CASE STUDY: Telecommuting at MedEx

Gary Davis just finished interviewing a candidate to fill another medical billing specialist opening. As the Human Resources manager for MedEx, a medical billing company, Harry is concerned about the high turnover rate for the specialist. Turnover is very costly for the company and Harry is trying to identify ways to lower the turnover rate. The candidate he just interviewed asked Harry if any of the specialist worked from home. Harry informed him that they did not right now, but telecommuting may be an option in the near future.

MedEx employs more than medical billing specialist in its office located in a busy downtown metropolitan area. Each specialist works on a group of specific accounts, coding medical records and entering them into the computer system. The specialist position requires intense 3 week training program to learn the coding system, but once they are proficient at their work, the specialist work independently on their assigned accounts.

In an attempt to identify the cause of the high turnover rate, Harry asked the specialists to complete an employee survey that asked about their satisfaction with their pay, benefits, and working conditions. In general, the employees indicated satisfaction with their pay levels and benefits, but were not satisfied in some other areas .In the comments section of the survey,several employees noted challenges in getting to work each day. Some mentioned heavy traffic that caused long commutes, while others noted the high cost of parking downtown. Further, many employees noted high stress levels due to trying to balance their work and personal responsibilities.

When asked for specific ideas on how to improve the work environment, more than half of the specialist noted the option to telecommute as a desirable benefit.Because the specialist works independently,telecommuting is a feasible option. The specialist would need to work in the office at least 1 or 2 days per week in order to get updates on their accounts, but it would be possible for the employees to work from home the other days. Harry now must carefully consider whether to recommend offering the telecommuting option.

Questions:

Q1. Would offering telecommuting as an option benefit MedEx? How?

Q2. Are there any disadvantages or challenges in offering telecommuting?

Q3. What do you recommend MedEx do? Why?