The Impact of Back-office Outsourcing for Phoenix Medical Specializations

Outsourcing has become a game changer for medical specializations in Phoenix, providing a unique and proven strategy for optimizing operational efficiency and resource allocation. 

Virtual assistants in Phoenix are instrumental in redefining how medical practices function amid the evolving healthcare landscape. Armed with their expertise in diverse administrative tasks, these virtual assistants allow healthcare professionals to focus on core responsibilities.

This article delves into the impact of back-office outsourcing on Phoenix’s medical specializations, uncovering how it helps enhance cost-effectiveness and patient experience. 

Keep reading to discover more.

Why Healthcare Organizations Should Consider Back-end Outsourcing

Healthcare is an essential economic driver in Arizona’s most prominent city. Per the Phoenix Chamber survey, three out of every five individuals in the metropolis work in healthcare. The industry employs over 60,000 people and generates $8 billion for the local economy. 

This thriving landscape garners intense rivalry among market players. Competition has also intensified due to the city’s growing population and number of medical establishments. Hospitals, research centers, clinics, and insurance firms vie to gain patient loyalty for better market share.

Among the groups that need to keep up with the competition are the medical specializations in Phoenix, which include specialty healthcare centers and services. To thrive in a dynamic environment, they must deliver excellent patient care and satisfaction while minimizing operating costs.

The following are some medical specialties and subspecialties that can benefit from healthcare process outsourcing:

• Anesthesiology: critical care medicine, hospice, and palliative care

• Dermatology: dermatopathology and procedural dermatology

• Diagnostic radiology: breast imaging and radiation oncology 

• Internal medicine: allergy, immunology, and gastroenterology

• Neurology: clinical neurophysiology and neurodevelopmental disabilities

• Obstetrics and gynecology: female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery

• Ophthalmology: ocular oncology and reconstructive surgery

• Pathology: blood banking and transfusion medicine, and medical microbiology

• Pediatrics: adolescent medicine, neonatal-perinatal medicine, and pulmonology

• Surgery: general surgery and plastic, neurological, and vascular surgeries 

• Urology: renal transplant, neurology, male infertility, and urologic oncology

Outsourced Functions for Medical Specializations in Phoenix

One proven approach to achieving cost-effective operations and improved focus on core competencies is healthcare back-office outsourcing. This strategy involves delegating non-core administrative tasks to independent specialists, such as business process outsourcing (BPO) providers.

Allowing BPO providers to manage back-office functions can significantly help medical specializations in Phoenix. Consider the services they can outsource:

• Revenue cycle management (RCM). The revenue cycle covers patient registration, appointment scheduling, and claim processing and collection. Effective RCM is essential for medical practices to ensure financial stability. 
• Medical billing and coding. These processes are vital in healthcare RCM. Timely, accurate billing ensures fair compensation for the provided services.
• Medical transcription. Accurate patient records are crucial for quality care. They enable healthcare providers to focus on patient care instead of administrative duties.
• Information technology (IT) services management. As healthcare undergoes digitalization, efficient IT and electronic health records (EHRs) management is vital. IT must support clinical operations, data security, and compliance.
• Telehealth support. This function enables remote patients to access virtual healthcare services such as surveillance, notifications, and consultations.
• Medical answering services. Patients often seek assistance outside of regular hours, and these services bridge the gap. Outsourcing enables appointment scheduling and emergency communications.
• Pharmacy and medication management. Long-term care providers might require pharmaceutical services to handle patient medicines. Outsourcing ensures precise and timely delivery, which is crucial for patient safety.
• Credentialing and provider enrollment. Outsourcing helps verify medical providers’ qualifications and eligibility for services billed through insurance and government programs.
• Compliance and regulatory support. Service providers can assist clinical professionals in staying current on developments in healthcare legislation and regulations. 
• Staffing solutions. Outsourcing enables healthcare providers to acquire temporary medical or administrative personnel as needed. It fills vacant roles immediately with competent third-party workers. 

