Highlights of Winning
Teams
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Claims
the Gold
“Happy employees equal happy customers”
is a phrase that you may be tired of hearing. As
practical and common sense as it may sound, many
companies have much to learn about really making
their employees happy first and recognizing the
impact their satisfaction has on other departments,
the company overall, customers, and of course, the
bottom line.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF)
is a company other organizations can benchmark for
the importance of employee satisfaction.
BCBSF’s State Account Operations Team has
worked hard to acknowledge the value of participation
and teamwork. The team’s efforts to improve
claims processing and exceed contractual performance
standards of the State of Florida’s Employee
PPO plan were rewarded when they received the highest
honor in AQP’s Team Competition.
Who Holds the Stakes?
“We’re in a unique situation because our
goals were set for us. We have a contract with the
state of Florida to administer their claims in a
certain way,” says Jackie McCurdy, the
team’s facilitator. “So our goals were
mandated and we had to come up with a way to meet
them. As a team, we identified our front-line
employees as key stakeholders. They were one of the
primary groups affected by the project and we valued
their input.”
It was important for the team to receive
stakeholder input very early on. “This effort
provided an opportunity to showcase how front-line
employees have a direct impact on our work. This
enabled them to see the results of their
efforts,” says data quality manager, Donna
Stanley. “Not only does that give you excellent
information to begin working with, it also helps
later with buy-in and approval of the project,”
adds McCurdy. “I learned that stakeholder
involvement is critical to the success of the project
and that you need to be able to identify each
person’s strengths, capitalize on those
strengths and let each person contribute.”
Kelley Hall, operations director, reiterates,
“When you involve multiple people, you start to
gain buy-in for your process and that’s hard to
stop.”
What Employees Want
The biggest concerns identified by employees were
insufficient tools and resources to perform their
functions, lack of sufficient automation in the
claims processing system and insufficient training
for newer employees. Specifically the employees
needed clear, consistent reference materials.
“In our old environment everyone had manuals on
their desk. Some had updates and some
didn’t,” states McCurdy. “ They
wanted up-to-date reference materials and they wanted
more training opportunities. We received all kinds of
ideas from the employees and we were able to
incorporate some of their ideas into the final
solutions.” The team evaluated all of the
recommendations and determined those that had the
greatest potential to impact their project.
The team received little resistance from their
leadership teams. BCBSF supported their efforts and
generously supports teams throughout the corporation.
“You don’t do anything alone,”
McCurdy emphasizes. “The corporate philosophy
is that through teams you should be able to
accomplish any given project or
goal.”
Teamwork Works
Their dedicated teamwork paid off resulting in a 32.5
percent increase in claims processing productivity,
an administrative cost savings of $384,000, a 19
percent reduction in average operating cost per claim
and a total savings of $4.9 million.
Producing these results, along with
participating in the AQP competition has made a
significant impact on the team members and the entire
organization. “I have learned the power of
teamwork when you have a group of individuals who are
able to pull together and reach a common goal,”
says John Moore, team member and support manager. The
team advises other teams that may be struggling with
achieving results and lasting change to emulate other
successful teams and seek guidance from experienced
mentors.
Teamwork makes a difference in work and
that’s the bottom line. “I have learned
that extraordinary results can be achieved when you
have a dedicated group of people working
together,” says Lisa Mathews, team member and
operations manager. McCurdy adds, “I have
certainly developed a greater appreciation for the
work our entire staff does on a daily basis. The
State Account Operations staff is responsible for
ensuring our success in the eyes of the customers
everyday, and that’s a tremendous
task!”
Gold Winner: State Account Operations
Claims Quality & Productivity Improvement Team,
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida,
Jacksonville
Members: Lisa Mathews, Richard Beeman,
Kelley Hall, Jackie McCurdy, Keith Monday, John
Moore, Donna Stanley, Shawn Starr
Project: Ensure the appropriate tools,
processes and procedures were implemented to exceed
the claims processing standards
Bottom line: A 32.5% increase in
productivity and a 19% decrease in cost per
claim.
Silver
winners
Bronze
winners
May
2001Homepage
My Kingdom
for a Team
