Insurers Give Company Vote Of Confidence
One thing Wismer Martin Chief Executive Officer Ron Holden and former CEO Stan Hatch agree on is that the company’s future is in the sale and support of software packages that create health care information networks.
These systems link physicians, hospitals, insurers and other health care providers into single computer networks that have great potential for reducing health care costs.
Hatch steered Wismer Martin to a collaboration with Medical Services Corp. of Eastern Washington to create such a network here.
Based on the success of that example, Wismer Martin landed its biggest single contract to provide a network for Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska.
Some sources have indicated that the resignation of key Wismer Martin personnel this week put the company in technical breach of its contract with Blue Cross. Income from that contract is vital to Wismer Martin’s financial viability. And Wismer Martin’s viability is crucial to its big network customers because of the ongoing support and upgrading of the system Wismer Martin must provide.
But Jack McRae, a senior vice president of Blue Cross of Washington and Alaska, expressed confidence Thursday in Wismer Martin’s ability to fulfill its contractual obligations.
“We are comfortable with the direction Wismer Martin is going right now,” McRae said. “We feel comfortable the service they are providing us will continue. Our relationship with the company is still very favorable.”
Fred Jacot, president and chief executive officer of MSC, also expressed confidence in Wismer Martin’s new management group.
“We were having problems with some of the service levels they were providing us before this change,” Jacot said. “The relationship was deteriorating.”
Jacot said members of his staff met with John Perez, who is now apparently running Wismer Martin’s day-to-day operations, a few days ago.
Perez said the company would address MSC’s concerns.
“You’ve got to give them a few days to get things straightened out because a lot of their staffing has left,” Jacot added. “I’ll give them a month to see if anything changes. But I sense a change of direction that will help make what they’ve got going more successful.”