Accenture recruiting Filipino nurses for care services BPO

A leading global outsourcing company is recruiting Filipino nursing graduates for its growing care management business in the Philippines, company officials announced Thursday. “Filipino nurses need not go overseas to earn salaries and enjoy benefits that are globally competitive," Benedict C. Hernandez, leader of Accenture in the Philippines’ Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Service Delivery Operations, told a news conference. He said their care management BPO offers an “attractive" compensation package for applicants that have completed a B.S. in Nursing degree; Filipino nurses licensed to practice in the Philippines, with or without actual hospital experience; and nurses who have passed the US licensure examinations for foreign nurses. However, Hernandez declined to give figures involving salaries, number of personnel needed, and the savings in administrative costs for US companies that use the services of Accenture in the Philippines. Alvin Cloyd Dakis, national president of the Alliance of Young Nurse Leaders and Advocates International, had earlier told GMA News Online that the number of unemployed and under-employed registered Filipino nurses is anywhere between 160,000 to 200,000. Accenture provides “upskilling" for licensed nurse personnel and training assistance for non-licensed nurses to acquire professional certification, according to Sanjay Seth, officer-in-charge of the company’s Care Management BPO in the Philippines. He said their Care Management BPO facilitates the core processes of health insurance companies, from enrollment of members to managing the claims process and their network of hospitals and clinics. The service is a pioneering venture and “a strategic growth area" for Accenture in the Philippines, Seth said. The company is planning to set up a similar operation in India, he added. Care management services Hernandez said the company’s Care Management Services involve three areas of work: utilization management, case and disease management, and health outreach to clients and patients of US hospitals and health insurance companies. Utilization management involves the “initial screening by Accenture personnel of a patient’s medical records and applying the client’s (health insurance) policies and procedures to help determine if the patient is eligible for proposed medical services," he said. It is intended to manage a client’s “misuse, underuse, and overuse" of health services available in his or her insurance policy, he added. Disease management focuses on the prevention of complications and standardization of care for patients who suffer from chronic conditions such as diabetes or asthma that require long-term treatment and care, Hernandez said. Meanwhile, health outreach services involve support for the patients’ wellness and prevention programs by providing them with information on diet and exercise to support healthier lifestyles, he said. “They also perform certain enrolment functions related to client’s medical insurance plans and client-defined programs and services that help individuals achieve a better state of health before, during, and after they file their (health insurance) claims," Hernandez said. Accenture currently employs “several hundreds" of Filipino nurses whose work involves voice and non-voice interactions with clients, he said. The company has more than 21,000 personnel in two Accenture Delivery Centers in Manila and Cebu. It is part of the global Accenture company that has more than 233,000 personnel serving clients in more than 120 countries, with net revenues of $21.6 billion in 2010. – YA, GMA News