| Philippine Medical Transcription Companies to look into new Business Opportunities in AHIMA |
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To sustain the country’s effort in promoting the Philippines as preferred global sourcing destination for health information management services, the country will join the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) convention and exhibition on 06-11 October in Philadelphia. The Philippine participation dubbed “e-Services Philippines goes to AHIMA” is seen to create opportunities for Philippine HIM firms to meet new clients, potential partners, as well as find ways to study the global sourcing market, observe trends and best practices in health information management industry. The Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions, in cooperation with the Medical Transcription Industry Association of the Philippines, Inc. (MTIAPI) will bring five medical transcription companies in this year’s AHIMA, namely: Elink Transcription Academy, Inc., E-Transcribe Global Transcription Services and Training, Inc., GlobalQuest BPO Specialists, Inc., Rapid Data Services LLC, and Top Outsource Performance, Inc. “Our company is servicing various hospitals in California and clinics from places like Texas, Houston, Wisconsin, New York, Minnesota, and Alaska for many years. Our track record coupled with our expertise in handling diverse health-related summaries, notes, reports, records, and even correspondence would give the Philippines a greater advantage compared with our competitors in the region,” said Maria Bryce Fabro, CEO and President of Top Outsource Performance, Inc. Rapid Data Services LLC, on the other hand, has headquarters in Florida and major cities in the US will proudly showcase their services in the Philippine booth. Rapid Data performs medical billing and coding. “Our Philippine subsidiary contributed much to the success of our operations in the US. The quality, turnaround time, and security our Philippine counterparts provide are the much-needed capabilities overseas clients are looking for,” said Raoul Sia, President of Rapid Data. Home to many of multinational brands that need critical business processes, the Philippines guarantees its clients with quality offshore work at reasonably lesser work. Most of the MT organizations in the Philippines operate 24 hours, 7 days a week, with the ability to deliver output in 3 to 6 hours in emergency cases. Different policies and incentive are available for the sector, namely the e-Commerce Law, Intellectual Property Code, Public Telecom Law, and Guidelines for Personal Data Protection. Highly aware of the need to secure their clients’ privacy requirements, Philippine MT organizations diligently follow the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) guidelines and the American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT) standards. The government also supports the industry through a strong industry alliance under the Medical Transcription Industry Association of the Philippines (MTIAPI) and skills development. The Filipino HR base for medical transcription is composed of young professionals in the 20-25 age bracket who are proficient in the English language and familiar with the Western culture. Most of them have medical backgrounds and are able to transcribe 1,000 lines per day with 98-99 percent accuracy rate. Individual companies are also doing their share to answer the rising demand for transcribed health-related documents by using their expertise to train future medical transcriptionists, and ensure a steady supply of workforce for the industry. E-Transcribe Global Transcription Services, as well as Elink Transcription Academy, Inc. are both employing government-assisted training programs for individuals interested to engage in medical transcription. While Top Outsource Performance, Inc. has its own in-house medical transcription training for visually impaired professionals. With an expected annual growth rate of as much as 90 percent in each of the next five years, the Philippine medication transcription industry will outpace growth in the high-profile contact center industry, making it the country’s fastest-growing business process outsourcing (BPO) sector. The sector is estimated to have generated revenues of US$ 75 million in 2006. AHIMA is a dynamic professional association that represents more than 51,000 specially educated health information management professionals who work throughout the healthcare industry. The organization’s annual convention and exhibition serves as an extensive and focused venue to meet decision-makers in the industry. The rise in healthcare spending due to aging population in the US, the increasing demand from health maintenance organizations and medical insurance, as well as the HIPAA directive saddled healthcare providers in the US with loads of complex documentation requirements. As the demand for healthcare services increase, the need for dictation and transcription of medical encounters grow 16 percent a year, and resulted to an estimated US12 billion-dollar industry. The Philippine presence in AHIMA is also a venue to invite foreign delegations in the forthcoming e-Services Philippines 2008 (11-12 February 2008, SMX Convention Center Manila), the country’s annual ICT event that brings together ICT players and centers of excellence in BPO under one roof. e-Services Philippines is organized by CITEM. For information about the Philippine participation to AHIMA, please contact CITEM’s IT Services and Electronics Division at (+632) 8325044 and (+632) 8312201 locals 212, 251, and 301, or email: itservices(at)citem.com.ph. CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE EXPOSITIONS AND MISSIONS Golden Shell Pavilion, Roxas Boulevard cor. Sen. Gil J. Puyat Avenue 1300 Pasay City, Philippines Telephone: (632) 831-2201 to 09 Fax: (632) 832-3965 / 834-0177 E-mail: info(at)citem.com.ph URL: www.citem.com.ph; www.dti.gov.ph; www.mtiapi.com |
