Pros

Interesting projects; smart co-workers; health care is an important area. We are involved in a variety of important activities from pharmaceutical research to health care effectiveness, to forecasting future cost and utilization of medical services. We build software, we do primary research, we provide expert consultation to insurance companies, hospitals, health care providers and employers. We attract very smart, experienced, highly educated people who are committed to their work: physicians, epidemiologists, actuaries, health services researchers, software architects and engineers, programmers and dba's. The environment is collaborative since most projects required a variety of skill sets to complete. The culture values hard work.

Cons

Top-down management style; short-term focus at the expense of long-term planning; disrespectful culture. Ingenix, a subsidiary of United Healthcare, is extremely, extremely focused on near-term financial results. The emphasis is to never, never miss the numbers expected by Wall Street. This attitude permeates every aspect of the business. In a company such as Ingenix that requires investment in technology, research and development as well as innovation, there is insufficient willingness to make reasonable investment today for pay-off tomorrow. This results in fits and starts of activity as previously approved budgets and projects are canceled or delayed. There is also a lack of respect from senior management to other employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Walk the talk. The Ingenix Code is an excellent set of principles but I am tired of hearing about it on monthly management calls and still experience a lack of respect for the time, abilities and efforts of rank and file employees. Employees frequently work in a state of ignorance or ambiguity waiting for some decision to be made, for some order to be issued, for some new process to be implemented. While Ingenix should be flexible, innovative and quick to market the culture is still that of an old, sluggish insurance company. The company is run top-down. Managers are given responsibility without authority. Their judgments are second-guessed or ignored. To use an over-used term, senior management micro manages way, way too much.