THE Philippine peso may have recently taken a beating, but another currency in the country has appreciated—health information.
Carelon Global Solutions Philippines Inc. Country Head Nora Terrado recently revealed the rise of “currency of healthcare,” which, she said, is being managed pretty well in the Philippines.
held at their headquarters in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, on January 30, 2023.
Health Information Management (HIM), she added, is “one of the fastest-growing segments of the IT-BPM (Information Technology and Business Process Management) sector,” domestically and internationally.
“As you know, the country, or specifically the IT-BPM industry, has this bold ambition to grow this industry to P28 billion by 2028, assuming that we have all ingredients to build it,” she said at a recent news conference for the official rebranding launch of Legato Health Technologies Philippines Inc. to Carelon Global Solutions Philippines Inc., held at their headquarters in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
“Now, healthcare, health information, and the related health practice, if you will, here in the Philippines represent around 10 percent to 13 percent [of the outsourcing industry]. And that is actually a similar share of the entire global landscape where 10 percent of the offshore services globally would really be for healthcare. So we are growing, accordingly,” she stressed.
Apart from the United States—seen to remain a growth driver in terms of demand—other major emerging markets for the local HIM sector include some of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member-countries, such as Australia, Germany, Japan, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
Country Head Nora Terrado: “The profession of healthcare is beyond bedside.”
Complex healthcare problems
HEALTHCARE is, indeed, a complex industry the world over because a lot of systems are fragmented.
The most essential one that needs to be fixed, according to Terrado, would be the electronic medical records system. She cited, for instance, that it should be “improved [or] enhanced to make it more accessible for health services.”
For her, a change in the focus of consumers is also a must, explaining, “The consumers now demand whole health, not just in the Philippines. It’s important to actually improve primary care because if we focus on it, we can address the issue on affordability.”
Given the various challenges like the unabated high inflation rate worldwide, healthcare keeps on becoming exposed to the volatilities of the economic dynamics.
“So what most healthcare providers and payers have been focusing on is to make health services affordable,” the top executive noted.
And how to do that? Terrado recommended the use of technology and ensuring they have to be smart enough to utilize data and insights, and bring them all together.
“Balance care, which is the service, with data-driven digital solutions. And that would require the use of technology and expertise,” she explained.
Care beyond the bedside
APART from traditionally taking charge of the patients, providing care to them can be accomplished more than the confines of a hospital.
“The profession of healthcare is beyond bedside,” stated the country head of Carelon.
In fact, she shared that there is now a high demand for telehealth, behavioral health, and even the social needs, which have an impact on the quality of life of an individual.
“That is how it will evolve,” Terrado said of the future prospects for the entire healthcare industry.
Like what their organization strongly believes in, she also expects, “Clinical care continuum is really going to be an important aspect in how we will evolve and how we will solve the complex problem in healthcare.”
Sustaining growth
AMID the internal and external factors besetting the healthcare industry at present, including the Covid-19 pandemic, the outlook for the local HIM sector is still upbeat this year.
“We see it growing about—on the conservative side—at least 13 to 15 percent, assuming the ingredients are right,” Terrado projected.
With this in mind, she pointed out that it’s important for the industry to really focus on the essential things to build a stronger ecosystem.
The top official of Carelon in the country underscored the significance of honing further the skills of the Filipino workforce and improving the infrastructure in propelling the growth of this sector.
“Remember that the world is changing so fast. So to just prioritize on what the Philippines [ought to do], as a destination for healthcare services, the most important aspect in addition to demand generation is talent development. That’s one,” she said.
“Second is infrastructure development in which our partners from the government are focusing on,” she added.
The ease of doing business would be important as well, Terrado mentioned, while noting also policy shaping to align regulations to that of the market demand.
“That’s one thing we really appreciate our partners in government has been looking at,” she stressed.
Rebrand, expand
CARELON Global Solutions Philippines Inc., formerly Legato Health Technologies Philippines, is known industry-wide as a leading provider of quality digital tools that streamline business operations for health-care organizations.
Since its inception in December of 2018, the company has expanded with four offices all over the country—two in Manila and the other two in Iloilo—with a total workforce of nearly 7,000.
With its recent rebranding, this 100-percent export services company is now focused more on driving for exchange revenues for the country, with the US market in mind.
“I am very excited about the expansion plan,” Terrado bared of what’s in store for their organization, including their headcount target of 1,500 in the next 24 months.
“But initially, what excites me is that we intend to create our core talent, our core team that we will train up to be health practitioners in business process management who are trained in technology, data analytics, as well as enhance their expertise.”
She reiterated that they “really have to invest in high-quality, top talents who know the essence of the entire healthcare journey,” and develop them “not just in the domain experience, but also being knowledgeable and skillful in learning the essential digital capabilities around the delivery of care.”
Specifically, she cited the practitioners of healthcare, such as nurses and allied services, as well as people who will be molded to become experts in robotics, process automation and other technologies that would allow them “to create a slice and dice of data and convert them into information.”
Such developments in the pipeline are a clear “demonstration that the offshore services here in the country continues to go up the value chain,” Terrado said.
Image credits: Melpomenem | Dreamstome.com