N.H. chosen for Cigna credentialing site

Cigna’s New Hampshire operation has been chosen as the site for the health insurer’s national credentialing center.

The company is consolidating functions and is moving its credentialing operations from Tampa, Fla., and Houston, Texas, to Cigna’s New Hampshire facility in Hooksett.

The insurer has already transferred files to the Hooksett office and has begun hiring 40 people, who will be responsible for the medical credentials of 400,000 health-care providers in Cigna’s networks across the country.

Don Curry, president and general manager of Cigna HealthCare of New England, said New Hampshire was selected over other sites, including corporate offices in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, because the Hooksett facility was in a “great location to support 40-plus employees, but also because of the opportunity to expand as Cigna grows.”

He said the state’s desirable lifestyle, an “attractive” workforce, accessibility to other parts of the country through the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport as well as the strongest economy in the Northeast also were factors in the decision.

Key leadership positions have been filled with management staff from Tampa and Houston, but the bulk of the credentialing jobs will be new hires in New Hampshire, said Curry.

Cigna officials expect the unit to be operational by the end of the first quarter.
— CINDY KIBBE