Job Title: Case Manager
Location: St. Louis, MO
Submitted on: 24-Sep-03
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This company quickly came to be the largest behavioral managed care
firm in the US. Within the 4 years I was there, the company was bought
and sold 3 times. The culture was fast paced,and extremely competive,
no matter what level someone worked at. The company's goal was to be
the largest (and most powerful) of its kind in the country. The
company's subsequent regard for its employees, and the millions of
people it served,was held in arrogant disregard. Needless to say, the
employee turnover was much higher than the national average for a
company in that line of business. Concommitantly, that "steamroller"
attitude was passed down to those that needed it the least,the benefit
users. During the years of '94-'97, there really were notlaws
constraining or defining the power of managed care because it was such
a new entity in the world of benefit management. That lack of
constraint was what felt like the steamroller attitude of "We're It on
a Stick." The had very little competition. There were no other managed
care firms near their size.
I did feel that their standards were the highest I had ever seen in the
field of Utilization Management. All the casemanagers had to not only
hold a graduate degree or higher, but must also be licensed in the
state they practiced in. This was not the case in other manage care
firms.
As the company grew in size (they went form 200 employees in 1994 to
3000 by 1997), the bigger firms they could entice into representing.
This meant personal image was very important, whether it be the
placement and appearance of the building it was in, the state of the
art technology, and appearance of the employees themselves. All was for
show, always alert to the possibility of wooing new customers.
Hours were excellent. Most employees worked from 8am-5pm, a 40-45 hour
week. The compensation was also very good. Great rates for insurance,
medication, as well as great retirement benefits.
The intellectual culture was very stimulating. Employees were highly
encouraged to learn more and more. There were multiple opportunities
for internal training from higher ups in the company (like the CEO).
Due to the company's desire for tremendous growth,very highly talented
people were available within the company for consultation on cases. In
addition, the weight of the company lent itself many times for us to
access the most knowledgable people in the field outside of the company
for consultation if need be.
Unfortunately, as is usually the case, it was the greed of the people
at the top which toppled the empire. The company filed for Ch. 11 about
a year ago and had to divest itself of most of its acquisitions. It's
stock which went public a year before, can now be found among OTC
others.
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