of 3 - Center for Global Outsourcings

We also examined specific issues in IT-based offshoring in healthcare. One of the issues
investigated was the types of services that can be offshored. Table 2 shows a number of
services and their average perceived importance and the number of hospitals engaged in their
off shoring. These results are based on 153 responses. Perceived performance was measured
on a 7-point likert scale; a higher number represents higher importance.
Table 2. Offshored Services
Services Average
Importance
Hospitals involved in
offshoring
Number Percent
IT support in offshoring of medical data entry and
transcription
3.93 7 4.6%
IT support in offshoring of medical billing 3.47 0 0%
IT support in offshoring of insurance processing 3.50 3 2.0%
Offshoring of medical software development 3.38 6 3.9%
International call center operations 3.46 5 3.3%
IT support in offshoring of medical diagnosis (e.g.,
reading of X-rays or pap smears)
3.95 15 9.8%
IT support in offshoring of drug development 3.31 1 0.7%
IT support in offshoring of medical treatment 3.31 0 0%
IT support in offshoring of medical research services 3.26 3 2.0%
RESEACH FINDINGS:
A few observations are apparent from these results. As it is a national sample, most U.S.
hospitals are not much involved in IT-based offshoring. Each service was offshored by less
than 5% of the hospitals. Only medical diagnosis registered the most IT-based offshoring, with
almost 10% of the hospitals involved in it to some extent. The next two services are medical
data entry at 4.6% and medical software development at 3.9%. Furthermore, these low levels
of offshoring were reflected in the low-to-moderate ratings assigned to these services. On a 1-7
likert scale, 4 is in the middle and would represent a medium level of importance. The fact that
all average ratings were below 4 corroborates the observation that offshoring is currently not
high on the list of U.S. hospital executives.
In order to gain further insights into the low offshore activity in healthcare compared to other
industries, we explored some of the key issues associated with offshoring. Some of these
issues are fact-based, often reported in popular media; others may be myths based on
prevailing stereotypes. Table 3 lists specific offshoring issues together with their average
importance ratings as perceived by hospital executives. It also lists the number and percent of
hospitals dealing with the issue. Once again, the results are based on 153 responses.
Tenth Annual International Daejeon, South Korea P a g e | 60
Smart Sourcing Conference June 28-29, 2012