The Hindu Business Line : Path-labs: New trend in outsourcing saga

DIAGNOSTIC services are the next emerging outsourcing opportunity, with Indian path-labs looking to take on work from hospitals and agencies based abroad.

SRL-Ranbaxy recently concluded a pilot project for a UK-based hospital and is looking to expand its scope of work in Europe, said Mr Vidur Kaushik, CEO.

"We have been doing work for countries such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. We are in discussion for Pakistan, as well. But yes, we are looking to source high-end work from hospitals in markets like the UK."

The services include sophisticated tests for cancer-related diagnosis, auto-immune disorder, cytogenetics or diseases related to abnormalities in chromosomes, infectious diseases, and Hepatitis B and C.

"Samples from West Asia come in three times a week. Logistics companies bring in the samples from foreign markets and the reporting is done from India online," he said explaining how the operations work.

SRL-Ranbaxy supports a diagnostic laboratory network across 362 towns in the country.

However, Mr Kaushik said that companies should not get carried away by the opportunity of outsourcing and underestimate the enormity of the requirement.

"We are dealing with critical information - important to the lives of patients - and this requires accredited labs and processes that are comparable to the world's best. It may work out about 25 per cent cheaper for the hospitals and agencies outsourcing diagnostic work to India. But that only helps one get a foothold in the market. Given that everything is linked to insurance, quality should be of the highest standard and if anyone does a sub-standard job, they could get hit by litigation."

Dr Sushil Shah, Founder-Chairman of Metropolis Health Services, echoes similar sentiments.

"Hospitals based in West Asia have been outsourcing their diagnostic work to Indian laboratories, since it works out less expensive in comparison to sending samples to France or Germany. But increasingly, hospitals in markets like the UK are outsourcing their diagnostic services to local path-labs."

He added: "From the earlier trend where outsourcing was done in radiology, sending across X-rays or images to India for interpretation, foreign hospitals and agencies now outsource jobs such as tissue typing, drug advisory or hormone analysis."

But the trend is still nascent and no data is available regarding the opportunity that it opens up, he said.

Metropolis operates a diagnostic laboratory network across the country and aims to have one lab in every State within two years. It also has international operations in Dubai.

"We are looking at diagnostic outsourcing opportunities from the UK and the US and are in talks with agencies that outsource the work on behalf of the hospitals."

More Stories on : Outsourcing | Medical Institutions & Hospitals

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