LEWISTON – A new contract between Per-Se Technologies and a group of physicians in New Mexico means up to 100 new jobs locally for the company located at Fairgrounds Business Park.
The contract with Lovelace Sandia Health System of Albuquerque means that Per-Se, formerly known as Medaphis, will process about $1 billion in medical charges annually. The new account represents about a 20 percent increase in the volume of medical charges processed by the Lewiston facility.
Per-Se Technologies is based in Atlanta and provides revenue management services for hospitals and doctors across the country through software, coding and billing systems.
The 80 to 100 new employees will bring the Lewiston staff to just under 400.
“These are data entry, accounts receivable positions,” said Deb McKee, senior vice president for Per-Se’s Northeast region. Although she declined to discuss pay ranges, she said they are competitive for the region and that these are full-time jobs with benefits and career advancement opportunities. “There is a career path here.”
More than 280 people have applied for the jobs so far; 40 have been filled.
On Friday, staff were setting up the work stations for the new hires on the second floor of the building. Although the expansion represents about a one-third increase in staff, there’s no crowding since the building was built in 1995 to accommodate a staff of more than 500.
At the time, the state and city offered tax breaks to convince management of Per-Se – then known as Medaphis – to expand its Lewiston operation and bring in 500 new jobs. Medaphis agreed and its building was the first to go into a new business park at the site of the old fairgrounds.
But the company never followed through with consolidation plans that would have brought the new jobs to Maine, although it received the tax breaks. The predicament taught city administrators a lesson: Soon thereafter, performance standards were required for every tax incentive offered by the city.
“We learned a lesson there,” said Greg Mitchell, assistant city administrator who was not on staff at the time of the deal.
The brouhaha preceded McKee as well. She said she got a glimpse of the initial intentions for the building when a maintenance person found the original floor plans in a back room as they were struggling to set up the new work stations.
“It was neat to look at them and see what the company had envisioned,” said McKee.
Despite its rocky beginning, Per-Se has grown over the years. When Medaphis first moved into the new Fairgrounds Business Park location employment was at about 250.
McKee said she is always dispelling the myth that the company is a call center. She said many of the workers are highly trained and well paid.
For example, medical coders undergo a 20-week training before they are ready to transcribe audio tapes from surgeries. Surgeons submit the tapes to Per-Se, then coders translate what happened in the operating room into various codes that correspond with specific charges. Bills are then sent to insurance companies or other parties based on the coded transcription.
“It’s demanding, specialized work,” said McKee.
Frank Burns, vice president of account management, said Lewiston was chosen to handle the expanded workload because of the existing staff’s expertise.
“We focus on long-term partnerships with our clients,” said Burns. “We pride ourselves on those partnerships with clients. We feel very good about the quality of the work force here.”
Both McKee and Burns said they expect future growth for the Lewiston staff.
“There’s more business in the pipeline,” said McKee. “And we’re ready for it.”
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