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Trends in Outsourced Product Development and Accelerated Time to Market
A new, more strategic outsourcing model is necessary for speeding time to market yet also limiting the development cost of new products. It requires a different kind of thinking, communicating, and strategizing. Here’s how to leverage this new model for competitive advantage.
How Financial Incentives Encouraged the Revenue Cycle Staff to Bring in Extra Millions
Northern Arizona Healthcare wanted to become one of the top three hospitals in Arizona. Today its executives believe it is as good as any hospital in America. Its new IT system provides easy-to-access, real-time data for its medical staff. The hospital established a $1 million annual bonus if Perot Systems met four stringent financial criteria in its revenue cycle work.
A Tale of Three Hurricanes: Transforming IT So Even a Congressman Notices
Springhill Medical Center hired Eclipsys to overhaul its IT. Medication errors fell 80 percent and infection rates fell by two-thirds. ER customer satisfaction soared from 11 to 92 percent. System availability went from 56 to 99.999 percent. And the new electronic medical records helped the Alabama hospital weather Hurricane Katrina.
Methodist Healthcare Outsources Printing to Improve Savings and Service: Before outsourcing, the medical center sent printing off site, relinquishing control. Then it outsourced to Xerox Corporation. As a result, there’s more money for better patient care, and the hospital is more competitive.
Helping Harvard Pilgrim Emerge from Receivership to Become a Leading Payor: U.S. News & World Report named Harvard Pilgrim Health Care the No. 1 commercial health plan for the last three years. That’s a dramatic recovery from the deathbed days of 1999 when the insurance company lost $227 million and fell into receivership. Outsourcing was the transfusion it needed.
Closed-loop Marketing Solution Now Integrates with SaaS Model for Greater Benefits for Pharmaceutical Companies: Pharmaceutical sales reps must now be much more efficient at displaying marketing information and retrieving data relevant to a particular physician because they are allowed less time with physicians. Now there's a cutting-edge closed-loop marketing mobile solution that runs untethered from networks, is available in an SaaS model, and ensures it delivers the content most relevant to a particular physician.
New Outsourced Solution Secures Loyalty of Hospital Patients, Guests, and Employees: Hospitals are in a highly competitive market, and consumers now expect services that extend beyond quality patient care. Read about the valet and hotel-like concierge services that one outsourcing provider offers and how it benefits patients, their families and friends, hospital employees -- and the hospital itself.
Rx for Provider Success: How a Forward-Thinking CIO and CompuCom Took Kings County Hospital's IT Infrastructure from 10 Years Behind to Leading Edge: When Al Porco became CIO of the Central Brooklyn Family Health Network, the IT department was in need of an overhaul. It didn't have the tools, infrastructure, or processes to even make a dent. Working with CompuCom, the healthcare facility is now on the cutting edge. This is the story of its metamorphosis.
Editor's Corner: Jim Way of Siemens Medical Solutions: How do buyers and suppliers structure healthy outsourcing relationships? What steps should they take to avoid the doom loop? Siemens Medical Solutions's Jim Way shares his insights.
Administrative Firm and Its Data Provider Keep Ohio's Workers' Comp Program Operating Smoothly: The state of Ohio decided to outsource its administration of Workers' Comp managed care. CareWorks wanted the work but had to outsource to meet the state's requirements. Eleven years later, CareWorks still has that business and has become one of the largest providers of workers' comp services in the U.S., thanks to outsourcing.
IT Outsourcer Enables Healthcare Provider to Focus on Patient Care
Three smaller providers merged to form PinnacleHealth. What was the Rx for IT? Our core wasn't running IT, says Dr. Roger Longenderfer, CEO. We needed a partner that could not only build our IT staff and infrastructure but also create a technology roadmap so we could grow strategically. Outsourcing to Siemens did just that.
RX for Healthcare Outsourcing Success: Abandon Traditional Roles
No one wants to wait three months to be paid. The Department of Surgery outsourced its bill collection, which cut day in accounts receivable from 94 to 50. But the change wasn't easy; the two partners had to change how the surgeons operated (their back office.)
Shared Services Providers Put Energy into Baxter Healthcare's Facilities
Baxter International found itself at the mercy of market forces in late 2003 as deregulation took over the energy industry. The fluctuations created financial pain. Fortunately, Baxter had the Rx close at hand: its longtime Facilities Management (FM) provider, CB Richard Ellis.
