** Anyone worked for HEALTHWAYS before?

charityRN1991 · Dec 11, 2006

How is it going? I had a phone interview and have to go for further interviews soon. A friends of mine works there and loves it too but I am not sure I am a sit behind a computer and talk on the phone all day kinda gal... :uhoh3:

wincha · Dec 16, 2006

Many nurses from my DM company used to work for AH for a few years and were happy to get out of there. It was more like a sweatshop, they micromanage you, no time to actually do any teaching. I was offered a job there but there too many red flags for me to accept. I am very happy with my DM job with another company. My last job was over 15 years also so I don't hop job to job. Hopefully management has changed from previous posters and I do not live in your city also.

Hello friends,
I was referred for employment at a company called Healthways in Columbia, MD by a friend of mine. I am currently in their training sessions, after which I will become a full-time colleague. I've heard many good things about this company (they specialize in Disease Mgmt and telephonic patient care) and I'm impressed from what I see thus far.
However, I've noticed some past postings that weren't so complimentary to Healthways. Now I'm the type of person who takes great pride in my work ethic and I don't jump from job to job frequently. I don't like making big changes in employment. Some of the past postings are making me nervous.
Does anyone have, or had, experience at Healthways and can provide me with any background info? The past postings are probably from a disgruntled ex-employee, but I'd like additional insight from others. I just want to know that I made a good decision... and from what I see, and the people I've met, Healthways seems like a terrific place to work. They have a really nice, modern building with all the ammenities as well as a great management staff from where I stand.
Thanks!!!

TriageNewborn · Jan 17, 2007

I know what you mean about disgrunted people! My experience says that all too often people hear only what they want to hear. My friend works for Healthways and I have an interview there soon. My friend has been there for 2 years and she says that while they are a call center the management does try to make the nurses happy while at the same time keep contracts happy too.

My friend has sat in on a few of the "site visits" - that's what they call the sales presentations, and the clients are very demanding of what they expect. She said she had no clue that the clients were asking so much. She said that she normally felt it was "all about her" and she never realized how much focus the contracts put on her company demonstrating something called ROI (return on investment - they want something for the money they spend). Working in the hospital the patients come to you and there is more of them that you usually can handle! But she said that outside of the hospital businesses have to fight to get the patients and then to keep them. As a hospital nurse I never got to see that although I suspect it is there - most of the time the only time I saw my manager was once a month at unit meetings!! And she just complained about getting the patients discharged faster and how the PICSUS system wasn't working. And beating us up for complaining about working overtime.

My hubbie is in sales so I guess I feel fortunate that I have had a taste of what is going on in healthcare outside the hospital.

My friend said she liked being able to talk to people about their health which she never had time for in the hospital. She also likes the massage therapist that comes in weekly on her break. Most of the nurses are older so they focus on keeping them healthy. Have some health club membership and good chairs, pretty environment. Pay is okay (who doesn't want more!!)but the benefits are nice. I think what I liked the sounds of was no holidays!!! Never work another Christmas AGAIN - Wahooo! No one coming for you in a 4-wheel drive for snow and ice - no overtime. Let them move my desk, change my manager, show me my work performance! I think the pros definitely outweigh cons!! I know when the HR manager called me for the interview she definitely told me I have to work evenings and that my schedule would be set based on the holes in the schedule. No different than the hospital I guess. She also said that nurses sit in a zone with their manager and as managers change so do the seating. At least I wouldn't be floated to a different unit without orientation. I also know that several of the nurses in her side of the building were not happy about having to move their "stuff" and intentionally refused to clean out their desks. These same people had stuffed animals, plants, pictures all over the place, and were extremely disorganized with papers everywhere. Who in their right mind takes a stuffed animal to work as an adult!!!! That's what I am most worried about working for Healthways is whether some bad apples spoil the environment and are the same type of complainers we have to put up with in the hospital or other call centers. Some people are never happy no matter where they are and some people think they just have to show up to get paid.

gr8rnpjt, RN · Jan 17, 2007

I think there are 2 different companies: one is Healthways and the other is American Healthways. The latter I worked for in the past. They used to be Diabetes Treatment Centers of America. I liked the way they were as DTCA. When they changed names and went to a dialer system, the job went downhill. I know some who stayed and liked it, but most jumped ship at least in my area. I know they do have scattered work hours and a chance to work 10's and 12's. I don't know anything about HEALTHWAYS. but they have a nice website, and sounds like a similar job description.

janster58 · Jan 20, 2007

It's the same company. I've started there recently. Everyone seems happy with their job. Low stress compared to floor work. They do a lot of things to make things "fun" for their employees, from what I've seen so far.

wincha · Mar 11, 2007

I think there are 2 different companies: one is Healthways and the other is American Healthways. The latter I worked for in the past. They used to be Diabetes Treatment Centers of America. I liked the way they were as DTCA. When they changed names and went to a dialer system, the job went downhill. I know some who stayed and liked it, but most jumped ship at least in my area. I know they do have scattered work hours and a chance to work 10's and 12's. I don't know anything about HEALTHWAYS. but they have a nice website, and sounds like a similar job description.

American Healthways changed their name to Healthways. I know many nurses who left. They hated the dialer, only had a few minutes to go to the bathroom and would talk to the member in the bathroom because they could not take off their headsets.