So much is changing in this post-pandemic world. Hiring and retaining talent is just a slice of the new normal we have to live in. The predicted recession is just the newest fear in coping with employment challenges. Obstacles like the employee shortages, high turnover rates, and “The Great Resignation” all add to the frustration of most small business owners. 

Some companies have tried to manage the additional risks labor shortages provided them with is through outsourcing. Many small medical offices have hired remote staff to take care of many of their lower-level services, such as prior authorization requests, new patient intake or even scheduling. 

There are many ways in which remote staffing or “insourcing” can help your medical practice. Here are the top five reasons to give it a shot. 

Save money

Between 2017-2023, the State of California will have increased its minimum wage by over 30%. This means all other wages in a company will need to increase proportionately to remain competitive. While these increases help increase the overall quality of life for California’s residents, it also drastically cuts into a small business owner’s profits. Pair that with the 60% reimbursement decrease by medical insurance providers and what little profit margin you had saved vanishes before your eyes. 

Insourcing can reduce the cost of your employees and help your bottom line. These well-trained remote employees are ready to do what they need to for the betterment of your company at a fraction of the cost. 

Meet KPI’s 

Just like every business, insourcing has Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that help measure its effectiveness and hold it accountable. The most used KPIs for insourcing are: cost savings that help increase profitability, lower DSOs, reduction of bad debt, decrease the cost of staffing, and the increase overall sales. 

One of the most important KPIs is the time insourcing frees up for your onsite staff. By turning over some of the lower-level tasks to the insourced employees, your regular staff can better focus on the higher-level, revenue generating, tasks. All of which allow companies to expand their businesses.

Remote jobs are more acceptable

Prior to the pandemic, remote jobs weren't prevalent.1 in 67 jobs were remote versus the 1 in 7 remote jobs we now see. This is one of the oddly beneficial outcomes for business owners working remotely. Now remote work is both widely accepted and expected. The percentage of remote workers has drastically increased. Within this last year, this percentage rose from 1.49% to a staggering 14.29%. This is a game changer that ultimately means that, within the working world, employees can be more readily insourced. 

Reduced turnover

As a general rule, employee retention rates of 90 percent or higher are good and a company should aim for a turnover rate of 10% or less. Outsourcing companies provide organizations with the opportunity to have a workforce that possesses all the skills, qualifications to keep personnel for longer. Because of this, most outsourcing companies can easily meet this 10% turnover rate. Some, like us, maintain a 3% turnover rate. That’s right, 3%. We can achieve such a high quality of performance from our employees by putting them through our immersive training and onboarding programs. 

Because outsourcing costs less, it creates room for reallocation of company finances to other aspects like improving the workplace and keeping the general workforce satisfied. This allows your current employees to reduce the amount of things that they handle and focus on their key tasks with more job satisfaction. 

Insourced personnel stay longer because they get what they need. Clear job descriptions, regular feedback on their performance, and flexible work hours. By making sure that only assigned tasks that fall into the job description for the insourced employee and provide them regular feedback, business owners can be certain of their efficiency. The flexible work hours allow your insourced employees a better work/life balance. 

Little needed training

This is the last, but arguably the most important, reason for insourcing. The HME/DME industry constantly needs well-trained front and back-office personnel. Employees trained in industry-standard software with excellent communication skills are hard to find. Mixing these requirements with reliability and you just described the dream employee.

Finding the right local employees can be hard to do. It can take months, and when that ideal candidate is finally found, it takes time, and money, to get them trained in your company's software and routine tasks. The only way to solve this issue is by addressing the reasons high turnover costs so much. Recruiting and poorly trained candidates can do horrible things to a company’s bottom line. That’s why they solved this problem by training qualified personnel capable of doing the job amazingly. 

Insourced staff should have the following capabilities: 

● At least 2 years of experience working in call centers 

● Speak and comprehend English fluently 

● Effortlessly interact with American patients 

● Be well-versed in the Medicare LCD and HME Equipment 

● Understand how to build a patient chart for billing 

● Be well-versed in your industry’s lingo and SOPs 

As long as they meet these requirements, your new employees will be competent on the first day they start. These innovations have allowed some employers to see a reduction of 75% of the time needed to get their new staff up and running. 

The long and short of it

Before you try insourcing, make sure it is right for your business. If you feel you can’t find the employees you need in your local market or if you have to cut costs but still need the work done, then insourcing might be right for you. 

Insourcing can be quite simple. Start small, dip a toe in the pool first and hire one employee. Test it out, you might find that it is quite flexible, scalable and very entrepreneur friendly. 

Tactical Back Office Personnel specializes in outsourcing (or we call it Insourcing) to employers across the United States. Call Today to find out how you can benefit. (800) 558-7501, [email protected], www.tacticalbackoffice.com.