Medical Transcription and the HOS Theory
By Ricci Mathew | On April 15, 2008 | In Medicine | Rated
Is there a theoretical explanation for the growth in Medical Transcription Outsourcing to India? Yes indeed there is a cause and effect for everything and it is believed that the HOS ( Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson ) theory in economics has the explanation. Recent literature has applied Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson (HOS) theory of comparative advantage to explain international trade in services.
Is there a theoretical explanation for the growth in Medical Transcription Outsourcing to India? Yes indeed there is a cause and effect for everything and it is believed that the HOS ( Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson ) theory in economics has the explanation. Recent literature has applied Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson (HOS) theory of comparative advantage to explain international trade in services.
 
Actually the theory originates from the Heckscher-Ohlin model (H-O model) which is a general equilibrium mathematical model of international trade and was developed by Eli Heckscher and Bertil Ohlin. HOS theory is a variation of the H-O model and states that comparative advantages are functions of their comparative factor endowments. The theory says that exports of a capital-abundant country will be from Capital intensive industries, and labour -abundant countries will import such goods, exporting labour intensive goods in return. Therefore the relative abundance in capital will cause the capital-abundant country to produce the capital-intensive good cheaper than the labor abundant country and vice versa.
 
However there are certain basic assumptions of the HOS theory about the concerned countries. These are that the countries must have,
 
  • Constant returns to scale,
  • Have perfect competition,
  • There must be no factor intensity reversals,
  • Incomplete specialization,
  • No economies of scale,
  • Must have balanced trade
  • Have similar technologies / preferences
 
The HOS theory has been reasonably successful in explaining international trade and had indicated years back that India was well positioned for medical transcription outsourcing even though the theory had certain assumptions. Further the HOS theory is found to be more applicable to analysis of trade in services between the developed and developing countries just as between the US and India
 
The author of this article is Ricci Mathew of OSI (Outsource Strategies International), a US based company that offers services in Medical Coding, Medical Billing and Medical Transcription for clients across the US.