The participation of Philippine Healthcare Information Management Services (HIMS) companies at a trade and investment show and HIMS System (HIMSS) exhibition held last month in the United States resulted in initial sales amounting to $72.9 million, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
In a statement issued on Monday, the trade department said the reported initial sales includes closed deals, contracts under negotiation, and potential sales to be nurtured.
Moreover, DTI said the 6th participation of Philippine HIMS companies at the HIMSS Global Conference and Exhibition (HIMSS) 2023 has potential direct investment amounting to $13 million.
The Philippine National Pavilion showcases the country’s capabilities in IT and HIMS services, such as pharma, research and life sciences (Clinical Trial Management, Pharmacy Support Services, Pharmacovigilance); health IT (EMR/EHR), big data analytics, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML); provider & payor centric processes (Medical Coding, Medical Billing, Claims Processing/Management); voice and non-voice support (Clinical Triage, Case Management, remote patient monitoring), DTI noted.
For her part, DTI Undersecretary for Competitiveness Innovation Group, Rafaelita Aldaba, said during a business forum in the US that the HIMS sector is an “excellent representation of the mutually reinforcing relationship between the Philippines and United States.”
“The HIMS sector continues to embrace automation and digital transformation with a strong focus on innovation. Adopting new technologies like AI [artificial intelligence], the sector has been shifting to higher value services and improving customer experience,” Aldaba noted.
The mission held activities such as business fora, networking, B2B, facility visits to health-care facilities and “relevant organizations,” learning sessions covering the States of Texas, New York, and Chicago to promote the Philippine HIMS and met with organizations namely: Geekdom, Tech Port San Antonio, VelocityTX, University of Texas Health, Bellevue Hospital, The Plaza Rehabilitation, Business World Chicago, and Connectory Chicago and various business chambers in Texas, New York, and Chicago.
This year’s Mission, DTI said, gained the support of industry associations such as the IT and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) and Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP).
According to DTI, this mission was participated by 18 HIMS companies, represented by 35 delegates, who actively showcased their world-class solutions towards customer and patient excellence namely: ADEC Innovations, Advanced World Solutions Inc., Connext Global Solutions, Carelon Global Solutions, Dynaquest Technology Services, HYBrain, Inspiro, JBW Managed Services Consulting, Medcode Inc., Medstar, Microsourcing, Pointwest Technologies Corp., Robinsons Land Corp., Office Symmetry, Teleperformance, Trends and Concepts, Visaya KPO, and Viventis Search Asia.
Last April, Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) Director General Tereso O. Panga expressed hope to attract big-ticket investments and strategic industries that will make the Philippines a leading industry player in HIMS and other frontier technologies.
“With the phenomenal rise onto post-global Covid-19 pandemic in the demand for health-care information management and remote telehealth services, the Philippine IT industry stands a stronger chance across Asean in attracting HIMS-related FDI [foreign direct investments] into call center and BPO [business process outsourcing] operations,” Panga’s social media post read.
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