CVS Benefits by Outsourcing the Administration of Workforce Tax-Credit Programs
CVS/pharmacy, the largest in America, is aggressively expanding its footprint. CVS meets its need for employees by utilizing federal and state Welfare-to-Work programs that help put people back to work. Its HR department outsources the management of these government programs so it can concentrate on hiring and training.
An Outsourcing Solution for Consumer-Directed Healthcare that Payors Cannot Afford to Ignore
The applicant pool at BloodCenter of Wisconsin was too small and the quality of candidates was poor. Additionally, it took too long to fill a position--up to 100 days when it should have taken just 45. Outsourcing solved its recruitment problems and cut costs--an RPO reduced the cost per hire 57 percent.
RPO Supplier Helps BloodCenter of Wisconsin Find Hard-to-Find Talent Faster, Cheaper
The applicant pool at BloodCenter of Wisconsin was too small and the quality of candidates was poor. Additionally, it took too long to fill a position--up to 100 days when it should have taken just 45. Outsourcing solved its recruitment problems and cut costs--an RPO reduced the cost per hire 57 percent.
How One Outsourcer Uses Another to Keep Its Work Onshore
Offshore claims processing has traditionally been cheaper than in the United States for obvious reasons-the price of keying in data overseas is a fraction of what it is here. Antares Management Solutions, a third-party claims administrator, was considering going overseas when it discovered a better solution from GTESS.
Infocrossing's Contract with CMS Helps Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D Plans with Enrolling Members and Reconciling Payments from CMS
Healthcare plans serving the Medicare market have two important challenges: successfully enrolling their members and making sure their reimbursements are accurate. Currently Infocrossing is the only supplier that has a contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which allows it to handle both of those challenges.
A Hospital's Remedy for Enhancing Healthcare Excellence
Jefferson Regional Medical Center only a few years ago was in the red and in danger of losing its independence by having to merge with another health system just to survive. Today it is recognized nationwide for its excellence in delivering outstanding patient care while reducing the cost of healthcare. Here's a roadmap of how it accomplished the turnaround.
The Convergence of Healthcare and Financial Services: Outsourcing's Role in Facilitating Change that Disrupts Business as Usual
Consumer-directed healthcare is driving a convergence of technologies and business processes in the healthcare and financial services industries. This convergence is causing change in several business processes for both industries. Here's a look at the trends, who's driving the changes, and who benefits.
Outsourcing Allows Mid-Sized Drug Store Chain to Compete with Large National Chains
How can a regional drug store chain, with just 68 stores in two states, compete with national chains like Walgreen's or CVS that seemingly have stores on every corner? By outsourcing its retail IT, that's how.
Outsourcer Shoulders the Security Burden for Hospital Network
Network vulnerabilities are increasing and also becoming more difficult to deal with. Is your organization at risk? How does putting a solution in place differ if you already have some security measures and devices or if you have none? Here's what a major medical center experienced and why it opted for an outsourced security solution.
Why Life-Sciences Companies Need to Change How They Outsource to Create Greater Value
Despite all of the industry hoopla regarding the growth of life-sciences outsourcing, only a small set of life-sciences organizations truly engage in outsourcing. Traditionally, these companies adopted a contracting model for staff augmentation for their clinical drug testing. Read why they must adopt an outsourcing model to create value.
Editor's Corner: Kim Davis of TalentTrack
TalentTrack is the largest RPO focusing on healthcare. President Kim Davis discusses how to get reluctant buyers to sign on the dotted line and why the leadership team has to read Blink and watch The Replacements.
Supplier's Prescription for Success: Deliver More and Serve as a Lifeline When Necessary
What do you do when the hospital has a fiscal crisis and can't staunch the bleeding? Some suppliers would cut off the air supply when the money ran out. But not Eclipsys. It lowered its monthly fees until the hospital recovered, putting patient safety before profit.
Clinical Information System Implementations: A 'Three-Way' Street
The centerpiece of current healthcare information technology outsourcing initiatives is the buyer's decision to implement a new clinical information system. Attorney Bruce Leshine posits the best way to go about this is for the buyer, supplier, and CIS vendor to work together to craft a solution.
Outsourcing Data Management Pays for Rural Hospital
Thanks to a new outsourced health information management system, West Branch Regional Medical Centers's paper deluge and records access challenges are a thing of the past. What's more, the solution is more than paying for itself.
