SPi headhunting expedition to Davao

Job Generation: The Challenge

SPI Technologies Inc., one of the world’s leading business process outsourcing (BPO) service providers for transcriptions came to Davao City last June 19, 2009 to assess the medical transcription talent pool for deployment to their Cebu and Manila-based operations.

With MTC Academy-Davao City (Nanoscript Inc.) as their recruitment partner, the task of advertising the job vacancies amounting to 300 transcribers was immediately communicated via an email blast and poster announcement. Complimenting this effort, MTC Academy Davao joined the June 12-14, 2009 DOLE Jobs Fair and putting up ads in several social and public service networks.

With over 50 applicants answering the call for resume submissions, MTC Davao administered its screening and assessment tools to assess the readiness of the pool.

The surplus in allied health professionals, in particular nurses, who are not able to leave the country for work abroad has made medical transcription an appealing alternative. The increasing unemployment rate in the City has also pre-disposed the non medical graduate pool to check the opportunities in this sector. Thus an overwhelmingly sizable number of job applicants coming from the various industries and from various parts of the city and its outskirts.

Medical Transcription: The Job

Medical transcriptionists listen to dictated recordings made by physicians and other health care professionals and transcribe them into medical reports, correspondence, and other administrative material. MTs generally listen to recordings on a headset, using a foot pedal to pause the recording when necessary, and key the text into a personal computer or word processor, editing as necessary for grammar and clarity. The documents they produce include discharge summaries, medical history and physical examination reports, operative reports, consultation reports, autopsy reports, diagnostic imaging studies, progress notes, and referral letters. Medical transcriptionists return transcribed documents to the physicians or other health care professionals who dictated them for review and signature or correction. These documents eventually become part of patients’ permanent files.

BPO Units: The Answer

SPI Technologies was founded in the Philippines in 1980. It is now a multi-country outsourcing provider with over 6,500 employees in 24 locations across the United States, Europe and Asia. It serves various markets in the publishing, financial services, health care, legal and retail areas.

In the Philippines, SPI employs 4,000 people, representing about 65 percent of its global workforce.

Aggressive in its hiring mode, SPI Training Director Rainier R. Egos came with its Vice President for Asian Operations Mr. Francis Patalinghug.

Mr. Patalinghug joined SPi in 2008 to lead and manage the Healthcare operations in both Philippines and India. He has 24 years of extensive experience in the field of manufacturing in the areas of process development, work simplification, volume-ramp management and productivity improvement, among others. Throughout his career, Francis held various senior positions in companies like NEC Technologies, Philippines; Loctite Philippines and Amkor Technology Philippines. His most recent position was with Claymount Assemblies Philippines, where he was their Manufacturing Director. Francis is a graduate of BS Chemical Engineering from the University of San Carlos, Philippines.

Recent developments show that SPI Technology had just recently opened its medical transcription facility at Asiatown IT Park, Cebu City. It has over 500 seats and has hired 150 employees with medical backgrounds for the said branch.

SPi serves hundreds of healthcare clients across the US. They range in size and scale from some of the largest hospitals, to large university teaching facilities, to mid-size physician practices. And at each of these organizations, we regularly work with different individuals to meet the needs of their specific programs.

SPi and Its Underlying Principles

Its byline: Global Resources. Customer-Centric Solutions.

SPi has been known to deliver highly accurate medical transcription services, 24 hours a day, every day, to hospitals, physician practices, and other healthcare organizations across North America. Now true to its form to go global has literally made its presence in the Asian Region.

It recently inked an agreement to buy the medical transcription business of India-based KG Information Services Private Limited located in Coimbatore, which has a capacity of 800 seats.

SPI has also expanded its Dumaguete publishing facility to accommodate additional 450 staff members.

Mr. Patalinghug on the other hand cited that SPi does not subcontract transcription to other vendors. The service they provide is handled by their own team of well-trained, experienced, and carefully screened professional medical language specialists: men and women who are fully accountable to SPi. Their data security meets or exceeds all HIPAA standards, and their medical language specialists are supported by hands-on experienced supervisors, project managers and experts in medical terminology. These factors help to account for their 98% plus level of accuracy.

Seeing the great potential of Davaoeños as potential human resource backed up by their level of proficiency in the command of the English language and intonation they deemed it vital to tap resources from the city.

The Results

Last July 17, 2009 after almost a month long wait for the results, SPi has released the results of the almost 54 candidates.

Seven were considered for OJT Training (Basic MT Training) in MTC Davao, namely Kenneth Robbe Apresa, Daniel Bok, Lixel Arbas, Jonie Jane Tayhon, Gypsy Jennsen Arquio, Celeste Ang and Jeanelyn Andrin.

For Apprenticeship training in SPi’s Manila facility are Bjarnye Ysatisse Pedida, Joebert Sarong and Scott Philip Carmen. Mr. Carmen will only train for 1 month and will be considered as MT Probationary in Manila.

For OJT training in SPi’s Cebu facility are Ma. Elaisa Evangelio and Shannen Kinichi Aquino. The former for Basic MT Training and the latter for Apprenticeship. Chester Von Ferrer and Julie Anne Butlig were also considered of Apprenticeship in their Cebu facility.

Congratulations to those who made it. The three-type examination they had encountered that day and the waiting time for the interview seemed to be a mazelike race they underwent. Indeed the road to success has a very thin and narrow pathway. Biblically many indeed are called but few are chosen. Nevertheless, the thrill and excitement of acquiring a job with one of the most formidable company in the country is an insurmountable feat to achieve.

MTC Academy then is looking forward for a possible partnership with SPi Technologies and ePLDT in training and acquiring more medical transcriptionists in the City of Davao. A realization that Davao City is a mine of potential human resource in this arena validating what was stipulated in the survey by Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), a research company on the Asian Cities of the Future that Davao City, along with Singapore and Hong Kong, is in the top five cities in Asia with the best human resource. Further, Davao City was also listed in the top ten Asian cities in the same survey. This venture will help the human resource pool for medical transcription mature as they are being exposed to big companies like SPi Technologies and in turn will benefit Davao Transcription industry for having more competent transcriptionists who will soon come back to Davao.