Back-office Outsourcing’s Impact on Medical Specializations in Phoenix

When medical specializations in Phoenix face budgetary and staff constraints, delegating their back-office tasks to a healthcare BPO company becomes a viable solution.

BPO companies hire qualified remote healthcare experts and assistants to help with various activities. These healthcare BPO services are performed in one of the following ways:

• Offshoring. A radiology center in downtown Phoenix delegates its operations to a service provider in the Philippines, far from the center’s Arizona location.
• Nearshoring. The BPO company carries out the selected procedures closer to the Phoenix main office. Third-party providers in Mexico, for example, can efficiently perform back-office activities for healthcare businesses in the U.S.

Consider the following impacts of back-office outsourcing on medical specializations in Phoenix:

A Sizable, Qualified Workforce to Deliver First-rate Outsourced Services 

Phoenix has a large skill pool, but the market is experiencing a labor shortage as the Valley develops economically. Hiring and retaining qualified people will continue to be a significant challenge as the landscape advances. 

The University of Arizona Health Sciences reports that the state lacks about 667 full-time primary care physicians. This figure will grow to 2,000 by 2030. As the region’s population grows and more businesses migrate to the region, the battle for talent will heat up. 

Back-office outsourcing offers medical specializations in Phoenix access to deep personnel reserves. Offshore and nearshore providers from the Philippines and Mexico can offer an ample supply of competent workers. 

Check the figures below. The Philippines’ labor force participation rate (LFPR) is 64.8%, whereas it is 60.17% in Mexico. These figures show six out of ten skilled Filipinos and Mexicans are eager to find work.

Note: Trading Economics provided statistics for the Philippines and Mexico; the Bureau of Labor Statistics supplied the labor force data for Phoenix, Arizona. 

Medical specializations in Phoenix can benefit from a more accessible, diverse talent pool. Abundant reserves result in lower salaries. Wages tend to remain relatively steady in a stable job market. Conversely, skill gaps raise wages and service fees, increasing operating costs.

Lower Operating Costs for Better Financial Management 

One impact of back-office outsourcing for medical specializations in Phoenix is decreased operating costs. Managing an in-house back-end unit can be hectic and expensive. 

Check out how outsourcing can minimize ongoing costs:

• Office resources. Forming an internal back-end staff necessitates acquiring new computer systems, devices, and workplace supplies. Likewise, organizations must expand their workspace to accommodate additional staff. Maintenance and upgrade costs are expected.
• Hiring: Using BPO services for healthcare cuts payroll-related costs. The service provider takes on laborious and costly recruitment processes, including posting job advertisements, evaluating and screening candidates, and orienting and training new hires.
• Financial and non-financial payments. Full-time medical professionals receive consistent salaries regardless of the healthcare practice’s circumstances. Additionally, they receive overtime pay and are subject to tax deductions. State regulations also require sick or vacation leaves and other non-monetary perks.
• Retraining. The BPO provider covers the expenses for upskilling and talent development initiatives. Providing training programs for in-house staff might be a significant financial burden for Phoenix healthcare companies.

Enhanced Adherence to Regulations to Prevent Costly Sanctions

Medical specializations in Phoenix can improve and sustain their investments by outsourcing back-office compliance functions, including monitoring government regulations and industry standards that impact medical establishments. Non-compliance can lead to sanctions, lawsuits, and damage to the organization’s reputation.

A BPO vendor oversees and adheres to the following policies and standards for healthcare practice:

• The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) governs medical facilities and healthcare professionals. Its primary goal is to prevent the unauthorized disclosure of patient health information. Phoenix has recently seen some HIPAA breaches.
• The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is one of the world’s most stringent privacy standards. It applies to businesses operating within the European Union and requires organizations to safeguard customer information for at least five years.
• The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) is a data security standard established by credit card issuers. It requires businesses to handle, transmit, archive, and preserve credit card user data in a secure environment.

Minimized Medical Coding and Billing Oversights for Quicker Payments 

Back-office outsourcing allows medical specializations in Phoenix to acquire a team of qualified, diligent, and detail-oriented medical coders and billers. These professionals manage lengthy and complex insurance claims and related processes. 

