Healthcare BPO major sets sights on Indian operators

The Indian arm of MiraMed Global Services Group is now keen on tapping the local healthcare market, which the company’s top boss believes holds ‘tremendous potential’. 

Tony Mira, Group Founder and CEO of MiraMed Ajuba, says, “Globally, the market for RCM services is worth several billions of dollars. Right now, we service US clients using India as our destination point. But one of our major objectives is to service companies in the Indian healthcare sector. Presently, we are working with a large healthcare concern, introducing them to our electronic medical record systems. If this deal takes off, it will be our very first entry into the  local healthcare segment, which is different and complex. There are lots of opportunities and we are figuring out how to be a part of that.” 

On the challenges of breaking into the Indian healthcare market, Mira says, “We don’t have standardised processes here. So, operators must understand that there is a need for automation and technology. Convincing them to get rid of paper and automate processes is the first step.” 

The company, as per Mira, is growing in an encouraging manner, by about 18 to 19 per cent a year. “We are adding large clients and expanding our footprint right now. One of our strongest areas is coding and it has been a major opportunity for us owing to various developments in the US. It’s an area we are focussing heavily on – to meet the demands of the American market. We also have a partnership in South America that helps us promote our products and technology in those markets,” he informs us. 

US President Trump’s America First policy is also seen by Mira as an opportunity as opposed to a shortcoming. He explains it as, “New administrations come and go every four to eight years. As a service company, I don’t see any impact on our businesses. The more changes occur, the more opportunities are created for the right companies to take advantage of. I believe we are one such company.”

Mira is also placing his bets on all major technologies that will drive the future and has made sizeable investments in making his company future ready. He says, “Coding, technology, machine learning, big data, data analytics and artificial intelligence are fields that are promising and creating a lot of value. Taking what we have in data and making sense of it to come up with outcomes to serve our patients better – that’s the future. That more than anything will help India in the healthcare sphere.” He adds, “We are taking advantage of these through acquisitions, and development. Internet of Things is also in the works. Most of our information systems are already on the cloud right now.” 

Mira also highlighted how healthcare in the US is changing to a ‘pay for performance’ model. “Physicians or hospitals usually submit bills and collect their charges from insurance companies. The system is now evolving to a performance based metric. Now, doctors will be paid on basis of the quality of care provided. For the same surgery, two doctors will be paid variably – based on the quality of their work and the outcome of it. That will create more opportunities for us as well,” he signs off.