Five things health plans should consider before outsourcing
Outsourcing means giving up a vital part of what you do as a business, so it’s a strategy that should be approached carefully. On the other hand, not outsourcing could also threaten the success of your organization.
Determining whether to outsource business processes is a crucial consideration for a health plan. Outsourcing means giving up a vital part of what you do as a business, so it’s a strategy that should be approached carefully. On the other hand, not outsourcing could also threaten the success of your organization.
Here are five considerations when determining whether to outsource:
1. It’s a marriage (or at least a domestic partnership) not a date.
YadikiThe first thing to remember about outsourcing is that you are entering into a partnership with a vendor, not just a casual relationship. It is a big transition to offload even a part of your operations, and it’s not something you’ll want to do repeatedly. So take the time to study the vendors and choose one that has the resources, reputation and experience to serve you for the long haul.
Remember that your outsourcing partner will become a part of your family. Your members and your provider networks will all view the staff who work for the vendor as part of your company. If they don’t do a good job, you’ll get blamed. If they do a stellar job, you’ll get the credit. So you want to know who is joining your family before you sign a contract.
2. It’s a risk, but it can come with big rewards.
Outsourcing, particularly with back-office operations, makes very good sense, especially if you have aging infrastructure. By outsourcing your operations, you can gain access to cutting-edge technology without the capital investment.
Also, a good outsourcing vendor will invest heavily in staff and training, and will have automation tools that you might not have in-house. Not only will you avoid capital costs, you’ll also probably cut the cost of the operations themselves, sometimes significantly. That’s money back to your bottom line, and you don’t have to cut anything to get it.
The other advantage is quality. By outsourcing processes, your staff will be able to focus more on other tasks. There will be fewer instances where your phones are overloaded and claims processing backlog is rising. Your organization can be more responsive to your members and your network. Also, a good BPO vendor will monitor and audit its staff carefully, to ensure accuracy. And it will have a much broader pool of personnel to draw from, often including specialized skills that are hard to find.
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