2004 Press Release
MANILA, 30 June 2004 - As the demand for care-giving grows, so will the influence of technology on the healthcare sector, it being an enabler of businesses. About ten years ago, people tended to self-insure but growing medical costs paved the way for the dramatic growth of medical insurance which has somehow made hospitalization and medicines easier pills to swallow.
Worldwide, healthcare companies are re-evaluating their operations and looking at IT to improve their businesses, services and lower costs. At a seminar attended by over 30 HMOs and life insurance companies in the country, CrimsonLogic's VP for Government & Healthcare Michael Lie said that cost containment is a major concern among health insurers in the Asia-Pacific region.
Medical costs form the biggest component of these companies' costs. According to Mr. Lie, at some point, HMOs and health insurers need to manage their costs. He said the use of IT can be a valuable tool for reflecting accurately the effectiveness of the business operation, while greatly improving quality customer-care. In particular, he cited that leveraging IT to reduce direct costs (which make up more than 75% of total costs) will yield greater benefits and produce quicker ROI (return on investment). Direct cost refers to medical service cost while indirect cost refers to administrative cost.
At the seminar, Lie introduced “FlexiClaims”, a web-based out-patient and in-patient claims processing system that will enable HMOs, hospitals or clinics to manage and process anywhere, anytime their customers' medical claims and integrate multiple information for a unified view. Features include claims management, information on customers' (companies and employees) benefits schemes, and management reports. The system also has a powerful and flexible rules-based engine. This allows end-users to quickly come up with new plans and manage subsequent claims, all without additional coding.
CrimsonLogic developed FlexiClaims which is built on a J2EE platform, and the back-end database system runs on Oracle. Designed to cut down administrative work, the solution has proved to gain operational efficiency and substantial direct cost savings by as much as 30%.
Lie stressed to healthcare providers the importance of providing immediate access to their customers account information. “Yes, equipping your company with IT tools will increase your competitive edge but we should not lose sight of the one thing that will remain constant --- quality-care and services for patients come first.”
CrimsonLogic is a global leading application service provider, established in 1988. The Philippines office began operations in January 2003, headed by general manager Leo Querubin. CrimsonLogic Phils. is a member of the Philippine Computer Society, ITECC, ITAP, Phil. eLearning Society, ISSSP, among others. Information about the Philippine operations is regularly updated and can be seen on www.crimsonlogic.com.ph.