customer service representative

business systems analyst

manager

analyst

data analyst

Independence Blue Cross

A typical work day:  
     My typical work day consists of assessing agent performance of telephonic sales activities for our Medicare telesales vendor, as well as our EMO partnerships conducting sales activities on IHG's behalf.  Matching them to the compliance, sales, and marketing metrics we have implemented to better gauge not only compliance risks but identify gaps within our operational processes.  I then communicate the results to the vendor for correction and monitor the progress.  Ad-hoc reports involving agent performance in core competencies are also generated daily and communicated.  I also coordinate call requests involving telesales agents with open sales allegations - this involves communication with down stream entities on a frequent basis.  

What I've learned: 
     I've learned that not everyone's passion and drive for what they do is similar to my own.  And therefore, for that reason, my expectation of them can only be limited to the drive and passion they exude or wish to convey.  In that, I must accept what I experience without judgement or bias. 

Management:  
     Considering Ive just recently changed managers, Im hoping my current experience will mimic that of the last manager I had.  It was pretty awesome.  We were focused and driven, yet I was given the room to manage myself and seek other areas that peeked my interests.  He encouraged me to use my unique skill set in everything that we do as our process.  Im a process engineer at heart so looking for ways to reduce re-work and automate processes was always a goal of mine.  

My coworkers: 
     My coworkers have been great.  Ive met some really intelligent people who have helped me develop and grow as a professional in many ways.  

The hardest part of my job:  
     Im very passionate about transparency within the health care industry. Dealing with sales allegations on a daily basis allows me to see things in a different perspective.  It's hard to sit back and watch seniors get taken advantage of for a few extra dollars by agents.  Many dont care what condition they put the Medicare beneficiary in, as long as they get paid commissions on the app.  Too many agents are in it for the money, and our seniors -- the ones who helped build this great country you and I take advantage of every day -- are left out in the cold, wondering how they can afford Rxs and food on Social Security.  

The most enjoyable part of my job: 
     Listening to agents on the phone, 6 mths to a yr. into the relationship, to see how much they've changed.  How much information they provide the consumer.  How empowered the consumer feels after their interaction with our agents;  the one's we've groomed to be better listeners and educators.  How thankful the consumer is because our agents educated them without selling them; empowering them to make their own thought out decisions.

IBC offers many opportunities for junior-level developers looking to get their first job out of college. It's not a particularly attractive industry for young people, but starting salaries are fair and there's plenty of work to go around.

I'm grateful for getting my first chance to really work on some complex projects involving data pipelines here and I've worked with some truly wonderful and talented individuals across different departments within the organization.

However, management, at least during my tenure here, seems to be aimless at times. We invest in expensive software without any definite use cases and without the intent to hire and build out existing teams, instead opting to make due with the talent that we already have. This existing talent tends to be underpaid and overworked. 

Likewise, many department heads refuse to work with the others and posture for increased budget at the expense of customer experience and aiding the corporation as a whole. This also tends to cause problems for any cooperation on existing projects because each department has their own interpretation of the product being delivered. Each department is its own island with its own kings and queens; this also extends to individual department team mentalities.

Deadlines tend to be poorly thought-out and often missed due to managers trying to look good for their bosses instead of being realistic. Over-promise and under-deliver is the mantra for management and it really hurts the company as a whole as well as each individual department's image within the organization.

There aren't many opportunities for raises apart from the annual raise (that barely keeps up with inflation) and that which may come from a promotion. If you start here as a junior-level employee, the best you will likely see is a senior-level position. Lead and management positions are already occupied and the company appears to be downsizing at the moment, rather than expanding.

IBC is certainly not the worst company to get your first experience from, but, in its current state, it's probably not worth the frustration that comes with sticking around too long. Get some experience and move on elsewhere to somewhere that will actually pay you what you're worth (and actively try to keep you) and where you'll actually have a team that is invested in what the company as a whole is trying to accomplish.

