Risks of Outsourcing

The overriding risk of outsourcing data entry is loss of control over the process. The burden falls upon the customer to ensure that delivered data is accurate, security is not compromised, and above all, that no violations of government and industry regulations occur. Without sufficient controls, quality issues, significant fines and expensive mistakes could wipe out any cost savings realized by outsourcing.

1. Accuracy: If inaccurate data is delivered, there may be expensive consequences, such as paying incorrect invoices or health claims, or degradation in productivity as problems are located and fixed internally. Even if an organization contracts with an outsourcer for triple-pass data entry, where each document is entered more than once, there’s no way to guarantee accuracy, short of frequent site visits.

2. Government Compliance:
Even more important is maintaining compliance with government regulations, such as the Health Information Privacy and Accessibility Act of 1996 (HIPAA), Sarbanes–Oxley (SOX), and the U.S. Patriot Act.

Choosing An Outsource Partner

When selecting an outsourcing vendor, there are common-sense guidelines for setting expectations, building in controls, managing the relationship, and evaluating results. Outsourcing veterans, like Chocko Valliappa of Vee Technologies, providing outsourcing since 1982, maintain that success begins and ends with good communication. “The services customer has to be very clear about their process, their expectations and continually voice their thoughts along the way.”