BPO: US healthcare sector eyes India for networking solutions

Sunita K
24 November 2003

Ahmedabad: With the business process outsourcing (BPO) boom on, the huge healthcare sector in the US is looking India-wards in a major way for networking solutions.

An example of this trend is the recent move of the Nasdaq-listed Quovadx, one of the fastest-growing software companies in the US, to tie up with the Infotech Network Group (ING), a 15-member Indian entity, in order to utilise the services of the latter in areas like healthcare, media, entertainment and government and financial sectors.

But the major focus is going to be on healthcare. "Healthcare in the US accounts for 16 per cent of the country's GDP [gross domestic product]. Around 2 per cent of the turnover from healthcare is spent on IT solutions sector. With over 1,000 health insurance companies, 6,000 hospitals and over 5 lakh doctors, the network to be connected is huge. Even if 1 per cent of those jobs is done in India, it will mean a lot to us. We are looking at India mainly for medical transcription, billing, coding and processing of claims," says to David Nevisky, executive vice-president (sales), Quovadx.

"ING will utilise the services of its 15 component companies to provide tailor-made solutions to various segments. With the Qoovadx platform, users will be assured of the best possible end-result," says Madhavan Pillai, chairman and CEO, ING.

It has been estimated that foreign companies save up to 50 per cent costs in coding, 40 per cent on medical transcription and 50 per cent in processing insurance claims if they are outsourced to other countries. And if the jobs are outsourced to India, the companies are also assured of good quality.