I'm disappointed to see so many negative reviews of the Disease and Case Management department in the Bloomington corporate office but I must add another voice to that choir. I watched the staff turn over at a high rate while I worked there and unfortunately, watched the leadership dismiss it as personality mismatches or that staff didn't understand the expectations of the job. There is high turn over because there is a pervasive "mean girl" culture that starts at the very top of leadership in DCM. The staff have reported this on the last few years' engagement survey results and also it's been reported to HR on many occasions. Sadly, it seems that the issue goes high enough that no leader is willing to enforce substantial changes, the responsibility for which falls to the Senior Director. HR gives the impression that they are uninterested or unable to assist unless a direct complaint about a specific person is reported. Avenues for addressing culture were not offered by HR.
For those looking to work in DCM, you may want to know that the department knowingly underpays employees for their roles. A market analysis of department salaries was completed within the last 3 years and determined that the nurses were being underpaid $4/hour on average. This was true for me and when I brought market data to my leader and asked for an adjustment based on my qualifications and performance in my role, I was told that the department does not engage in market or merit raises. Each year that I worked there, the top performers were only offered a 2.5% raise annually, which does not keep up with inflation and results in a net loss of income over time.
I am concerned that the department's unwillingness to grow, change and improve will ultimately lead to the undermining of the work. The Care Coordinators and Case Managers do important and impactful work with vulnerable patients. However, the telephone model is not sustainable in the current world. People no longer answer their phones for fear of scams and the population is turning toward more high tech options for interacting with their care teams. It is surprising that DCM relies exclusively on telephone calls to engage patients and appears unsustainable.
Work from home opportunities have decreased substantially in the last year. If you are looking to work in this department, know that your ability to WFH will likely be far less than you are told in your interview, if at all. Expect to be in the office from exactly 8:30am to exactly 5pm. Computer activity is monitored and tracked to the minute and you may be asked why you had a period of several minutes without activity within the charting system. There are solid business reasons for this but there are also negative culture impacts as the staff is afraid to take a few minutes for anything other than active charting.