Behavioral Healthcare Provider Surgically Removes IT from HR Department by Outsourcing to an MSP
A growing provider was able to cut its benefits costs by half yet double the quality of those benefits by outsourcing. That helped it recruit staff for its new locations.
A Rapidly Growing Health Plan Turns To Outsourcing to Handle the Growth
The Community Health Plan of Washington had an enviable problem: its growth rate topped 300 percent a year. It needed a supplier who could handle that growth. Adaptis, with offices in the US and India, was just what the doctor ordered.
Hospitals Need Nurses on the Floor, Not Answering the Phone: Why Hospitals Outsource CRM
At any given time of day, three ads for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center air on Los Angeles radio. The call to action is to phone a toll-free number. The hospital wants to make sure those calls are answered properly. So it outsourced its call center to a supplier specializing in healthcare.
Public/Private Outsourcing Program Improves Medicaid Services In Oregon
Outsourcing saved Oregon $6 million the first year it outsourced a portion of its Medicaid program. The state's return on investment: between $4.40-$4.80 for every dollar it sent to the supplier and healthier citizens.
Huge Kaiser Fine Demonstrates Why Hospitals Are Outsourcing Their Data Security
Identity theft is one of the fastest growing global crimes. Hospitals store that kind of personal data in their networks--as well as patients? medical records. Read how outsourcing protects the data at a community hospital in Georgia.
Why Your Health Insurer May Soon Be Your Bank
Healthcare costs are rising. Health savings accounts are one way to contain costs for both employees and employers. Unisys's Troy Sowers explains why this new tool is encouraging health insurance companies to buy banks and banks to buy health insurance companies.
Thinking Out of the Box for 5THink Creates New Business for ASP
Crown Peak turned its process on its head to solve a problem for a new client. The result: a whole new line of business. Read how suppliers can expand their business by asking the question: Where else will it work?
Synergies Drive Perot's Offshore Acquisition and Create New Value Proposition in Outsourced Medical Billing Services
Where Are They Now is a new Outsourcing Journal feature focusing on how outsourcing relationships evolve beyond their initial expectations. In this first column, we explore an offshore medical billing value proposition that was so good Perot Systems Corporation reached overseas and acquired it.
Want to Survive a Stay in the Hospital? Don't Forget To Check Out its IT Outsourcer
More Americans die from medical errors in a hospital than from car accidents. El Camino Hospital cut its medication errors 20 percent through technology, thanks to its IT provider Eclipsys.
Why the Healthcare Industry Is Now Outsourcing CRM
Retailers have been outsourcing CRM for years. Now competitive pressures in healthcare are causing both payers and providers to outsource this process.
Perspectives on Growth of the Outsourcing Market in China's Healthcare Sector
The Chinese government is reforming its healthcare sector to create a more competitive environment and speed up medical reform. Will outsourcing be part of that process?
Healthcare Providers' Perfect Storm and How Outsourcing Can Help Weather the Winds
Hospitals solved problems by adding complexity to their processes. But a perfect storm of new pressures make simplicity a better solution. The Rx: outsource.
Blue-ribbon Teaming for Excellence in Outsourcing
This winning relationship broke our awards scoring records and is undoubtedly one of the world's most outstanding examples of outsourcing at its best. Owens & Minor outsourced its IT to Perot Systems, and O&M now commands the leading position in its marketplace. But that's not all. The level of openness and honesty between these two companies is rare in outsourcing. So is their risk-reward structure -- and the outcomes they've achieved together.
New Outsourcing Law Readies Japanese Companies for Global Pharmaceutical Markets: A Major Development in Japan
A new law in Japan will permit pharmaceutical companies to outsource 100 percent of their processes. Read how this will affect the Japanese pharmaceutical industry.
Advantages of Physician Credentials Outsourcing
Physician credentials verification requires in-depth expertise and the ability
to follow mandates standards, which make it difficult to do in-house. Here
are the advantages of outsourcing this crucial function.
ASP Data IT Outsourcer Meridian Keeps Hospitals In the Pink and Out of the Red
A California hospital receives its payments by a capitation system which is not based on usage. Hospitals have to get the numbers right. So the hospital outsourced its data management to keep the red ink from flowing.
Workforce Management Solution That Works!
To cope in today's economy, many hospitals are hiring temporary and contract workers for projects. How do you manage this HR challenge? One hospital cut its staffing vendor list in half and its invoices for 20 facilities to one after outsourcing.
