Do you work for an insurance company?

[netglow, ASN, RN]

If you do, what do you do? And do you like the job, the salary? Is it stable?

I am looking at something that has to do with LTC products. Basically RN case managing eg EMR auditing, collaborating with patient, family, MDs, staff, and wrangling the plan of care, etc. There would be 2 months training. All work offsite at corporate office (no travel or hands on patient care).

Does anybody know what this really ends up being? I've worked some case management prior in hospice, and really it was often a 7 day a week and often 16 hour day job since I handled all the documentation part as well, the entire new admit process, routine charting, GIP, recerts, IDTs, etc. for my case load. This insurance company job recruiter says its a regular 8-5 job... seems like a good salary, etc. Just wondering what would totally suck about a job like this? I am not having a problem with the lack of bedside, actually not at all. I understand it is a corporate job. My other career was corporate.

[diva rn, BSN, RN]

I work as a case manager to 85 national labor unions insurance funds. They are huge and they are all self insured. We do the medical review for precertification of all out patient procedures, inpatient procedures and hospital stays, durable medical equipment and home health care. It is extremely busy, a straight 9:30-6:00 job (some RNs work 8:30-5:00). Basically we are on the phones or computers-or both-the days go by in a blur. It isn't as exciting as the PICU (where I was for years) but it is interesting. The pay is not nearly as much as I was making in the hospital--all of the nurses took a cut--but it's a trade off. We work in an airconditioned office. We sit on our behinds all day ..no sore feet...we wear jeans and tee shirts to work. It's a small privately owned company so there is no big corporation to fight. It's small but not tiny. THere are 40 RNs who are the case managers and 20 medical techs who are the techs-they do the intake on the cases then send them on to the RNs. THen there are 10 members of the clerical staff who file and such. THere is a disease management division with 3 RNs who do teaching by phone. THen there is the administration--THe owner (who is not a nurse, she is a PHD) the VP who also is the RN who is in charge and the office manager (not a nurse)

The down side for me, at least, is-I really miss the 12hour night shifts from the hospital, I loved working nights and having the 4 days off..and I do miss PICU and the excitement of the unit.

Also, the casework is so very busy, it is impossible to get ahead...just when you think you are catching up, the phone is ringing off the hook again and it never ends---but it's job security I guess.

[tokmom, BSN, RN]

It sounds super busy! I like being able to wear

jeans to work. That would be cool. :)

[netglow, ASN, RN]

Thanks for the reply. You give me the kind of picture I was expecting. I am fine with that. I have years of being self employed as well as the M-F life, and then add nursing to that. So it's just re-connecting. No Holidays or weekends. I imagine a steep learning curve, all the specific P&P and stuff. But I'm usually good with stuff like that. We'll see what develops. This is a very large corporation, and I'd be working with their policy holders only. Hmmm. Thing is it's temp to hire, but the whole trial time you are in intensive training. I guess they want to see if you can handle it. Apparently some cannot. During this time you are paid very well for your efforts. You have to be a business person and a nurse, or you won't make the grade. I am both . I've been told they have trouble finding nurses that can straddle both worlds, thus the temp to hire.

[Ruthiegal]

I work for an insurance company and currently I'm doing Telephone Triage and Telephonic health education. I also do Disease Management in the form of a Smoking Cessation program. We also have Case Management, Disease Management, and Care Transitions Home (discharge follow up). I really like what I do and have been here for 10 years. It has been stable, and if you are willing to change with the changing health care environments you would find stability, and to my knowledge none of these areas are more than 40 hours per week except for the area I work triage which is 24/7. I know that most have to give at least one later day till 8 or 9 once a week and an occasional Saturday if the member needs a weekend call.

Good Luck,

Ruth