By Kris M. Crismundo
MANILA, (PNA) – The country’s Business Process Management (BPM) industry will benefit from United States Healthcare Reform Bill or Obamacare as there will be an increase in outsourcing of healthcare services.
According to Healthcare Information Management Outsourcing Association of the Philippines (HIMOAP) president Josefina Lauchangco said that the Obamacare will drive the increase in demand for outsourcing healthcare management.
As of now, 60 percent of the healthcare management market came from US and it is expected to grow with Obamacare as 40 million Americans will be covered by the bill, she said.
“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,” Lauchangco said.
Availing of healthcare benefits in the US undergoes tedious processes which are being outsourced by a company based in other countries with lower operation and labor costs and with an English-speaking workforce like Philippines.
Lauchangco cited factors that will drive US to outsource the management of the new healthcare as soon as it will be implemented. These includes the urgent need to cut healthcare cost, an aging US population that increases the need for healthcare, the rise in the incidence of diseases, the demand for trustworthy and error-free healthcare delivery, and growing requirements for an integrated healthcare system.
She said the Philippines, being the leading provider of outsourced services, will be benefitting from the potential employment that Obamacare will offer.
The US government spent US$ 3 trillion in its healthcare system in 2012, equivalent to 17 percent of its Gross Domestic Product.
The implementation of Obamacare is set to offer a US$ 54 billion-healthcare information management market to the Philippines by 2015, Lauchangco added.
Thus, HIMOAP will conduct a roadshow in four major cities in the US from October 20 to November 5 this year to promote the Philippines as an outsource service location for healthcare information management.
Reports said that Obamacare triggered the shutdown of the US government as the Republican-led House of Representatives and Democrat-led Senate did not agree on the budget of the US government this fiscal year.