FIRST COAST SERVICE OPTIONS

I worked primarily as an agency nurse (critical care) prior to coming to First Coast and had an excellent salary ($30-33/hr), but of course I had to deal with "swing shifts" and heavy patient loads.  The agency informed me one day that they had an insurance company looking for a temporary medical review nurse to work Mon. thru Fri. with weekends off and inquired if I were interested.  Although the salary offered by First Coast was not competitive to what I made as an agency nurse, I accepted the offer because I was desiring to do something different; my husband made a good enough salary as a Manager that allowed me to take a drop in salary.  I worked as an agency nurse for a few  months at First Coast and then accepted a permanent position.  I accepted the position not because of salary, but because of the benefits the job offered; a 40 hour work week, PTO, as well as weekends and holidays off to spend with my family. I was hired as an exempt employee with the understanding that I would be required sometimes to work up to 45 hours in a week. Several years ago, the benefits began to diminish; first they froze everyone's pension, then our PTO accrual was frozen after reaching a certain point no matter how many years a person worked for the company.  I like what I currently do and I have a great Manager, great Director, and work with a great team of folk.  However, several weeks ago, the First Coast upper Management enforced a mandatory 45 hour work week for all exempt employees with no expectation of additional compensation/benefits.  Although the First Coast upper Management continually tell their people what an excellent job we do, their actions say otherwise. My current position usually requires that I work weekends/overtime to accomplish what I do; I have never worked a job as a nurse that didn't require overtime. As a First Coast exempt employee, I enjoy the privilege of managing my work hours and if I'm accomplish my job responsibilities in a 40 hour week then why do I need to work 45 hours?  I have worked as much as 45 to 58 hours/week in order to accomplish my job responsibilities, but I understood that this is expected and was temporary. But now.....well, none of the medical review exempt employees at First Coast "company wide" are happy about the required 45 hour work week that has been forced upon us......with no additional compensation/benefits; it defeats the definition of an exempt employee.

This place needs a complete makeover along with an exorcism starting with upper management. Your spirit is free and clear once you hit the parking lot unless you let the daily stress consume you. I started working here on the false pre-tenses that you will just be keying in Medicare applications for providers due to re-credentialing (mainly data entry work), verify licenses and certifications, etc. with light phone work that can range from 1%-3%. What a farce that was, we have turned into Researchers, Verifiers Clerk of Courts (Final Adverse), Bill Collectors (figuratively speaking) and Customer Service Agents all for the starting low price of $14.00 hr. Management is so far removed on what it takes to be successful and continue to be successful in your position which boggles the mind because they started off as analyst too. You’re praised more for Quantity not Quality, even though both are required to remain employed. Their policies and procedures are like someone threw paint on the wall and whatever sticks is what they will implement and will change it on a whim. We have been working overtime for the past 3 years straight due to the " high workload" but yet you have employees fighting for work just to make production. THIS POSITION IS NOT A HIGH TURNOVER RATE job on paper, but management has completely turned it into one. Morale is so low, you can reach the earth's core, employees are painfully beyond miserable and they are leaving voluntary and involuntary in droves. Never mind going to HR about your grievances they will fall on deaf ears because they are in management’s pocket. Raises are in cents not dollars, you’ve hit the lottery if you even get a $.50 and if you miss your annual review by one point (you must receive a 3 on your review) you will get nothing but the papers your review was printed on. If you just want something to do then come on down, The Price is Right but if you want to be appreciated and recognize for your over and beyond work ethic, consideration for advancement within the department, pay that aligns to your job description and an overall great work environment then this place is not for you!Fle

Production oriented, only, work environment! Quality is the last thing on managements mind. We were on mandatory overtime for 6 to 8 hours a week when management decided to increase production standards. If you do not meet that weeks minimum required hours, you will have to make them up the next week.  If you have small children, you will not be given any recourse if a problem arises, not family friendly.  There is no work life balance because you will always be at work.  This department is best for single people who are only work focused.  Do not work for this company.  I've Never been treated the way I was here.  Supervisors constantly harassing you over minor non important issues, while degrading you for asking simple questions. They never stand by company standards, and you will be fired for no reason when they want you gone. Only those who are friends with management will have an easy time or consideration for advancement, even if you are not qualified for the position!  Incompetent management, poor departmental communication and very shady, deceptive work practices! Never again!  HR will not help you if you have a problem with management, they will be on managements side. This company does not care about the employee at all.  High turn over rate, many new employees don't make it past the 3 month probation period. This company has the worst work instructions. They are extremely confusing and difficult to interpret. Please save yourself the headache of working here. This company may have been great in the past but due to recent management changes, that's no longer the case. I was told by someone before being hired that they like to fire people here.  Wish I would have listened to the warning, consider yourself warned.

