For the November Operations Spotlight, we are happy to recognize the three (3) Optum Health projects. Pearl began supporting the Optum projects in November of 2020. The first project that Pearl supported was for COVID Test Scheduling in the state of California. Being at the height of the pandemic, and the need for testing so high, this was a fast-moving, fast-growing project. Pearl’s first class did so well, we quickly grew the team, and in addition to supporting CA, added three (3) additional states – IN, FL, NC, and NJ. Within several months of the test scheduling line launching, the first of the COVID-19 vaccines became available, and our team started scheduling vaccine appointments for patients as well. The COVID project is not where our growth stopped.
The COVID 19 team was excelling so much, that in February of 2021, we were asked to start a staffing contract with the Veterans Affairs Community Care Network (VA CCN) project. The VA CCN consists of community-based providers who ensure Veterans receive the excellent care they deserve. With their support, we can deliver outstanding health care services to meet the needs of Veterans in every community. This includes medical, behavioral, chiropractic, skilled nursing, vision, pharmacy, dental and other complementary and integrative health services like hypnotherapy and Tai Chi. In addition, Optum processes claims from providers who see Veterans as part of VACCN. Our agents are the frontline staff to assist Vets and providers for their needs as they reach out to the VA CCN. In addition to the new agents that were hired for this project, it also allowed us to bring on multiple new Supervisors and even an Operations Manager (OM) for support.
With another successful launch under our belt, in March of 2021 we were able to add our third Optum project. The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) Medical Disability Examinations (MDE) or VBA project once again allowed Pearl to bring in additional agents as well as multiple supervisors and another OM. Under the VBA project, Pearl and Optum Serve agents assist the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in providing quality compensation and pension examinations to Veterans and separating Service members seeking benefits for service-connected health issues.
Through the duration of all three of these contracts we have been able to expand by adding multiple new positions on each project. For COVID, we have added Subject Matter Experts or SMEs and additional call types since the inception of the project. For VA CCN, we have been able to start billing a supervisor to the contract, we have received multiple SME and Team Lead promotions and we were able to add a trainer that bills directly to the client. For VBA, we have been able to add multiple SMEs, multiple Team Leads and even had one of our agents promoted by the client up to supervisor!
As we approach year 3 of working with Optum, we are very proud of all the work put in by every Pearl employee that has supported the Optum projects. An extra thank you to the folks that have driven the team’s success – Kim Young, Mark Purpura, Emily Johnston, Shaunee Tyson, Corrine Ford, Mandy Collier, and Rea Talley. Each of these team members have been working with Optum for over a year and none of these accomplishments would have been possible without them.
Thanks to everyone who have helped these contracts grow, and we know you are going to continue to give the best service possible to continue working with Optum for years to come.
