HIMOAP promotes Philippines as top healthcare outsourcing destination

HIMOAP member company delegates pose at the Philippine booth during the 83rd AHIMA

SANTA CLARA, California—The Healthcare Information Management Outsourcing Association of the Philippines (HIMOAP) is setting new heights in the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) arena in the world today. As the leading markets – United States, Canada, Europe – pose for a growing healthcare information management (HIM) sector, the Philippines is poised to be the emerging and leading destination for various outsourcing in health information management.

HIMOAP held its second annual conference last September 15, 2011 at the New World Hotel, dubbed as the Healthcare Information Management Outsourcing Services Congress 2011 (HIMOSC 2011) with this year’s theme, “Driving Sustainable and Dynamic Business Growth in the Philippines through Education and Innovation.”

The conference brought together BPO companies, providers, payers, regulators, academe, associations and professionals engaged in the industry to tackle the diverse opportunities and challenges in order to position the Philippines achieve a significant market share in HIM.  HIMOSC 2011 is part of the national advocacy in order to create the right business environment for the HIM outsourcing to successfully thrive.

The Philippines has gained a good momentum in creating international awareness as HIMOAP member companies joined the 83rd AHIMA Conference and Exhibit on October 1-6, 2011 in Salt Lake City, Utah, where the delegates showcased the Philippine capability in HIM outsourced services such as medical transcription, coding and billing, pharmacy benefits management, electronic medical records (EMR) solution, medical research, etc.

Around 300 attendees visited the Philippine booth and several business meetings were held with a healthcare facility, HIM staffing agency and a HIM service provider.  HIMOAP company delegates included representatives from RxSecure, CCK City Network, MxSecure Philippines, Pointwest Technologies, Transcribe Media, Total Transcription Solutions, Inc. and Transkripsyo.

The country participation to AHIMA is supported by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Science and Technology through the Information and Communications Technology Office.  Since 2005, DTI has been supporting Philippine participation to AHIMA.

In a recent speech, Secretary Gregory Domingo acknowledged the IT industry (healthcare information management being part of it) as one of the key big industry winners which government will continue to push for growth  and support in a big way.

On October 25, HIMOAP will continue its international visibility during the Healthcare Forum at the Philippine Center in New York City.  The forum is jointly organized by DTI, Philippine Consulate General- New York, Philippine American Chamber of Commerce NY and the Philippine BPO/IT Council.

Current health reforms and EMR implementation in the United States are creating career opportunities for Filipino nurses and medical practitioners as more and more functions are outsourced in the revenue cycle management involving specialized skills in healthcare, both on the provider and payer sides.

HIMOAP (www.himoap.com) is a non-stock, non-profit organization which aims to promote the Philippines as the outsourcing destination of choice for healthcare information management services. HIMOAP has around 45 member companies engaged in HIM outsourcing services.