Young, inexperienced management in Reimbursement Dept. makes for a bad work enviro. and HR is oblivious on many levels. - Intake Specialist ZOLL Medical Employee Review

1.0
Sep 21, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Salary, 15% diff. pay for working weekends, nice vacation allotment (although needed because of the stress), starting wage for Intake Specialist is 17-18 $ per hour.

Cons

In a nutshell to understand why Zoll LifeVest in Pittsburgh, PA is so screwed up just look at their parking situation. The company originally had a building that was too small for the growing business about a half mile away from their new location. The sold the old building and moved the new one but did not forecast for growth so now they have zero parking and are scrambling to remedy the situation but scouting new buildings to divide clerical staff and manufacturing. If there was any foresight they could have kept the prior building for one group and moved other employees to the new building. In a nutshell this my experience after four years at Zoll, a complete and utter lack of management to plan or effectively get ahead of issues. Instead they wait to be smacked in the face with problems and put the weight of getting caught up on the staff. Another serious issue is the lack of leadership in the Reimbursement Dept. which oversees the Intake Specialists and assists with sales. The rule of thumb in the Intake/ Reimb. Dept. is to put a firewall between Intake and Account Coordinators. Our manager and the supervisors of intake routinely told staff not to give out details of system and process changes to AC's and sales TM's which in turn left for a angry staff, inefficiencies/confusion and loss of revenue/turnover. There is a high turnover level not only in staff but also senior staff and management levels. For example we had a do-nothing director come in to the reimbursement department with questionable work history that then left less than a year or so after and in turn her buddy she had worked with at another company was then dutifully given the director position. The supervisors for intake are made up of a team of one good and one very mediocre employee. One has a MBA and the acumen to succeed while the others background is very limited with a degree in Cosmetology.(!) It should be mentioned that after MBA'er was promoted to supervisor Cosmet. person whined and cried that she had been there much longer and deserved the promotion instead, essentially putting up such a fuss that she was co-promoted and added to the bureaucracy. One last key point to understand that if you are not brown-nosing and keeping abreast of all social issues, office politic issues etc. you may very well find yourself caught off guard. If you choose to work at Zoll in the Intake/ Reimb. dept. be ready to play CYA all the time. Also, don't expect equitable treatment at time of reviews etc. For the longest time management used flawed metrics to judge employee performance to such an extreme they even put monthly reviews on hiatus. If you are a buddy-buddy with the people in charge you can CYA and get them to cover for you. Otherwise you will be looked at as an outsider. Once you are an outsider expect the team leads, supervisors and manager/director to covertly undermine your ability to do your job. Once they have decided you don't fit into their fiefdom you might as well find a new job because you cannot do anything to get into their psychotic form of good graces. Management and supervisors are above reproach. Just like the 3 months leading into to a major software change the supervisors and team leads were tasked to test the software for issues so we could have a smooth transition. Instead they surfed the net and shopped etc. never testing the software. In turn the Intake Specialists were running around putting out fires when the software was fully implemented because of their ineptitude. In ending this review I want to apologize to the Territory Managers and Account Coordinators and their management because we were told by our Intake/Reimb. management to ignore their needs and not act as team players. This lead to loosing a lot of good TM's and AC's because of frustrations and stress. I hate to sound so cliché but "I was just following orders." and when I tried to be a team player they ousted me. I hope it gets better for the sake of my friends that still work there but with the Intake Dept. leadership not changing and only getting more bureaucratic with sycophants I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Explore other reviews about ZOLL Medical

5.0
Jun 24, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great company with a passion for the products that save lives

Cons

Nothing at this time. The new CEO is doing a good job.

5.0
Jun 6, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Friendly/pleasant work culture - Senior staff/managers show dedication to teaching interns - High visibility - Ownership and or participation in projects with real impact (impact / purpose is always explained thoroughly) - Good communication when clarity is needed - Work helps saves lives :)

Cons

- On-site equipment for Engineering / R&D initiatives could be more up to date.

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