Omega Healthcare.

Healthcare services firm Omega Healthcare is on an expansion mode.

The company has centres in Chennai and Bangalore, employing over 4,000 people. It also has a sales office in Florida, US.

Omega is now setting up another centre in Tiruchi, besides looking at centres in Bangalore and the Philippines.

Omega Healthcare is an offshore provider of medical coding, billing and insurance claims processing services to physicians and hospitals in the US.

This is how it works: Doctors and hospitals send bills and documents related to the treatment to Omega (through intermediaries). Omega then codes the paperwork to generate a claim to insurance companies. The company also follows up on payments from insurance companies and dues from patients, if any.

Its Tiruchi facility will start operations in January. Apart from being cost effective, Tiruchi has good talent and access to educational institutions, said Gopi Natarajan, CEO.

But with power being an issue in Tamil Nadu, Omega is looking at another centre in Bangalore.

Between Chennai, Tiruchi and Bangalore, Omega hopes to add 3,000 jobs next year.

Omega is also considering setting up a centre in Philippines for voice-based work “as the accent and culture is akin to that in America. Since this voice involves making calls to patients to settle any dues to hospitals, it must be done with tact and sensitivity,” said Natarajan.

It is bullish about the US healthcare reforms, which has given a push to healthcare spending in the country.

Omega Healthcare was set up in 2003 with an investment of $3 million. Later, Manipal Enterprises and a based company came on board as financial partners, before their stake was bought out by the founders of Omega in 2006. Omega then brought in American firm HealthEdge which funded close to $12 million. Enam Securities is also a minority stakeholder in the firm. HealthEdge has been with Omega since 2006 and is looking to exit. “We will go to market next year again,” says Natarajan.