The Grateful Dead’s Jerry Garcia was right: “What a long, strange trip it’s been….” And continues to be. Actually, the U.S. economy has not spiraled downward to its current level since the Great Depression of the 1930s, when many investors, teetering on the verge of economic ruin, tiptoed precariously onto high-rise window ledges debating the merits of Hamlet’s infamous soliloquy.

Okay, that may be stretching the point a bit too far, but many of us are, in fact, reeling from the financial turmoil that has begun to engulf the largest and seemingly most profitable companies among us. Bailouts are becoming, dare we say, de rigueur for the jet set and their minions. And while the housing, financial, and auto industries are divesting money and employees by the billions and millions respectively, healthcare is, for the most part, immune to these types of economic pressures, right? Wrong.

Yes, Americans are being inundated on a daily basis with news about the dire financial conditions gripping this great nation, and despite a general consensus to the contrary, healthcare is beginning to feel the pain. With a frequent barrage of massive layoffs, there are fewer workers and families who have basic medical insurance coverage, which of course, translates to less physician and hospital visits. Ultimately, a growing dearth of funds to support our country’s complex healthcare infrastructure will certainly have some type of unfavorable impact on certain segments of the medical billing industry.

Are you a candidate for outsourcing?
Billing companies must be willing to diligently adapt and leverage all operational efficiencies available in order to better control their internal costs while consistently maintaining critical service levels to their clients. One option to consider is global outsourcing. Of course, global outsourcing is not a solution for every billing company, nor is it meant to be. Several characteristics may, in fact, determine whether a billing company is a prime candidate for outsourcing:

If any of the characteristics listed above defines your billing company, global outsourcing might indeed be the veritable
missing ingredient in the recipe for greater success.

Now, trust me, I’m acutely aware that global outsourcing can be viewed at times as a hot-button issue. But there is a very direct and quantifiable truth at the heart of this ongoing debate—quite simply, global outsourcing works. And depending upon the level of involvement, it works well enough to have a favorable, and at times drastic, impact on that most critical of economic acronyms, your EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization).

True, it must be implemented in a way that maximizes the billing company’s operational benefits while seamlessly interfacing with the general revenue cycle workflow. But when carefully designed and implemented, the global outsourcing business model, or Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) as it’s more commonly known, can yield bottom-line financial results that are certain to attract and retain the attention of CEOs and CFOs, ad infinitum.

Benefits Beyond Financials
The financial impact is, of course, not the lone benefit a billing company can derive from leveraging a global business
partner. As this model has gained greater market acceptance and growing entrepreneurial momentum, one of the major advantages I have been lucky enough to witness and evaluate is the massive scalability it provides. In a nutshell, billing companies that properly utilize a global BPO partner have immediate access to a highly skilled pool of resources, trained to their exact process specifications, thereby allowing them the ability to pursue, sign, and maintain larger-scale clients. Basically, you get the best of both worlds by coupling the domain expertise and oversight of a domestic billing company with the economies of scale offered by a global BPO organization.

Other value propositions realized from such a business partnership include minimizing the strain on human resources departments, especially during aggressive growth periods, because all hiring, training, and deployments of global FTE resources can be performed by the BPO partner under the direct management and guidance of the billing company. Also, the system and process redundancy gained through implementation of this “blended” business model is yet another added bonus that pleases the HIPAA gods.

What to Expect
As described above, these global outsourcing benefits are quantifiable for each billing company. But what should be
expected from an actual BPO engagement? First of all, prior to full execution of a services contract, both organizations
must determine and agree in no uncertain terms to the exact role and expectations of each party. Simple stuff, I know, but for the uninitiated, a global outsourcing relationship must be comprised of a series of ‘champions’ within each company whose primary function is to ensure the overall success of the partnership. Think of it as insurance verification gone astray: if the proper eligibility requirements aren’t identified, noted, and confirmed, the claim—no surprise here—is destined to be denied! Same thing with global outsourcing; proper due diligence is essential and will yield great long-term benefits.

Now, you may have noticed that I have made liberal use of the word “partner,” as opposed to the more generally applied term “vendor.” This is a critical distinction, in that a partnership infers a much closer interconnection with the billing company than that of a mere vendor relationship. The best and most consistent results will always be derived from a business partner. (Marriage, as many of us know, is a partnership; try referring to your spouse as a vendor and let me know how that works out for you.)

It is also important to note that a good BPO partner will work primarily in a supplemental capacity—the idea being not to replace the domestic revenue cycle services being performed, but instead to reinforce and strengthen the existing services in areas the billing company deems to be lacking, for a variety of reasons. (“Supplemental” is, of course, a tricky word; in order to realize an optimal operational and economic return on investment, the ideal ‘domestic-to-global’ ratio is approximately 50-50, with many variances, depending upon specific circumstances.)

The BPO partner should be perceived, figuratively and literally, as a global extension of the central business office services being provided by the billing company. Let’s face it, the global economy is upon us and billing companies are certainly not immune to this phenomenon, especially since hospitals and physician groups are scrambling to provide financially viable services to meet the needs of an economically-challenged populace, both clinically and administratively.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I am compensated to espouse the many benefits of global outsourcing to the medical billing community and have been diligently plying my trade for the last six years. But hear this: I am a born-and-bred Southerner who transplanted himself to Colorado over 25 years ago—as my Mom always said, “American by birth, Southern by the grace of God.” If this global model were a mere flash in the pan, or saints preserve us, a carpet-bagging exercise, I would not continue to promote it with such aggression and tenacity; but on many, many occasions, I have seen this “blended” business model significantly enhance the financial performance of billing companies and healthcare providers alike. Yep, it works.

While the current international recession simply enhances the viability of the BPO industry as a whole, sound business decisions, regardless of the economic environment, never go out of fashion. Just consider global outsourcing to be that natty navy blazer or slenderizing black dress—always a good sartorial decision! So while you ponder your billing company’s rank and status among the many players in the highly competitive revenue cycle management landscape, don’t forget to kick the tires of a global outsourcing transport. It may indeed provide that smooth ride for the long, strange trip to financial success! Carpe diem!

Randall E. Wall is Vice President of BPO Services at GeBBS Healthcare Solutions, he can be reached at randy.wall@gebbs.com.