October, 2003
Volume I, Issue 12

Healthcare News Trends

Could your job be outsourced?

We're all aware of Dell and other large companies outsourcing jobs overseas. Now, healthcare IT companies have joined the trend. A recent article in HIS Insider Weekly (newsletter home page) reported that McKesson, Cerner, MiSys, Avaya, PeopleSoft and GE Medical are now outsourcing a significant amount of development work to foreign countries, primarily India. The article added that many other companies, including Allscripts, CPSI, IDX and 3M do not currently outsource to foreign countries

What types of jobs are likely to be sent overseas?

A separate new report from Wharton School of Business found that offshore or foreign outsourcing will grow from $1.3 billion in 2002 to $24 billion in 2007, an 80% CAGR.

The report said functions most likely to be outsourced are data entry, transaction processing and customer call centers. Smaller companies are unlikely to outsource because they cannot "generate economies of scale." Thus, only 5% of U.S. companies with under $4 billion in sales outsourced overseas in 2002.

The report noted that many executive functions are poor candidates for outsourcing. Companies do not want to move overseas jobs that are key to core skills, provide a "competitive advantage" or are part of the "feedback loop with customers."

To read the complete 16-page report, see the Wharton web site.

PR Workshop

October is a good month to begin writing your 2004 PR plan. By now, many trade publications have their 2004 editorial calendars out and many of the major industry issues for next year are coming into focus (e.g. cost spiral, HIPAA compliance, data standards, Medicare reform).

A good PR plan should include these elements: 1) Situation Analysis, 2) Objectives, 3) Target Audiences, 4) Strategies, 5) Tactics, 6) Calendar, 7) Budget and 8) Evaluation.

PR plans are important for several reasons. First, they become a vehicle for PR and marketing executives to articulate a vision and communicate it to senior management. Second, they provide a framework for making day-to-day decisions. Third, when conducted as a collaborative or brainstorming exercise, they can be invaluable for developing new, creative approaches.

As Oliver Wendell Holmes said: "A mind stretched to a new idea never returns to its original dimension."

Westside Public Relations has a special offer for newsletter readers: we will provide a 30-minute brainstorming session on PR plan ideas at no cost or obligation. Just email the agency president, James Harris, to set-up a time.

Industry Insight

"The world is replete with consumer-based expert systems that operate seamlessly and are amazingly accurate. Consumers are so confident (in) a gas pump that they are willing to allow their personal financial information to travel through an electronic network to take money from their personal account.

"There is no reason that an expert electronic system could not verify the services you receive in the doctor's office. It could file claims instantly while sending your prescription electronically to the pharmacist...the doctor's office could print out your 'Explanation of Benefits' from your insurer, listing what you were charged for...how much you owe...

"As the first step, Congress should fund the construction of a sophisticated nationwide real-time IT system to connect every pharmacist, every veterinarian, every hospital, every nursing home, and every pharmacy in the country."

Newt Gingrich, writing in Fall/Winter issue of CIO magazine.

Resources

The Gingrich article is just one of series of viewpoints in a fascinating report called "Technology's Impact on Everything" in CIO magazine. The report features contributions from Howard Rheingold, Robert Reich, Paul Saffo, Queen Noor, Howard Gardner and Ray Kurzweil.

The CIO site also has articles on "The State of Information Security, "Should Congress Take Steps to Keep Jobs in the US?" and "The Battle for Web Services."

The magazine comes from IDG, which also publishes Infoworld and other computer magazines. Complementary subscriptions to the print magazine are available to people in IT management. See the CIO home page for the latest issue, access to the archive and subscription information.

You are welcome to forward this publication to other public relations professionals for noncommercial use.

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