: I have been working as a business analyst for almost 9 years. I have worked entirely in health care and insurance related domains. As a BA, I have worked closely with various stakeholders, business SME’s, and other team to analyze the business need, validate the solution and analyze the impact of those solutions on the business areas. I have a thorough knowledge of various industry standard SDLC methodologies. For requirements elicitation, I have used various techniques such as JAD sessions, interviews and market surveys. I have used techniques to effectively document the business, functional and other software requirements. In my projects, I have also performed brainstorming and document analysis to collect existing knowledge on the system. 
While documenting the BRD, I conducted JAD sessions to review the requirements with the stakeholders, SME’s and team members to gain consensus, and to modify or add new requirements to the BRD. While documenting the FRD, I closely coordinated with the technical team to document the system requirements. I prepared RTM to monitor the progress on requirements. I have made presentations on Business workflows, Milestones, Timeframes and deliverables. I have extensively used UML tools such as USE case diagram, data flow diagrams, Activity diagrams, ER diagrams. During the design phase, I assisted the developers in addressing their concern on the requirements. In the test phase I have coordinated with the testing team and the development team to validate and the defects with the help of defect management tools such as JIRA & HPQC. I have prepared status reports on the various activities to the track the progress of the project. I have also been involved in post-production defect management by supporting the EBF & HF. Being in the health care sector, 
I have exposure to ACA rules, CMS guidelines, Medicaid & CHIP eligibility rules, APTC rules, EDI transactions & ICD-9 & 10 coding system. With respect to EDI transactions, I am familiar to 834-health plan enrollment/ disenrollment info, 835-health claim payment & remittance info, 837-healthcare claim info, 276/277- healthcare claim status, 270/271- eligibility for health plan. I have also worked on projects system transition for HIPAA 4010 to 5010.
In working with various projects I have come to know various Application tools like PeopleSoft, PEGA, Guiedewire and Facets. I have also experience in work with P&C based project.

Basics: One of the most decent paying customer service call centers that I have heard of. The company has great values and stress culture of the organization. Senior management has great ideas and provides all call center reps with a team of reps that rove around helping anyone on the phone that may need assistance with a concern of a caller.Additional training available to insure you put the customers needs first, as well as the proper way to handle any and all situations. Putting yourself in the customers shoes and truly being empathetic.

Cons: Some mgrs and or senior reps/associates, may need to learn how to speak to people in a less condescending manner. Perhaps attend classes as well on how to properly handle people/associates and effective speaking. A majority of reps in my area feel the same. Its been mentioned, but nothing changes.
However, if you can get over being talked to like a 4 year old, abide by the rules and schedules, stay away from any gossip if any, then one would do just fine.

Cons: The bundling of sick days and personal days. In the event if you have a child or several children and you need to leave early for an emergency, you will occur an occurrence. If you need off (IN ADVANCE) for a scheduled court date, funeral, child's rescheduled surgery (to accommodate your schedule) and the future time is blocked out, you can not have that day off and if you take it, its an occurrence. Most people would only like to call out if something happens beyond your control. Sad to see people leave or get let go when they truly had the need for the day, and knew about it ahead of time and still wasn't approved. The law of call centers I suppose. Call centers do have to meet the business need of members and forecasting the amount of calls they believe they will get for that day, or month, NOT to accommodate the associate.
Just take that into consideration when applying.

Customer service is a great way to get into the organization, and move up from there if you desire. Customer service is not for everyone either so you would have to make sure that you have the niche for it. Great people to work with overall.

Working at Independence Blue Cross has been one of the worst experiences of my career. The organization’s claimed culture and values are nothing but a facade. After 5 years with the company and a short time in the Partnership Support department, I never felt valued or appreciated—just like a placeholder in a seat. When a company neglects its culture and values, it creates an environment of disconnection and disillusionment among employees.

A strong culture and clear values are crucial for fostering a cohesive workplace and guiding effective interactions and decisions. IBX’s failure to prioritize these aspects risks not only its competitive edge but also the commitment of its workforce. My experiences with leadership was disappointing. They were ineffective in addressing team issues, offered little support, and their communication was consistently lacking. The department was severely understaffed, yet we were held accountable for numerous problems. At times, I felt unfairly singled out, even while performing my regular duties.

There are minimal growth opportunities at IBX. Despite holding a college degree, I remained confined to a customer service role throughout my tenure. When I became eligible to apply for other positions, it was clear that advancement depended more on pleasing higher-ups than on qualifications or skills.

I am incredibly relieved to have moved on from this organization and found a workplace where I am respected and much happier. If you’re considering a position at Independence Blue Cross, I would strongly advise against it. The organization shows little regard for its employees or members. Don’t be misled by claims of being a top workplace in the city; these accolades are likely influenced or purchased by the organization itself.

After working at several call centers, this one was the most unorganized. You get a decent amount of training time (1.5 months) however once training ends the “support” is not there. On my team, it felt like asking for help was frowned upon. Instead they want you to rely on “job aids” which are usually outdated-They reference systems that you were never trained on therefore they are not helpful. 

They are slow to respond to your questions but want you to give the members what they’re requesting within 2-3mins. They expect you to give your best efforts while they provide the worst resources. 

They make you “bid” for off time. Meaning every employee has to request a week of a time but it is NEVER guaranteed. Additionally they’ll tell you we’re off for a holiday then request volunteers to work that day. Sounds fine until they don’t get enough volunteers then they make the holiday a mandatory shift for everyone. 

You can tell that you are at the bottom of the totem pole at this job. Depending on your personality you may feel drained, disrespected, and not valued. They send gift cards and pay for you to see NBA games but this would not be necessary if they compensated fairly. 

