Healthcare BPO eyes $5.9-B revenue in 2020

Healthcare information management services (HIMS), one of the fastest BPO sectors in the country, is targeted to grow by 25 percent to $5.9 billion in 2020 even as it sets an aspirational 36 percent growth target to $9.8 billion to grab at least 5.20 percent share of the global healthcare market.

On the sidelines of the Healthcare Information Management (HIMS) Conference held in Makati on Thursday, Healthcare Information Management Association of the Philippines (HIMAP) officials said more government support is needed to reach this aspirational target.

For 2015 alone, the conservative revenue target for healthcare BPO is expected to hit $1.7 billion from the $1.3 billion in 2014, while the aggressive target is set at $1.9 billion.

HIMAP president Myla Reyes said in an interview with reporters that in order to reach these targets, the industry should focus on talent development, ecosystem, industry development, and marketing and branding.

The HIMS BPO is now the third largest segment in the contact center and software development industry in the country.

“The aspirational growth target will happen if we come up with an aggressive plan and a roadmap that will aggressively support all the programs of HIMAP in terms of marketing and promotion, talent capability building, and all the other focus areas,” Reyes said.

HIMAP chairman Jeffrey Williams said the industry will get to the fivepercent global market share if it gets more government support.

He said there are also a lot of foreign markets that the HIM sector could potentially tap such as Australia, Japan, and other Asian countries.

As of now, there are 270 HIMS companies in the Philippines, 60 to 70 percent of which is member of HIMAP.

During the conference, HIMAP, the country’s premier trade organization of healthcare BPO companies, emphasized the need to ensure the information managers and coders from the Philippines are up to date on global standards.

It was already reported earlier that Philippines is poised to become the global leader in the healthcare outsourcing industry which will be backed by the massive workforce in the country as well as the $2.4-billion industry revenue growth target in 2016.

"The Philippines right now has a unique advantage. We got workforce, we got nurses, and we got developed economy that can deliver this kind of services," David McKeering, PwC South East Asia Consulting public sector and healthcare leader, said earlier.