Building an offshore medical and healthcare team: Can it really help?

Healthcare outsourcing on the rise

Building offshore medical and healthcare teams has been a reliable solution for both small and big players in the global health sector as it faces the combined effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, a lingering global talent shortage, and the rising pressure to keep up with fast-changing technologies.   

The global hospital outsourcing market, valued at US$270.9 billion in 2020, is showing tremendous growth and is expected to hit US$ 736.47 billion in 2030, a study by market insights provider Precedence Research showed.   

Healthcare offshoring allows companies to cut down the operational costs and lessen the workload of their stretched-out core staff, allowing them to focus on high-value tasks that improves the quality of service they provide to the customers, all while generating savings.    

Looking for talent abroad has also been an effective solution for many companies trying to get specialist roles in the healthcare space, which include niche skills in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical research, healthcare logistics, and more – roles that are most of the time difficult to find locally. 

Healthcare roles you can find offshore

Many hospital administrators consider medical billing officers and medical coders among the priority healthcare roles to outsource because the service provider can easily manage their development, saving money on office supplies and accounting-specific training.    

Another aspect of business in the healthcare space that can be improved with outsourcing is compliance, which can easily consume a big chunk of the core staff’s time. By tapping talent pools offshore, or even nearshore, healthcare compliance specialists can come in and support a company right away.  

The technology that has made telemedicine and other remote services possible has opened doors for more diverse roles to emerge. Roles that have become mission-critical in today’s organizations involved in healthcare, wellness, and medicine.    

Traditionally, healthcare firms offshore clinical and non-core functions, such as pharmaceutical services, provider services, payer services, and healthcare IT functions. But today, they can even outsource hard-to-find niche roles like research scientists and more.   

Because of this, an organization engaged in the business of healthcare can now build a fully dedicated team of healthcare professionals offshore to increase their value, improve their services, and gain a competitive edge over similar businesses.

Building your own offshore team   

How you build your own offshore medical or healthcare team will depend on your company’s requirements.   

Begin your outsourcing journey by making a list of pain points that you need to resolve and a list of goals that you want to achieve by outsourcing.   

Do you want to outsource mostly for cost savings, or is your focus to augment a burnt-out workforce, rummaging through piles of administrative task backlogs? Do you need experts for knowledge-heavy work, like research, or do you want a team of specialists to do finance so you can focus on patient care and delight?   

Take time to imagine how your core staff and offshore team will work. Do they need to collaborate or is it better for the offshore team to just focus on the business function they must fulfill? What are the opportunities for collaboration between them?   

Once you have determined your pain points and specific requirements, secure the support of your in-house team for your plans.  

That’s because people might mistake outsourcing as a move to retrench core team members. So, explain to them that you are building a separate team offshore so that the core team can focus on improving the company’s value proposition. 

Search for providers in top outsourcing destinations, such as Sri Lanka and the Philippines. These countries usually offer modern offshore staffing solutions that can be flexible enough to adjust to your very specific requirements, whether it’s for the roles you need or the terms of the contract.   

The Philippines, in particular, offers more than just modern offshore solutions. It’s home to some of the world’s top healthcare professionals.   

And while there is long-standing demand for the country’s nurses, the popularity of healthcare and medical professionals in highly specialized fields has steadily grown in this talent-rich country.   

The next step is to look for offshore staffing providers who can listen to your specific needs and align their solutions to your goals. Check their credentials, client roster, and service record.  

If possible, book consultations with providers across several countries to help you make a more informed decision.  

The opportunities in healthcare are nearly limitless, especially with the rise of modern technologies and new ways of working. Expect this major global industry to be more dynamic, collaborative, and technology-driven, and outsourcing is one way to prepare for that.