Pros
I've tried to find some Pros worth mentioning, but there are few. I can say that for the most part, the people who work there are good people and you can even find some who will be friendly enough to get to know, may invite you to lunch, etc. They are in the process of upgrading the building and the new areas are nice - a big improvement. Probably the most I can say about the organization is that is a BC/BS member and that does look good on a resume if you plan to stay in the industry. HMSA also has the largest share of the market, which can be a pro or a con. For me personally, I've learned a lot of new communication skills and how to be creative in finding resources. I'm only giving HMSA two stars instead of one because I have found some really good people there and I've been a part of some interesting work, plus I do believe that they can get their act together if they really wanted to.
Cons
Where do I begin? The con part of being the biggest fish in a small pond is that there is an arrogance within the organization, a sense that "we've always done it this way" and consequently they are behind the times in so many areas. The amount of rework, paper, nonsensical processes and "silo" mentality is mind blowing. I've not seen this much manual processes since I started in the industry decades ago. Management and staff don't want to hear anything about doing it differently or better, if you're hired for a certain skill set or experience, please don't use that skill set or mention "how I've done this before" because you will be ignored and marginalized. The lack of training, support and tools to do your job is very discouraging, yet the expectation that you perform is so great, no one will admit to a mistake as the consequences are often severe and managers do not back up their staff - they throw staff right under the bus when something goes wrong. The lack of leadership is obvious and so very painful, information is power so consequently front line staff often don't know what's happening in the organization. Decisions that impact staff are not shared and staff does not get the opportunity to provide input or be part of the decision making process. The issues are systemic, top down lack of leadership that even changing departments won't make a difference. The organization will continue to lose really good people who just give up after awhile and move on, and that's unfortunate. HMSA could be a really great place to work but they just can't seem to get it together. The pay scale is lousy and the opportunities to move up and grow professionally are just not there; they offer no continuing education or even encourage professional growth. I've been there long enough now to realize that no matter how hard I work or how good my performance is, nothing will change.