Taking Pains with a Hospital's Transition to Outsourcing
There are common characteristics among successful transitions. We highlight some of them in the story of a successful transition, despite a complex and sensitive scenario.
Healthy Decision: Outsourcing - Dancing to a Different Tune
Beaumont Hospital found that outsourcing not only made the facilities management staff more accountable but also provided the focused attention and resources for Beaumont Services Company to provide innovation and continued improvement in services.
Power Implant: Outsourcing...or Insourcing
Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers found that the best strategy for achieving its mission and business objectives was to form a strategic outsourcing partnership with CSC.
Can you Overdose on
Outsourcing? Maintaining 'Health' for Enterprise-wide Value Chains
How can you ensure your outsourcing service provider effectively interfaces with all your other vendors? We looked at proactive and reactive maneuvers to ensure all suppliers work together to meet the buyer's objectives.
How to Win the Pharma Sales Force Scrimmage
There's a new help desk capability for pharmaceutical companies seeking expert services and lower costs in an offering from Getronics and Everest Field Technologies, which combines campus and field sales support.
Connecting the HIPAA Dots
Hospitals looking for a service provider for HIPAA compliance should select one who has actual translation and mapping experience. The process is too complicated to outsource to a provider just learning the ropes.
Does Your Sales Force Know Where Your $100,000 Demo Machine Is? You Would If You Outsourced.
A medical manufacturer had a hard time keeping track of its 500 pound demonstration
machines. A Texas logistics provider helped the company manage the shipping
and tracking process.
Outsourcing to Rid Healthcare's Pain
Word of mouth in the healthcare industry has spread the message: outsourcing
is the best medicine to address costs and government regulations.
How To Move From 'It's Not Possible' To 'It's A Done Deal': The Secret of Solving IT Challenges for Not-for-Profit Enterprises
Money is tight at most non-profits (and at corporations, too!). Antares
helped the Ohio MS chapter upgrade its technology within its budget.
Outsourcing Provides Sweet Dreams Instead of Security Nightmares
Worried about IT security? Read how a service provider helped a health consortium close off targets of opportunity and cut its exposure.
Salesforce.com
is the CRM Rx for Health Insurance Firms
MedUnite handles eight million transactions a month. It needed an easy-to-implement CRM solution to manage its large customer base. Salesforce.com was the answer.
Deciding to Outsource,
One Step at a Time
A Connecticut hospital group had a successful relationship with its service
provider. But when it decided to expand the scope of its outsourcing,
it hired an intermediary to help negotiate the new contract to eliminate
conflict.
Lost
and Found: Using Outsourcing to Increase Your Customer Relationships
Specialty chemical manufacturers need their small customers. But the turnover
rate was huge because it was just too hard to reach them. Then an outsourcing
service provider found a way. 
When
Squeeze Starts to Hurt: Outsourcing Reduces Pain in Medicaid Processes
More than 35 million Americans currently qualify for Medicaid; that number
will explode as the baby boomers age. Outsourcing is one way to cut costs
to stay profitable while improving quality. Here's how Arkansas and Delaware
attacked the Medicaid problem. The Delaware relationship was a runner-up
finalist in the 2002 Outsourcing Awards.
CPOE Odyssey: The Story
of Evolving the World's First Computerized Physician Order Entry System
and Implications for Today's CPOE Decision Makers
CPOE is the new buzzword in health care outsourcing. El Camino Hospital
installed a CPOE system in 1969. This case study explains CPOE's evolution.
The CIO Role in Healthcare
IT Outsourcing
What's the best strategy for the role of your CIO if you outsource your
IT infrastructure and people? Are there advantages or risks in keeping
the CIO there? Or, should you move the position to the service provider?
The answer may surprise you.
Insurer Quotes Rates from Palm of its Hand
The CEO of GSA Insurance wanted to do something no insurance company had done before: provide accurate quotes at the customer's home. Outsourcing made that a reality.
Innovative Hardware Eliminates Wireless Risks
Imagine having a fully transportable, fast-speed, secure, wireless network that can immediately operate anywhere in the world. Predictions that such technology is still "next generation" are now history, and both government and commercial organizations are making a beeline for the system known as UNIPOP.
 Outsourcing's
Role in the Delicate Balancing Act Between Growing and Shrinking
The cost of human capital is so large that it stymies some companies from
being able to achieve their growth initiatives. Outsourcing truly makes
a difference, as in this story of how a medical billing company handled
the challenge and ensured HIPAA compliance at the same time.
