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An Emerging
Champion
By Michael Alan Hamlin
October 22, 2002
Every cause needs a champion, and
when it comes to developing the Philippines' e-services sectors,
there are plenty of them. The contact centers are pushed by Contact
Federation of the Philippines Association president Bong Borja,
who also heads People Support, an impressive, fast-growing contact
center. Ramon Garcia, executive chairman of the DFNN Group, was
first an online broker champion, and when the markets collapsed
switched to software and services. Carol E. Carreon, vice chairman
& CEO of BayanTrade has made e-commerce a reality by leading
the team that has developed Asia's fastest growing e-marketplace.
In each of these sectors, there are
other success stories, too. But these individuals are some of the
people who are comfortable in the role of chief booster and cheerleader,
and not everyone is. They tirelessly promote not just their own
companies, but entire e-services sectors and their country. And
they are a vital component of the Philippines' emerging global reputation
as an attractive, reliable center for e-services and e-commerce.
That's quite an accomplishment given the competition for attention
with the Abu Sayyaf, kidnapping gangs, and the usual political peccadilloes.
Among the e-services sectors that
are growing rapidly is medical transcription, and there are good
reasons why this is so. U.S. hospitals are required by law to digitally
archive medical records according to Jeff Garcia, chief operating
officer of Transkripsyo and the local medical transcription sector's
champion. According to data provided to me by Garcia, estimates
on the size of the medical transcription industry vary but it is
big. Estimates are around $36 billion annually and demand is growing
at least 20 percent a year.
That's in part because many hospitals
have yet to convert hard copy records to digital format. The U.S.-based
Medical Transcription Industry Alliance (MTIA) estimates that approximately
6,700 hospitals across the country have yet to make the switch.
In the meantime, the U.S. population is aging, increasing demand
for medical attention, and therefore demand for medical transcriptionists
to keep records up-to-date. As a result, there is a chronic shortage
of medical transcriptionists.
About 47 percent of U.S. hospitals
that have already switched to electronic record keeping outsource
the work, principally to India where 254 companies have worked for
as long as 20 years metamorphing medical records into near-permanent
electronic format. But India's attractiveness as an outsourcing
center for medical transcription is suffering, and the principal
reason is the new attractiveness of the Philippines.
The acceptance of the Philippines
as a transcription center is the result of a determined campaign.
Garcia has lobbied MTIA for recognition for as long as the sector
has had a presence in the Philippines. Six years on, his efforts
are being rewarded. As we are seeing in other e-services sectors,
potential outsourcing clients are attracted to the Philippines because
of its peoples' affinity for U.S. culture and their strong English-language
skills. Dramatic improvement in the Philippines' e-infrastructure
and the development of reliable energy sources compared to India
have also been a factor enhancing the attractiveness of the local
medical transcription sector.
One interesting result of its novel
role as the preferred destination for outsourced medical transcription
services is the investment by Indian firms in the Philippines, says
Garcia. And Garcia is busy urging other entrepreneurs - 80 percent
of medical transcription services are provided by the SME sector
in the U.S. - to set up firms to meet demand that MTIA says is coming.
"Demand is not a problem for
us in the Philippines," Garcia says. "Supply is."
The Philippines has just 16 firms specializing in medical transcription
at present. As a result of their good work and Garcia's efforts
to evangelize the sector to MTIA, the Alliance has decided to setup
an affiliate organization in the Philippines that like the U.S.
headquarters will supervise the sector by setting quality and business
ethic standards. It will also provide guidance for startups getting
into the business.
Garcia is proud that MTIA will be
setting up shop in the Philippines because it signals the coming
of age of the industry. But he also chuckles when he notes that
despite repeated requests from Indian firms - 16 over the years,
in fact - MTIA still has no presence in India, and isn't expected
to for some time. The Philippine affiliate is expected to be launched
later this year.
The immediate impact of that development
will be a very rapid and substantial increase in work outsourced
to the Philippines, Garcia says. "Based on what MTIA tells
me, we're going to need to bring around 2,000 medical transcriptionists
into the work force every year." He expects an additional 500,000
lines - the standard measurement for the industry - to be outsourced
to the Philippines every month beginning in November (One transcriptionist
can handle 800 lines per shift. There are three shifts every day.).
Another 300,000 lines of regular work will follow in December.
To take on a portion of that demand,
Garcia has just rented another floor of the building his company
operates from in Ortigas (He also maintains a small sales and editing
office in Los Angeles.). But those interested in entering the business
don't have to start out big, necessarily. "Ten stations is
a good start," he says. The investment in office space and
technology is minimal compared to traditional entrepreneurial pursuits
like starting a restaurant, and Garcia is happy to help new entrants
along.
It's thanks to champions like Garcia
- and other e-services champions - that the Philippines manages
to wring success out of otherwise trying circumstances. And, creates
opportunities for like-minded entrepreneurs.
(Michael Alan Hamlin is the managing
director of consultancy TeamAsia and the author of three books on
Asian economies and companies. His latest book is Marketing Asian
Places, of which he is a co-author (Wiley, 2001). He can be reached
at mahamlin@teamasia.com.).
Copyright © 2002 Michael Alan
Hamlin. All Rights Reserved.
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