Employee Spotlight on Roger Mata

Describe your journey at VerityStream

I started in September of 2015, and I've gone through many positions within the CVO. I began as an assistant operations coordinator, doing very simple tasks like verifying PSV's (primary source verifications), web crawls, and then started getting more experience with credentialing and what it's about and what its purpose is. As my responsibilities increased, I went from the simple PSV's, to regular verifications, to monitoring insurance expirables. I was a part of VerityStream during our merger and acquisition of Echo and Morrisey. In my seven years I learned about many different positions and now I'm the technical support for the online application. Instead of doing verifications, I ensure that the verifications run appropriately within our system. I'm responsible for system maintenance, creating filters, and building reports.

Was there a key task that jumps out to you as being a significant step up in responsibility in your time?

In the beginning of last year, I took on the technical support lead for our department. The responsibility of this new position was significant and had a very steep learning curve. I overcame many challenges but there's still a number that I'm faced with today. In my new position, I manage a variety of tasks in addition to being brought in on larger projects that require troubleshooting. It became a balancing act of a bunch of different levels of priorities and balancing my daily tasks with a high volume of phone calls, or situations that I needed to focus on. It was a very steep learning curve because I went from this very structured, easily maintainable schedule to this fast-paced environment, coming at you in a bunch of different directions all at once.

It took me a little while to adapt because I was put into a situation where I had to think out-of-the-box, be flexible and assess the situation and find a solution that works for not only myself, but for everyone around me. This last year and a half I've learned a tremendous amount; I probably learned more in this last year and a half about credentialing, about how the system works, about how everything comes together, than I did in my first 2-4 years of working here. I had to learn and take on a lot of work, but I'm doing well with it now so I'm proud of myself for that.

What is an accomplishment that you're most proud of?

I helped create 13 new profiles for new clients within our system and helped create a brand-new peer survey in a written format that we send out to all of our provider’s peers, as well as an online peer survey. I was able to work my new responsibilities into my daily schedule within the last year, and I felt really proud of that because I felt like the cards were stacked against me a little bit as I learned everything in such a short time period. I didn't let that get to my head or feel bitter about it, I thought "I just have to figure out how to do this", and was able to accomplish that in a really meaningful way. Not everything was perfect over the last year, but that can't be expected. Seeing how much I accomplished over this last year, how difficult everything was and how these challenges that I faced personally affected me truly made me feel proud of myself and that the work that I did over the last year meant something.

I always wanted the position, but the idea of not truly knowing what all my responsibilities would be was significant. I had to figure it out with experience, and I felt like I did that pretty well. Getting organized was one of the biggest things that I needed to learn because before, everything was structured for me. Now I have to organize things in a way so I can understand what's happening day-to-day. I can't work on something, then put it down and come back to it without a plan. I had to learn how to restructure many projects and tasks; it was fun.

What would you say is something important for a candidate to know about career development within VerityStream?

Be willing to learn and be open to new ideas and challenge yourself. If you're nervous, that's a good thing because nervousness means that you're not comfortable, but you have to be uncomfortable to grow. Just like working out, if the weight is too easy and it feels simple, then you're not gaining. Like I said, the last year I feel like I've learned much more about the system, about what my job entails, about what credentialing is over this last year than I did in my first 3-5 years working here simply because I was uncomfortable and I didn't know, so I had to know. I had to adapt to my situation to be able to do my job better and to meet the expectations of the people around me as well as my own. It sounds weird to say, but you get used to discomfort, you'll become stronger, and you can take what you've learned and move into a better position. You can fight for a position that you want because you have experience and the knowledge to overcome an uncomfortable situation. That's what I would recommend, and I think that's good for just life advice too.

What is your favorite part of either your specific job or just working at VerityStream?

I like the community at VerityStream a lot. I like all the messages we get; I like how much communication there is about events and about people getting together. Sometimes announcements are sent out where there will be a working day where everybody can come in and say hi, work together and just be around one another. The community in this company is awesome because they really try to be one.

Within my personal position right now, I love the variety of the work that I have. Sometimes I get surprised and have a good interaction with a doctor on the phone or I faced a challenging situation during the day and overcame it. I really do like that about my job because I enjoy using my brain and enjoy problem solving. The uniqueness of my position and the community of this company really makes me enjoy it. Anyone can be as much of a part of the community as they want to be, and the people that are a part of this community really do care about others; they enjoy speaking to one another and hanging out.

What gets you excited to go to work every morning? What is your real source of motivation?

My source of motivation is the personal position and my coworkers, because I'm here to support them. I'm here to ensure that they can do their job and that if there is any sort of problems that come up or issues, that I can be there to take on the challenge for them to solve that problem so that they can keep working to the best of their ability. I'm a technical support lead here and my job is to support them. I really want to make sure that their lives are running smoothly, and that the work around here gets done as smoothly as possible.

For external motivators, I love my girlfriend and my dog, and I want to support them as much as I can. Having this position allows me to do that. The challenges of this job are fun. Sometimes there are days where it gets to me, but it's enjoyable to take on a challenge and overcome it. There are times when I'm trying to solve a problem and I can't figure out what exactly is going wrong. What is great about working at VerityStream is there is always someone you can reach out to for help when you hit a wall. It's a balancing act for sure. That's something that I really enjoy, and this position allows me to just look at a project, create a blueprint and then make it come to life.