Qual-Med Changes Will Trim Jobs Here

Restructuring at Qual-Med Health Plan could cut 30 jobs in Spokane, the executive director for Inland Northwest operations said Tuesday.

Dave Anderson said Qual-Med, based in Pueblo, Colo., is still reviewing options that could affect operations in several states.

He said they have already decided to shift the bulk of the Spokane claims and adjustment functions to Pueblo, which will trim about 17 of the office’s 115 employees.

Exactly where, and the number of other jobs that will be affected will be determined by early next week.

Some jobs will be transferred to an office in Bellevue, while some there may be moved to Spokane.

The Spokane office is the center for Qual-Med operations in Eastern Washington, North Idaho and the Boise area. The group, with 56,000 members, contracts for medical services with independent doctors.

The operation began in 1985 as Foundation Health Plan. Qual-Med purchased the office in 1989.

Anderson said competition is forcing all health care providers to look at everything to control costs.

“Everybody is trying to come up with a better mousetrap,” he said.

The disclosure two weeks ago that Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound and Kaiser Permanente Northwest are discussing a merger or other business combination is indicative of the types of alliances providers are forming, Anderson said.

He said technological innovations make it possible to economize without compromising patient care.

For example, he said, the Spokane office processes about 43,000 claims each month. All but a few must be keyed into a computer by hand.

New equipment in Pueblo will scan the information in, then flag those that look unusual. ‘You save a tremendous amount of money,” Anderson said.

He said the new systems also encourage more specialization in fields like medical management and member service. Adding such positions could gradually rebuild the Spokane workforce, he said.

For Anderson, who has been in the medical insurance field since the1970s, the changes under way are startling.

“You come in in the morning and it’s a different story at night when you go home.”

, DataTimes