Source : www.medicexchange.com

Alliance Imaging, Inc. (NYSE:AIQ), national provider of outpatient diagnostic imaging services and radiation therapy services, announced that it has acquired Medical Outsourcing Services, LLC (MOS), a mobile provider of positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT), based in Naperville, Illinois.

Paul S. Viviano, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "As PET/CT's clinical indications continue to expand (including those currently covered under the National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR)) and it becomes a critical clinical tool in cancer detection and related treatment staging, we believe there will continue to be strong, overall volume growth in PET/CT. As part of our strategic effort to expand Alliance's position as a national leader in PET/CT services, we are extremely pleased to announce the acquisition of MOS and the integration of our respective PET/CT operations in the Midwest and Northeast United States. With a reputation for the highest levels of client and patient service, the addition of MOS will play an important role in the continued growth of Alliance's PET/CT business."

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Before we delve into the offshoring trend, it is important to differentiate offshoring from business process outsourcing (BPO), which involves the migration of services to an external provider. Offshore outsourcing encompasses manufacturing, IT, and back-office services. Business process outsourcing includes call centers, finance and accounting, human resources, and transaction processing.

Offshoring refers to taking advantage of lower-cost labor in another country. A common misconception is that all offshoring involves outsourcing. This is not true. While outsourced processes are handed off to third-party vendors, offshored processes can be handed off to third-party vendors or remain in-house. The definition of offshoring includes organizations that build dedicated captive centers of their own in remote, lower-cost locations.

The most obvious benefit of offshoring is the low cost. Compared to a U.S. call center, offshoring can save companies up to 50% in operational expenses. But there is more to why people are shipping call centers to countries such as India besides cost. Benefits such as an educated, English-speaking labor pool, low employee turnover, and complimentary time zones all make offshoring attractive.

Let's look at India. India is home to the largest educated English-speaking population in the world. Other than language, the geographical location of India lends itself well to a 24x7 operation. The time zone difference between the United States and India is about 12 hours. This means that a job submitted at 6 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST) reaches India at 6 a.m. and is completed by 6 a.m. PST the following morning. Another positive feature of India is the country's highly motivated workforce. U.S. call centers often experience low morale and very high turnover, usually 40%-70% annually. Considering the time and costs associated with training new agents, it becomes difficult to maintain quality service at a low cost. Currently, Indian call centers have an average turnover rate of 5%. We expect that this number will go up.

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