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Report: Health industry outsourcing clinical work
The healthcare industry has started to outsource clinical services, continuing a trend that began with record-keeping, according to a new report.
The Los Angeles Times found that some major insurers are farming out jobs in pre-service nursing — where an insurance nurse helps determine a patient's course of treatment — to India and the Philippines.
The decision can save companies such as WellPoint and Aetna 30 percent in labor costs but cuts U.S. jobs.
"People are looking at all the tasks that can safely and responsibly be moved," Dr. Kaveh Safavi told the paper.
Safavi heads the North American health practice for Accenture, a major consulting and outsourcing firm.
"It's still an emerging market," he said. "We're still trying to understand the market's tolerance for it."
Outsourcing helps health companies to cut costs and remain profitable, proponents argue. But advocates for patients and U.S. workers raised several concerns.
Chuck Idelson, a spokesman for the California Nurses Association, called the trend "very disturbing."
"There are serious questions if you're talking about … making recommendations on procedures," he told the paper.
Others noted the high rate of unemployment in the United States, which is still struggling as it emerges from a recession.
WellPoint and Aetna outsource some positions, according to the report. UnitedHealth Group did not respond to the paper's inquiries.
