a huge impact on healthcare companies’ profitability and costs, KPO companies in India can come in and provide coding services and other operational services. Intelenet, which has offices in the United States and India, sees this as a big opportunity for KPO in India and the company particularly to attract more investors, provide more local jobs and leverage its expertise in the healthcare industry. Healthcare companies in the US do not have to retrain their people because Intelenet can get people onshore in the US to do codification or provide these companies with an offshore solution.
Healthcare costs are sure to skyrocket when these regulations are implemented. In 2008 alone, the United States spent about $2.4 trillion on healthcare. This amount is about 17% of the United States’ GDP. However, only 20% of the American population is insured, and that $2.4 trillion was spent on only 80% of the insured American population. It is almost certain that that figure will go up within the succeeding years as spending on healthcare will also rise exponentially. Healthcare providers will have to look for ways to cut operational costs, and outsourcing services to KPO companies in India and to other KPO destinations may be the best way to do so.
