Vol. I · Spring 2026Issue No. 03

Sarthi vs.
the alternatives.

Every medical practice weighing Sarthi is also weighing offshore BPO, point tools (ambient scribes, coding add-ons), or staying put. Here’s the honest take.

Category
Option A
Sarthi
Operating layer · flat fee
Option B
Offshore BPO
Manila / India MAs
Option C
Point tools
Scribe / coding only
Option D
Do nothing
Keep absorbing it
What it does
Inbound calls, scheduling, triage
Fax + referral intake
Partial — manual
Ambient documentation
Coding + claim preparation
Partial — rules-based
Partial — coding-only tools
Full revenue cycle (ERA, denials, A/R)
Variable — vendor-dependent
Rare — usually a separate RCM stack
Prior authorization
Patient follow-up + callbacks
How it behaves
Works 24/7 with no scheduling gaps
Time-zone dependent
Only when clinician uses it
Concurrent capacity at zero marginal cost
Writes back to the chart automatically
Manual
Scribe only
Speaks cardiology and pulmonology fluently
Training-dependent
Depends on tool
Attrition risk
None
High (25–40% annual)
Low
None
Learns your practice's patterns over time
● Compounds with every encounter
What it costs
Typical monthly spend (mid-size practice)
Scoped by conversation
$10–18k (2–3 FTEs)
$2–5k per tool × several
Your team's evenings
Onboarding ramp
2 weeks
4–8 weeks per FTE
Varies per tool
Per-claim / per-seat fees
None
Varies
Often
Exit terms
90-day no-penalty
Contract dependent
Annual lock-in common
What it doesn't do
Replace clinical judgment
Never
Handle novel cases without escalation
Escalates to your team
Escalates
Varies
Work against a legacy EHR with zero API
Bridges via RPA
Usually not

Swipe horizontally to compare ↔

This is how we think about it. Your mileage will depend on your EHR, payer mix, and how much of the day currently leaves with your team.

§ HonestWhere each option genuinely wins
Pick Sarthi if

You run a medical practice, your admin work is bleeding into evenings, and you want one system that handles the day — not four point tools that each own 10%.

Pick offshore BPO if

You have well-documented workflows, training bandwidth, and a strong relationship with your offshore team. For many practices, that’s a workable model — and the rotating team is something you’ve already learned to manage.

Pick point tools if

You have one workflow problem you’d like to solve cleanly — say, ambient scribing — and the rest of your ops are running well. A focused tool you can adopt narrowly may be a better fit than a platform commitment.

Stay put if

Your current team handles it well, your AR is clean, and your physicians are not staying late. If that's you — you don't need us.