The world has witnessed a quantum shift in people’s attitude towards interacting with everything outside their homes after the Covid-19 pandemic. It has pushed people to go online, from buying groceries to attending schools and other institutions.
And this shift in attitude also applies to how people are engaging with medical facilities in the post-pandemic period.
A study conducted by PwC’s Health Research Institute discovered that 5 percent of Americans used telehealth services for the first time during the pandemic, indicating roughly 16.5 million people! As a result, the need for hiring a healthcare BPO has become more necessary than ever before.
Benefits of Hiring Healthcare BPO Services
Cost Cutting
One of the biggest reasons why many medical enterprises opt for healthcare BPO outsourcing is its cost-reducing aspect. Outsourcing removes the requirement for maintaining an in-house team of employees up to a great extent. It eliminates the need for paying compensations and employee benefits.
Greater Efficiency
A shocking 80 percent of medical bills in the USA contain errors, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars. In addition, as the number of patients increases, it puts a strain on the system.
Outsourcing business processes such as medical billing, claims processing, medical transcriptionist, etc., to a dedicated agency can significantly reduce the chances of errors and increase efficiency in handling patient data.
Automation and Analytics
The use of automation software and AI have increased significantly in this sector. It opens up the possibility of obtaining detailed and meaningful insights from the large quantum of data collected through daily operations.
Things to Keep in Mind While Hiring a Healthcare BPO
- Training and Level of Expertise
The training of the employees and their level of expertise will directly impact your brand name. Therefore, it is the first thing that needs to be considered before hiring.
The BPO agency will have to ensure that all the payments come through. It requires dealing with insurance agencies and patients with utmost empathy and professionalism.
When you consider the many challenges of non-core medical procedures, such as resolving past due balances, determining the most feasible repayment method, maneuvering through the labyrinth of insurance logistics, etc., the skills of the agency employees cannot be ignored.
- Expect Results
There is nothing wrong with expecting concrete results from the outsourcing agency, especially when entrusting them with revenue cycle activities. They have to show an increase in the level of insurance and patient payments compared to what you were able to obtain.
If the outsourcing company requires an upfront payment, it would be wise to consider a company that doesn’t, as it may put you in a disadvantageous position.
- HIPAA Compliance
For those who do not know what HIPAA is, it stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It is a non-negotiable requirement that the BPO firm complies with the norms set forth by HIPAA.
The act deals with how patient information is stored and secured. If found in violation, it could incur a hefty penalty and invite bureaucratic complications.
The decision to take up healthcare BPO services can impact the total revenue of any medical enterprise. Hence, which firm you choose must be carefully contemplated.
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