Chapel Hill, N.C. – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) today announced that it will add new customer service jobs in Fayetteville, while at the same time shifting employees away from tasks that can be performed more efficiently outside the company. The moves are designed to help BCBSNC improve service and efficiency while meeting the challenges and opportunities posed by the Affordable Care Act.

BCBSNC will open a regional service center in Fayetteville by the end of the year. This center will take customer calls and is expected to employ more than 100 people by mid-2015. BCBSNC also will begin the process of transferring most claims-related work to an outside company over the next several years.

“Our goal is to focus our talented in-house workforce on more complex work where they can solve problems and touch customers more directly,” said BCBSNC Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Alan Hughes. “Our employees are second-to-none when it comes to interactions with our customers and other complex functions. By shifting the more automated work of preparing claims for processing to an outside vendor, we can maintain a sharper focus on these key areas.”

BCBSNC evaluated several cities in eastern and southeastern North Carolina before selecting Fayetteville for its regional service hub. The company chose Fayetteville because of its available workforce – including veterans, military spouses and other skilled workers – local educational institutions and competitively priced properties. Jobs at BCBSNC’s regional service center will be full-time with benefits. These jobs will be in addition to BCBSNC’s current service centers in Durham and Winston-Salem.

Moving many routine claims processing functions to an outside company will involve job losses, but BCBSNC expects them to be lessened by normal attrition, workforce development and other opportunities within the company. The outsourced work will primarily involve preparing claims so they can be processed on BCBSNC’s systems. BCBSNC employees will continue to handle complex claims and those requiring medical review. These changes will not affect the State Health Plan, Federal Employees or Medicare customers.

“We’ve had to make some tough choices about what work we will do in-house and what work can best be done by others,” Hughes said. “We believe we can process claims faster, more efficiently and at less cost by working with a vendor to do this work. This will also allow us to address spikes and volatility in claims processing, creating a better experience for providers and customers.”

About BCBSNC:

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is a leader in delivering innovative health care products, services and information to more than 3.84 million members, including approximately 1 million served on behalf of other Blue Plans. Since 1933, the company has served its customers by offering health insurance at a competitive price and has served the people of North Carolina through support of community organizations, programs and events that promote good health. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina was recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere Institute in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Visit BCBSNC online at bcbsnc.com. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.