Michael Beltran and Jonathan Feakins at Rest of World:
Thousands of nurses and aides in the Philippines, employed as independent contractors by U.S. healthcare companies, do a range of tasks including monitoring patients in intensive care, checking insurance eligibility, filing medical records, processing transfers to other facilities, and calling patients to remind them of their appointments. They represent a relatively new class of workers: virtual healthcare assistants who are helping fill a shortfall of nearly 80,000 registered nurses in the U.S. healthcare industry.
Some U.S. employers use local third-party agencies to hire Filipinos with nursing experience, while others insist on American nursing licenses. But for many virtual healthcare assistants, including telesitters, a degree in any medical field will do. The remote nurses, who usually work the graveyard shift at night from their homes or offices in the Philippines, earn between $5 and $10 per hour, compared to the average pay of more than $45 an hour for registered nurses in the U.S.
More here.