Dabur may have taken ayurveda global,
corporatising and then coasting on the traditional
healthcare system to a potential multi-billion-
dollar business, but ayurvedic practitioners in
India and others of their ilk, such as
homoeopaths, nurses and physiotherapists
areDabur may have taken ayurveda global,
corporatising and then coasting on the traditional
healthcare system to a potential multi-billion-
dollar business, but ayurvedic practitioners in
India and others of their ilk, such as
homoeopaths, nurses and physiotherapists
are flocking to healthcare-related business
process outsourcing firms, or BPOs, doubling up
as specialists in analytics and medical
transcription.
Take Bangalore-based ayurvedic doctor Monika
Kumar, whose routine today is typical of any BPO employee’s –shift-based work, taking calls, feeding data to computers and so on.
But Kumar is happy. She switched careers ten
years ago as BPO work promised a stable salary, growth prospects and opportunities to work on a global platform, something that eluded her when she worked as an ayurvedic doctor for two years after graduating from the Government Ayurvedic
College in Madhya Pradesh. Besides, BPO work engaged her in creating electronic health records,
a task that allowed her to remain in touch with her expertise.
And this is not a case in isolation. The assistant
principal of a science college in Coimbatore along
with 17 of her former physiotherapy students
recently queued up before a healthcare BPO in
Bangalore seeking jobs. Again for similar reasons:
limited opportunities in their areas of expertise
and growing potential of healthcare outsourcing.
Monthly salaries at medical BPO firms start in the
range of Rs8,000-15,000 and can zoom to
Rs30,000-40,000 in three years.
Small wonder a number of graduates in life
sciences, medicine, zoology, botany,
microbiology, nursing, homeopathy and
physiotherapy now feel compelled to migrate
towards BPOs engaged in analytical and voice-
based work, medical transcriptions, electronic
health records, medical coding and patient charts.
“Very often, people do not get the right kind of
breaks in their respective areas of expertise,” said
Sanjay Shanmugaum, vice-president of human
resources at M*Modal Global Services, a medical
transcriptions firm.
“Jobs in a healthcare BPO are therefore seen as an
alternative career,” said Gopi Natarajan, CEO of
Bangalore-based Omega Healthcare, a firm
providing medical coding and voice-based
services to the US healthcare industry, which
saves up to 60% on costs by outsourcing such
work.
To be sure, most of the BPO clients are from the
US.
Industry estimates suggest the US healthcare
market will likely outsource BPO-related work to
the tune of $14-18 billion in the next few years.
India could potentially garner around $4.5-5
billion of that business, up from the current $400
million, say experts.
The new US healthcare law piloted by President
Obama, which is expected to bring 30 million
more Americans under medical insurance, is
seen adding to the sector’s prospects.
In fact, industry estimates suggest that by
2015-16, about 1 lakh new medical BPO jobs will
be created every year, up from the current
18,000.
Experts say more projects related to data
conversion, management of electronic health
records, claims processing, verifications, so on,
will likely be outsourced to Indian BPO firms in
the years to come.
The industry has started gearing up in
anticipation.
For instance, Omega, which has around 4,000
employees, is looking to add 150-180 a month
from now on.
Similarly, M*Modal has around 6,000 employees
whose backgrounds are in fields like radiology,
medicine, life sciences and pharmacy. According
to Shanmugaum, about 100 new staff are added
every month.
“The potential is humongous,” said Natarajan of
Omega. “The sector is growing at 30-35%.” flocking to healthcare-related business
process outsourcing firms, or BPOs, doubling up
as specialists in analytics and medical
transcription.
Take Bangalore-based ayurvedic doctor Monika
Kumar, whose routine today is typical of any
BPO employee’s – shift-based work, taking calls,
feeding data to computers and so on.
But Kumar is happy. She switched careers ten
years ago as BPO work promised a stable salary,
growth prospects and opportunities to work on a
global platform, something that eluded her when
she worked as an ayurvedic doctor for two years
after graduating from the Government Ayurvedic
College in Madhya Pradesh. Besides, BPO work
engaged her in creating electronic health records,
a task that allowed her to remain in touch with
her expertise.
And this is not a case in isolation. The assistant
principal of a science college in Coimbatore along
with 17 of her former physiotherapy students
recently queued up before a healthcare BPO in
Bangalore seeking jobs. Again for similar reasons:
limited opportunities in their areas of expertise
and growing potential of healthcare outsourcing.
Monthly salaries at medical BPO firms start in the
range of Rs8,000-15,000 and can zoom to
Rs30,000-40,000 in three years.
Small wonder a number of graduates in life
sciences, medicine, zoology, botany,
microbiology, nursing, homeopathy and
physiotherapy now feel compelled to migrate
towards BPOs engaged in analytical and voice-
based work, medical transcriptions, electronic
health records, medical coding and patient charts.
“Very often, people do not get the right kind of
breaks in their respective areas of expertise,” said
Sanjay Shanmugaum, vice-president of human
resources at M*Modal Global Services, a medical
transcriptions firm.
“Jobs in a healthcare BPO are therefore seen as an
alternative career,” said Gopi Natarajan, CEO of
Bangalore-based Omega Healthcare, a firm
providing medical coding and voice-based
services to the US healthcare industry, which
saves up to 60% on costs by outsourcing such
work.
To be sure, most of the BPO clients are from the
US.
Industry estimates suggest the US healthcare
market will likely outsource BPO-related work to
the tune of $14-18 billion in the next few years.
India could potentially garner around $4.5-5
billion of that business, up from the current $400
million, say experts.
The new US healthcare law piloted by President
Obama, which is expected to bring 30 million
more Americans under medical insurance, is
seen adding to the sector’s prospects.
In fact, industry estimates suggest that by
2015-16, about 1 lakh new medical BPO jobs will
be created every year, up from the current
18,000.
Experts say more projects related to data
conversion, management of electronic health
records, claims processing, verifications, so on,
will likely be outsourced to Indian BPO firms in
the years to come.
The industry has started gearing up in
anticipation.
For instance, Omega, which has around 4,000
employees, is looking to add 150-180 a month
from now on.
Similarly, M*Modal has around 6,000 employees
whose backgrounds are in fields like radiology,
medicine, life sciences and pharmacy. According
to Shanmugaum, about 100 new staff are added
every month.
“The potential is humongous,” said Natarajan of
Omega. “The sector is growing at 30-35%.”