I started training with 30 people and ended with about 12. I truly hope they read these reviews and start treating employees like humans instead of machines to handle the hardest roles. 

Facing the customer after leadership decides not to pay a $30,000 claim leads to you getting cussed out 100% of the time. We take the heat for everything they do and get confronted aggressively if we take a moment in between calls. Please do better. 

As an RN health coach/CM my role is to ensure that members are obtaining and maintaining their health goals by providing clinical education,support and resources as well as providing assistance navigating the health care system and being an advocate in regards to their health. This is achieved telephonically. I assist member to understand their disease processes/medications/management of their conditions. I help facilitate members transition to home from hospital or Skilled Nursing facilities as well as provide authorizations  for those member without rehab benefit/those who have exhausted benefits such as physical therapy/chiropractic/day rehabilitation etc. I also provide authorizations for home/inpatient hospice/provide support for member/significant other/family when considering or accepting that transition. I learned skill set of being a case manager. I learned also how to function and adjust to the culture of the  corporate environment. One of the hardest parts of the job for me was refocusing my inability to physically connect with my members especially when they needed that type of encouragement and support in a way that they were able to sense that connection solely through utilization of the phone . The most enjoyable part of my job was knowing significance of my role as the member's personal RN health coach and how much of a  positive impact on their lives.

A typical work day consists of jumping straight on the phone with non stop calls & handling members who are not in a good mood. Usually get a 45 min lunch but on days of code red lunch is shortened to 30 mins (which is often). Training was for 2-3 months but did not cover everything that would be thrown out to us as we hit the floor. We were told to ask questions via teams or call the employee help line but was always met with an attitude or the questions not being answered which led to a longer call time. Majority of the calls were scored by QA & management who changed the guidelines every time you blinked. If a member asked for a supervisor, you will get the run around & supervisors WILL NOT take the call if they feel as though the call is “Stupid.” Majority of the supervisors voiced their dislike of the job but never vouched for their employees. Team meetings basically discussed what the employees were doing wrong. You’re not allowed to take too many rest room breaks or it will affect your adherence. Was told during training that IBC was a family & promote life/work balance but that was a LIE. Pay was decent but not decent enough to deal with the stress & micromanaging. The supervisors never followed up with members which led to a angry callbacks from the members. As a CSR our responsibility is member satisfaction but with the lack of resources our job was made harder than it should be. Keep in mind you are a representative but you maybe asked to do appeals & claims without being compensated for the extra work. Best part of the job was the 401k.  Before accepting think about your mental health. 

o	Responsible for  tracking and reporting call center metrics related to customer satisfaction 
o	Assist in the supervision of day-to-day logistics of a call center team responsible for resolving incoming calls from customers and health care providers related to benefits, claims, and other account inquiries 
o	Responsible for identifying performance trends and operational improvement opportunities 
o	Establish performance standards, assess associate development and encourage career advancement
o	Provide team members with performance coaching while offering technical expertise related to job function
o	Active participant in collaborative department leadership team meetings, strategizing in the pursuit of reaching and exceeding both customers’ expectations and the department’s strategic goals and objectives

	Acting Supervisor of Operations 						    January 2011-December 2014
o	Monitored day-to-day workflow by establishing attainable and measurable staff goals, ensured policy and procedure adherence and provided on-going performance feedback
o	Ensured that all calls were answered accurately and efficiently, while providing exceptional customer service
o	Conducted second line interviews and made hiring recommendations to Customer Service leadership team
o	Represented Customer Service in cross-functional initiatives 
o	Facilitated weekly staff meetings
o	Monitored calls focusing on performance development, call handling statistics and service level adherence 
o	Handled escalated calls

* Typical day: Routined work atmosphere depending on the department. With some departments, rules change like the weather. Every single aspect is priority to the company. A very rushed and stressful environment.
*I've learned to utilize my time better and to carry myself more professionally. Certainly a great atmosphere to work for young college (or High School) graduates wanting to gain experience in the business field. Plus the company has training classes in everything from writing proposals to learning latest computer programs and you can take these classes more than once.
*Co-workers are diverse, which is good. But they can be very cut-throat since IT IS a corporate business that offers mobility and chances to get ahead. To work here, tough skin is a MUST.
*The hardest part: working in a team environment when other co-workers are non-responsive, incapable or plain lazy to achieve team efforts. There is often poor management and many HR complaints.
*The best part: community events. The entire company gets involved in charitable events…and of course the salary is not bad.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Customer service representative 5 salaries reported	$45,657 per year
Business systems analyst 7 salaries reported	$86,966 per year
Manager 5 salaries reported	$125,200 per year
Analyst 4 salaries reported	$58,200 per year
Data analyst 4 salaries reported	$89,573 per year

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