Omega Healthcare engaged in offshore services where it specializes in medical billing, coding and  accounts receivable management is upbeat on its future business plans as it embarks on setting up its new centre in Manila, Philippines with a launch of a line of services to tap more opportunities.

In the wake of ObamaCare and with a preference of other South East Asian countries like Philippines, the company has looked to fuel growth with its international project.

It is reported that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)  known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or ObamaCare will see the US healthcare payer market was expected to grow by 6.05 per cent to reach $17.9 billion in 2013. Healthcare has been one of the fastest growing segments across the globe with US clients contributing more than half the business. The Indian Healthcare BPO industry is also bullish about the market.

“Even though there has been some bumps with the roll out of ObamaCare, there are some aspects of it which will be effective from January 2014.  India still has a significant lead over all the other South East Asian countries in terms of the amount of work outsourced from the US, but there are other countries like Philippines which are definitely getting into the game in a big way, leveraging their excellent English speaking skills and friendly government policies towards companies generating jobs there,” Gopi Natarajan, CEO and co-founder, Omega Healthcare told Pharmabiz.

To this end, Omega Healthcare plans to offer patient interaction services out of its new centre being opened in Manila. The services will involve both inbound and outbound patient calling and this will require excellent communication skills and good knowledge of the American culture. “These patient interaction services are seldom done offshore today and we believe it is a great opportunity for Omega Healthcare to be the pioneers in this space,” he added.

Over the next three to four years, Omega Healthcare plans to double its headcount from the current level of 5,100 employees to about 10,000. A vast majority of this will happen in its India facilities, he said.

The company sees Tier II cities brimming with growth opportunities for healthcare sourcing. “This is because, we view that the Tier II cities are definitely competitive today in terms of infrastructure and resource availability. A good number of the services in the healthcare business process outsourcing (BPO) industry can be offered from the Tier II cities, however, there are still severe limitations in terms of availability of personnel to do voice based work,” noted the Omega Healthcare chief.

With a compounded growth rate of 30 per cent annually, Omega Healthcare is all set to cater to the vast healthcare business expected over the next few years. Headquartered in USA, the company has a strong service base in Chennai, Trichy and Bengaluru. The healthcare BPO and KPO (knowledge process outsourcing) sector unwraps a lot of administrative job opportunities to fresh graduates with nursing and healthcare education backgrounds, he noted.