I worked at FCSO for over 5 years in the revalidation dept reviewing part b Medicare applications. I started working there when I was very young and honestly enjoyed the first 3 years of my career. For some reason many people find the training to be difficult or fall off shortly after . I find it to be quite the opposite actually. The work was not hard to understand and it’s easy to keep your job if you just do the work. Around year 3 however is when I noticed that there wasn’t very much opportunity for career advancement. Being overworked, underpaid and not acknowledged began to seriously affect my mental health. Not to mention the time they had working every Saturday (6 days a week) for like a year straight(over a year honestly) when mandatory overtime was never something discussed or agreed upon during the hiring process. All these issues combined is why I decided to part ways. I’ve been at my new company for less than years now and I’m currently being looked at for 2 internal advancements . Overall FCSO helped me to develop my oral/writing/researching skills, tougher skin, also helped me to be comfortable with my decision making skills . I would recommend for someone younger who needs stability and something to build their resume .

As a Federal Contractor, the company will imitate both voluntarily and otherwise the terms and conditions of a Federal Government environment and culture. Remember also that its parent BCBSFL is a 'mutual' - owned by its beneficiaries - I was very impressed by how they acted strategically - almost as if it was a pure competitive business sector - almost. That far sightedness is carried over to its subsidiary First Coast Service Options Inc..

It is a rewarding enviornment for those with the KSA to contribute. It is something of a shallow pond given the nature of its particular competitive environment.

Besides finding a KSA niche to contribute, those overcoming the silos (built naturally by a pseudo-government environment) will be especially valuable, appreciated and rewarded.

Started as a temp was hired after 9 months to a permanent position as review nurse. Goals are based on workload not hours if you can do work in 40 then no extra but if it takes you 50 then that’s what required. I always found management open and ready to assist. I worked hard and I as rewarded for my effort by managers and senior leadership . Retired after 20 years with this company , upon  leaving I had been in manager role about ten years. First Coast is a government contractors so pay isn’t as high as private insurance agencies but staff turn over isn’t as bad either. So you have to weigh price of job security.  After being a nurse for years working all nights and weekends, having every weekend and holiday off made family and work balance great. Most position are now remote teleworking. If you don’t like co workers , you don’t have to see them. This is a great company and co workers . I retired to enjoy the next chapter but enjoyed my time there. 

The job was simple yet complicated at the same time.  Simple because the objectives were clear.  Complicated because the processes required to complete those objectives were often ambiguous or the information resources were poorly documented.  It's vital that the supervisors/managers be knowledgeable but some were appointed to manager roles simply because they had prior management experience and were wholly unfit to actually assist their subordinates with their questions.  Still, most of the responsibility fell upon the individual worker and if you kept up to date on the information and remained focused you could do well.

A typical day included servicing and auditing 15-17 call centers all over the United States. In addition quarterly travel to train and audit call center was mandatory. My co workers were great people who all got a long and continues to communicate outside of work. The hardest part of the job for some was meeting monthly goals. For myself I exceeded goals each month so I often assisted others with meeting their goals so the hardest part for myself was interpreting the handwriting of others in order to assist with their goals. The best part was management and travel. My leaders from the Director to the Supervisor were a group of skilled, intelligent and nice individuals. Management was strict on goals but welcomed diversity and advancement.

During the 6 months of work under the Senior Manager in the Websites and self-service technology Division, the employees were subject to a very aggressive and bullying behavior, causing emotional and mental stress. The Manger was disrespectful, screamed and shouted constantly when he pleases to give directions and rejects constantly PTO's without any apparent excuse.
The company has knowledge about this ongoing situation against employees and no action has been taking so far. This is the reason because employees under this manager's supervision are resigning constantly.

The day of my interview (2011) I was told this would be a permanent position & that there was longevity with the company......THAT WAS A LIE. Almost a year with the company & now we're being told that the company lost the contract & that ultimately we all would be displaced. All of a sudden after that meeting its been nothing but hell on the floor. Depending on who your supervisor is you're getting written up & people are getting fired every week. My opinion on that is that they want to get rid of as many people as they can so that they don't have to give displacement checks & also rumor has it the company is running dry & they don't want us to get our bonus in march so if they write everyone up they won't have to.

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