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Medical Claims Management Fastest Growing for Mitchell

When it comes to creating new jobs, few companies on the list of Largest Private Companies can match the record of Mitchell International Inc., ranked at No. 4 with last year’s revenue of $312 million, a 17 percent increase over what it did in 2010.

The 66-year old company added about 200 workers in the past year to bring its head count to just above 1,700 as of June. About half its staff, or 850, is based in San Diego.

“In the last four or five years, we’ve become the leading innovator in the markets that we serve,” said CEO Alex Sun, who took over the top job in 2008.

Mitchell is a provider of software mainly to insurance companies to help them manage claims arising from auto accidents and workers’ compensation claims. In recent years, it has expanded its software offerings to include both auto casualty and workers’ comp in addition to its longtime focus for managing the auto repair claims process.

Mitchell said it processes more than 50 million transactions annually for more than 300 insurance companies and other claims payers. It also continues to maintain relationships with more than 20,000 auto repair shops.

In addition to serving all the major insurers, Mitchell also counts larger enterprises that self-insure with help from the company’s software. For example, Safeway Inc. — which operates the Vons supermarket chain here — and other large companies use Mitchell to help manage their workers’ compensation claims by employees, Sun said.

Added 10 Offices

Without a doubt, the fastest growing segment for the company in recent years has been in management of medical claims, Sun said.

“About 10 years ago, medical accounted for less than 10 percent of our revenue. Now it’s a much bigger percentage, and it’s relatively fast growing,” he said.

In the last few years, Mitchell has expanded its offices to 10, adding Irvine, Salt Lake City, Rochester, N.Y., and Coppell, Texas (suburb of Dallas). In March, it added an additional new office when it acquired a Redondo Beach-based business called National Health Quest.

The business negotiates medical payments with medical providers that aren’t part of networks that the large insurance carriers already have arrangements with, said Greg Gaughan, NHQ’s general manager.

The small company now has 20 employees, but has plans to expand into San Diego sometime next year, hiring a still-undefined number of negotiators, the most common job title at NHQ, Gaughan said.

As Mitchell continued on a growth trend in recent years, it clearly needed larger space for its staff. It had been operating from two buildings in Scripps Ranch for about 30 years, said Jack Farnan, Mitchell’s senior vice president, human resources.

New Space Reflects Culture

That problem was solved in late 2010 when Mitchell moved into an office in the University Towne Center area on Greenwich Drive, which had been formerly occupied by Intuit Inc.

The business outfitted the building to include features that foster more employee interaction, Farnan said.

“We wanted to create a space that is a reflection of our company’s culture, and enables us to attract high quality talent,” he said. “We wanted to create an environment where a job candidate could walk in and say, ‘Wow, I want to work here.’”

The modern, 146,000-square-foot building includes several recreational areas and a fitness gym, and an employee cafeteria. Inside, there are many open areas which have comfortable chairs and tables with nearby electrical outlets and larger screens so that workers can better see data contained on employees’ laptops. The open and easily changeable arrangements are conducive to the collaborative and teamwork approach that is a key part of Mitchell’s work culture, Farnan said.

Of the new staff that Mitchell has hired in the past few years, the majority fit into the broad job categories of software engineers and developers, product managers and sales. The company currently has about 60 job openings in all of its offices, Farnan said.

Sun said he anticipates that Mitchell’s double digit growth in recent years will continue this year, “and the outlook for 2013 is also strong.”

Mitchell is owned by Aurora Capital Group, a Los Angeles based private equity firm that purchased the company in 2007 for about $500 million.

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