Diagnosis: Losing Money
Hand Over Fist: Curing the Ailing Economics of a Medical Practice
Some medical practices think that simply automating billing and collection
processes will put an end to chasing dollars from insurance companies.
But a number of things can go wrong. This unique service provider ensures
the front-end processes and workflows match the outsourced system and
processes -- otherwise, the billing processes cannot succeed.
 Doctors
Make House Calls Through Outsourcing
Getting access to medical records any time, any place can become a matter
of life or death for doctors. A Michigan hospital finds the Rx is to outsource
its Virtual Private Network.
Trust Nobody; Train Everybody:
Health-MOAT Solution Results in Privacy-Certified Employees
Serious legal consequences can result from employees' lack of awareness
of new procedures for privacy and security issues due to HIPAA. But implementing
the policies and educating employees is costly and requires expertise.
One outsourcer, however, has a unique, low-cost, highly effective solution
that you need to know about.
Rx for Secure Patient Data
Collection
Outsourcing patient data must satisfy a hospital's stringent security
requirements. One ASP has developed a prescription for protecting patient
data on the Web.
Value in Outsourcing
- It's Not About a Black and White Contract
In today's hospitals, technology is of utmost importance to reducing costs,
streamlining functions and providing the best patient care. Some hospitals
have learned that outsourcing can make an enormous strategic impact and
be a differentiator in competitive advantage.
Delivering the Difference:
Outsourcing Drives Excellence in Healthcare Supplies Distribution
Owens & Minor keeps hospital bottom lines healthy as an acute care
inventory warehousing supplier.
Digital Rights Management:
Enabling HIPAA Compliance
Sure, technology can solve the problems associated with electronic transfer
of patient information, but what can you do about controlling access and
user authorization?
Healthcare’s
Biggest Challenge
One ASP knows exactly what to do to solve some of the business problems
of healthcare payers.
How to Get Ready for HIPAA: Outsourcing for Privacy
and eSecurity
HIPAA mandates for privacy and eSecurity in the healthcare industry are
far-reaching and will change the way providers and payers do business.
Magnificent Medicaid
Management
EDS and the Wisconsin Dept of Health Care Financing.
Maintaining a Healthy Output:
Swiss Hospital Makes Printing an Outpatient
Chicago Hope, meet High Tech. HP manages the printing at a hospital in
Switzerland with surgical precision.
Making Medical Claims More
Accurate
Eligibility errors are the number one reason to deny medical insurance
claims. Outsourcing speeds dispute resolution.
No Room for So-So Performance
How Thomas Jefferson University outsourced messaging and email to handle
growing volumes and new HIPAA security requirements.
Outsourcing Disease
Management Services Helps Patients and Payers
Learn how insurance companies can lower costs connected with rarely and
costly diseases.
Retail Food Outlets Provide a Recipe for Capital Improvements
Retail outlets in the atrium serve up savings for the nutritional services department in the hospital. Here's how.
Better Care For A State
Hospital
The legislature, along with the state Department of Children and Families
(DCF) issued a Request For Proposal, which included the construction of
a new facility as well as operating the existing one.
Can-Do Attitude
Columbia outsourced its HR functions for, perhaps, the most common reason
that buyers enter into such agreements—to save money and facilitate
compliance.
Finding Marcus Welby
in Texas
Selecting a health care provider is tricky today because there are so
many choices.
A Healthy Decision to
Take Stock
Start-up companies are typically short of cash. One internet company found
an unusual source of capital: its outsourcing provider.
A Healthy Dose of BPO
Information in a hospital can literally mean life and death. That's why
the University Health Network (UHN), the largest hospital system in Canada,
decided to reengineer its health care system to best serve its patients.
A Healthy Prognosis
for Medical ASPs
A variety of trends have created a surge of interest in ASPs dedicated
to health care.
Startup HMO Quickly Makes
Its Mark
When the principals at Sacramento, California-based Western Health Advantage
decided to start up a health maintenance organization, it had a handful
of employees. It also had a desire to get into the health care marketplace
as quickly as possible.
Delivering Speed Where
It Counts
Both the supplier and the customer have successfully integrated their
operations to the benefit of both parties
A Perfect Fit...
Creating a joint venture to get results.
Thinking Outside the
Box
Associate Hospital Director Michael A. Boyle describes the joint venture
that provides facilities management services for William Beaumont Hospital.
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