Third-party medical coders and billers can perform and complete claims transactions promptly and accurately. They work tirelessly to reduce insurance claim denials so that healthcare providers can be paid on time.

Outsourcing medical coding and billing has the following advantages: 

• Decreased staff churn. Outsourcing can handle most cash collection procedures, freeing in-house personnel from heavy workloads. Fewer stressors combined with incentives owing to higher income result in fewer resignations.
• Increased patient payments. Precise billing satisfies patients, encouraging them to accept service pricing. Payment defaults or late reimbursements tend to decline as customer satisfaction grows.
• More rapid expansion. With more resources, the medical practice can improve its physical infrastructure and enhance patient fulfillment, treatment, and service.

More Substantial Cybersecurity Efforts to Safeguard Data

One impact of back-office outsourcing for medical specializations in Phoenix is obtaining high technical expertise. Many healthcare practitioners and physicians are unlikely to know about data security and IT systems.

However, information security is an urgent issue in Arizona. From 2020 to 2022, about 600,000 medical records in the state were leaked to threat actors. According to the Office for Civil Rights database, the private data of 20 organizations was compromised, and the cases are still being investigated. Hacking or other IT difficulties were responsible for 16 occurrences.

Established third-party providers can secure personal medical data from hacking and unauthorized use with the following features:

• Highly qualified experts. Because of their extensive expertise and understanding, third-party IT workers can deal with data loss, hacks, and scams more efficiently than employees.
• Ongoing data security surveillance. With insufficient internet security, eight out of 10 small company websites in Phoenix contain unknown risks. BPO providers deploy cybersecurity procedures continuously using cutting-edge technology to safeguard client organizations from attacks.

Versatile Operations for Improved Cost Efficiency 

Achieving operational scalability is one of the impacts of back-office outsourcing for medical specializations in Phoenix. The BPO provider can expand the size of the third-party workforce and administrative duties and not interfere with regular operations. It assists the healthcare practice in appropriately allocating capital to direct growth, income, and costs. 

Below are the benefits of scalable outsourced operations: 

• Cost efficiency. Scalability helps the medical firm acquire the correct number of healthcare virtual assistants to optimize the budget. The BPO provider offers task-specific team size recommendations for efficiency and cost control.
• Work division. Outsourcing divides administrative tasks between the in-house medical team and the offshore team, allowing 24/7 patient care.
• Flexibility. Scalability allows the medical practice to swiftly adapt to changing patient needs and demands. It enables clinical operations to quickly adjust to the required levels to maximize their chances of success.

Raised Earnings Using Affordable, Committed Remote Workers

With back-office outsourcing, medical specializations in Phoenix can acquire economical but competent virtual assistants and other remote professionals. The healthcare process in BPO allows medical practices to access third-party professionals with acceptable hard and soft skills. 

To demonstrate the significant cost benefits of outsourcing, examine the following comparison of medical assistant wages in the Philippines and Phoenix (Arizona, U.S.).

Note: Salary Explorer offered the Philippines and Mexico figures, while Indeed provided the Phoenix, Arizona (U.S.) amount. The Salary Explorer data was converted from Philippine (PHP) and Mexican (MXN) pesos to U.S. dollars to facilitate comparison.

Check the salaries in the Philippines and Phoenix. Hiring a medical assistant from an offshore company in the Philippines will save a healthcare practice $2,885.27 monthly. Keep in mind that the figures above and computations are only rough estimates. Consult with a BPO company about payment agreements.

The Bottom Line

Back-office outsourcing is a vital tool for maximizing resource allocation and elevating service quality for medical specializations in Phoenix. By delegating administrative and compliance tasks to BPO providers, healthcare practices can improve efficiency and patient care.

The strategy allows medical professionals to focus on core competencies while experienced offshore or nearshore teams manage non-patient-facing duties. The result is a seamless, round-the-clock healthcare service that complies with complex regulatory standards for enhanced patient data security.

Let’s connect if you want to learn more about the impact of back-office outsourcing for medical specializations in Phoenix!