Week one.

I hate corporate idiocy. (Don't we all?) I now understand why it is the Evil Empire that is the Insurance Industry is as expensive as it is.

They pay good money to far too many people essentially doing the same job over and over and over again in needlessly repetitive ways, and do not encourage any sort of thinking or proactive efforts. I'm getting the impression most of it is indeed spread out over hundreds of cubicle farms just like the one I'm currently slogging it out in. I cringe to think of the money going out just to keep the paper trail moving.

We are in the Insurance business.
This by nature is benefiting from the woes of others.
We are not in this to be helpful.
We are here to make money.

I think that right there is the message being sent. Here's my reasoning for coming to that conclusion.

I do data entry now. No, it isn't much of a challenge, but it pays enough. More in fact than I made in previous management positions back West if you can believe. A sad commentary on both the job market back home, and the inequity of job to income ratios overall. It makes no damn sense - but that is another rant.

So yes, I punch numbers. About all I have to worry about is not making a typo - the most common mistake, that. What I've been told I can't do is think while I'm doing this. Intuitive action is not a part of the job description, apparently.

Example:

I type in a provider number. It comes up blank - no data for that number. I retype it to make sure I didn't screw anything up, and voila - still blank.

At this point, I'm supposed to just pull the order and send it back to the provider for the correct information. But wait! There is a way to do other sorts of lookups to see just what the problem is. So I do so.

Did anyone show me how to do that? No. I've worked with computers and mainframes and such enough to understand such a simplistic task as changing your search parameters. For hell sakes, if nothing else, it's right there on the damn screen. (No, some of my co-workers did not understand that and had no idea what I was talking about when I asked why we couldn't just do this later, or even if they did, did not understand what the shortened explanations of said codes meant.)

We are drones.
We are here to make money.
We are not here to think or learn.

So instead of searching by number, I search by name. Simple enough - the provider's name is right there on the claim sheet. Miracle of miracles, there's the information. With the proper provider code number. And all the rest. Am I allowed to type in the correct info and continue to process?

No. Why? "That just isn't how it's done. We have to send it back."

That's right, back. When I have the info right there at hand to move this bad boy along, I'm required to send it back. So they can retype it. And send it out again to be reprocessed to the point where I get it. After it's been sorted and batched and other such ridiculousness.

So, we're not allowed to change things. Usually. With one exception. Can you guess what that might be? Of all the information fields on a bill, the one thing we can screw with is ...

That's right. The money.

Why is that, you ask?

We're here to make money.
If you find a discrepancy on the money, fix it.
You know how to add - do so.
Just do it on paper because we won't let you access the calculator program or anything else - OPSEC, you know.

But ... shouldn't we be doing something with that 'amount paid' bit, so their payment shows up right?

No, don't bother with the amount paid already - that isn't our concern.
Total charges, itemized charges, make sure it's right.

You know, this doesn't make much sense. We could be saving time and money just by doing this right, not having to send it back and all ... Do you realize I'm working on some bills that go back to 2003? What, are these the ones that keep going through the system, never to actually reach the patient, while the credit folks harrass them for non-payment all the same? Surely we can do better than this.

Don't forget, you are here to make money too.
Now shut up, punch numbers, and make your money quietly.

I loathe bureaucracy.