MANILA - The organization of Philippine call centers today said it will push through with a roadshow in the US despite its government's shutdown.
In a statement, the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP) said the roadshow in four major cities in the US will be held from October 20 to November 5, and is aimed at selling the Philippines as an outsource location for healthcare IT.
“Healthcare IT and information management are areas where Filipinos can excel because of our wealth of professional doctors, nurses and clinicians and our proven expertise in voice services,” said CCAP president Benedict Hernandez, who will join the roadshow of the Healthcare Information Management Outsourcing Council of the Philippines (HIMOAP).
The US market for healthcare information is seen to grow to $54 billion by 2015.
Josefina Lauchangco, HIMOAP president, called on contact centers to gear up for their entry to the highly lucrative US healthcare IT outsourcing market, which comprises 60 percent of the global market for healthcare IT.
She said Philippine healthcare business process outsourcing firms (BPOs) have already quadrupled since 2009 and will further grow to a $1-billion industry by 2016.
Driving this market’s growth is the US Healthcare Reform Bill, more popularly known as “Obamacare” after President Barack Obama.
Under the measure, more than 40 million Americans would become eligible for healthcare coverage. For a citizen to avail of healthcare benefits, they have to go through a tedious process of verification for eligibility, a service that can be outsourced to a company based offshore, such as the Philippines.
The US government spent $3 trillion for healthcare in 2012, representing 17.3 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).
“In the next three years, four million new enrollees are expected to join the American healthcare system. This will further grow to 35 to 40 million by 2016," said Lauchangco.
Offshore outsourcing is the most efficient way to manage the growing requirements of healthcare IT, Hernandez said.
According to Lauchangco, five factors drive outsourcing: the urgent need to cut healthcare cost, an aging US population, the rise in the incidence of diseases, the demand for trustworthy and error-free healthcare delivery, and growing requirements for an integrated healthcare system.
As more Americans apply for Obamacare, Lauchangco said the demand for hundreds of helpdesks manned by healthcare professionals 24/7 will rise and provide outsourcing opportunities for Filipinos.
“We have an opportunity to build the Philippines as a differentiated brand of knowledge workers. This is an area that can withstand price wars and shield the country from economic downturns," Hernandez said.
CCAP has nearly 100 member-companies that account for 70 percent of contact center revenues in the country.
source: interaksyon.com
