Changes in the United States disease-classification system this year would bode well for the local business-process outsourcing (BPO) industry, particularly the health-care information-management subsector, the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (Ibpap) said.
“The need for talent is always there, but we’re a little behind in providing the talent, especially in certain areas. For example, in health care, the biggest demand is in ICD-10 [International Code for Diseases] coders,” Ibpap President Jose Mari Mercado said in an interview.
“When US companies start shifting to [the ICD-10] code, they need more coders to support the demand. There’s not enough in the US, so they’re looking at the Philippines,” Mercado added.
Currently, he said, the US health-care industry is subscribing to a disease-classification system at the nine-digit level.
US companies will be making a shift to the 10-digit standard this year (the ICD-10), and will be in need of authorized and accredited coders, which the Philippines can supply.
According to the Ibpap head, of the 150,000 new employees to be hired by the BPO industry this year, as much as 20 percent could go to the growing health-care subsector. US companies are seen to begin hiring by October.
Mercado said that the shift to the ICD-10 code will lead to “more permanent” opportunities in the BPO industry.
“The reason India was so successful in the IT space is because when Y2k happened, and there was panic that we need so many new coders for the shift, India was the first to supply that need. After that, these same companies saw what they did, and placed them in application development. This ICD-10 can be the Y2k of the Philippines,” Mercado said.
“It will open the doors for us to prove our capabilities in the health-care space, specifically in the US market,” he added.
Another growth area, Mercado said, is clinical assistance, or “telemedicine.”
“Clinical assistance is also a growth area, this is a situation wherein US-registered nurses provide health care remotely over the phone but are based in the Philippines. American firms are actually helping local nurses to be registered in the US,” Mercado said.
Clinical assistants must be US-registered nurses, while ICD-10 coders need to have a medical background and undergo training for programming.
IBPAP said the BPO industry is on track to reach its goal of increasing revenues to $25 billion and employing 1.3 million workers by next year.
Mercado said the industry has been growing by 15 to 18 percent annually, a trend that is expected to continue in the coming years.
To ensure the continuous growth of the local BPO sector, IBPAP pushed for the creation of an executive-level Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT).
Mercado said the creation of a cabinet-level agency will not only streamline the functions supporting the BPO industry, but also institutionalize government support for the private sector.
“Currently, it’s just an office within the Department of Science and Technology. Putting up the DICT would ensure that the voice of our industry would be heard,” he said.
IBPAP will be holding the 8th International IBPAP Summit (IIS) in October to discuss the latest trends in the industry. The event is expected to be attended by local and international stakeholders.