East Tennessee SAS Users Group Meeting
Discover the latest features of SAS 9.2

September 23 | Chattanooga

Discover some of the latest SAS technology when you attend the next East Tennessee SAS Users Group meeting! Scott Huntley, Software Developer, Platform R&D, SAS, will deliver a presentation on enhancements made to SAS 9.2.

Breaking New Ground with SAS 9.2
ODS Layout Enhancements- 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.

Intro to ODS - In addition to the featured presentation, there will be a pre-meeting class taught by ETSUG staff. 10 -- 11 a.m.

Registration is requested for the main meeting and the pre-meeting. Register by emailing joseph_staven (at) bcbst (dot) com.

SAS has a new more interactive site at www.sascommunity.org. It is worth a look. The ETSUG wiki entry is at http://www.sascommunity.org/wiki/East_Tennessee_SAS_Users_Group.

The information for the SAS Global Forum 2008 is now posted: http://support.sas.com/events/sasglobalforum/2008/index.html

0901077 -- Associate Accreditation Research Analyst

BlueCross and BlueShield of Tennessee
Chattanooga, TN

The mission of the Medical Informatics Division (MI) is to support all BCBST business units by conducting research, and developing tools and processes that improve the outcomes, quality, access to, cost and utilization and management of health care. MI achieves this mission through analysis and health services and other types of research designed to (1) improve clinical practice, (2) improve BCBST's ability to provide access to and deliver high quality, high-value health care, and (3) provide policy makers with the ability to assess the impact of system changes on outcomes, quality, access, cost, and use of health care resources. The candidate chosen for this position will serve to support the mission of the MI division.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:
The incumbent will work closely with consultants, senior researchers, and business unit staff to support the MI mission through the following major activities:
• Quality and Outcomes Improvement, Management and Research Initiatives
• HEDIS
• Surveys
• EPSDT/ TENNderCARE
• Epidemiological/Geospatial Studies, Evaluations, Investigations, and Surveillance Programs
• Research Studies
• Statistical Analyses
• Report and Tool Development
1. Assist consultants and senior researchers with developing the above-mentioned activities and programs.
2. Be responsible for maintaining production of reports related to the above-mentioned activities, conduct analyses, and provide recommendations based on data contained in the report.
3. Produce visual explanations and conduct research studies related to the above-mentioned activities.

Qualifications:
• Bachelor's degree in a quantitative/research discipline and two or more years of data analyses or research experience in a managed health care environment OR Advanced degree in a quantitative/research discipline
• Basic knowledge of statistics and experience using SAS, including data extraction, data preparation and working with large databases
• Working knowledge of MS Office products
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, both verbal and written are essential
• Prior exposure to clinical concepts/coding and familiarity with regulatory guidelines and requirements (NCQA, CMS, EQRO, URAC etc.) is desirable
• Proven problem solving ability and experience in managing multiple assignments with critical deadlines; teamwork and leadership qualities are a plus

Please apply via our career site at:

https://www.bcbst.com/about/careers/openings/

0900145 -- Analyst Programmer - Gordian/PHA

BlueCross and BlueShield of Tennessee

Description:
• Design, write, test and document computer programs, subroutines, and scripts to meet project objectives
• Analyze requirements for new and existing computer systems
• Maintain existing computer programs
• Resolve production computer system problems
• Re-engineer business functions by evaluating requests for service, questioning existing policies, procedures, workflows, etc., to ensure that the best systems are identified and implemented
As a project leader, the Analyst/Programmer is responsible for creating and carrying out the project plan. This includes:

- Coordinating all project activity in order to fulfill requirements within the deadline
- Interacting with staff of all levels in the user community in order to define business needs
- Conducting/documenting meetings with all levels of staff and management.
- Analysis and design of automated business solutions
- Cost/benefit analysis
- Writing technical program specifications
- Programming and testing of computer programs
- System Implementation
- System Maintenance
- Availability for production problem resolution

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent technical experience is required.
• 3 to 6 years systems analysis and programming experience with an expert working knowledge of C# and SQL. Knowledge and experience in C/C++, VB.NET, Java, Javascript, PHP, and PERL a plus.
• Demonstrated proficiency in written and oral communication skills is required.
• Demonstrated leadership, analysis, design, and project management skills is required.

Please apply via our career site at:
https://www.bcbst.com/about/careers/openings/

0900174 -- Accreditation Research Analyst

The mission of the Medical Informatics Division (MI) is to support all BCBST business units by conducting research, and developing tools and processes that improve the outcomes, quality, access to, cost and utilization and management of health care. MI achieves this mission through analysis and health services and other types of research designed to (1) improve clinical practice, (2) improve BCBST's ability to provide access to and deliver high quality, high-value health care, and (3) provide policy makers with the ability to assess the impact of system changes on outcomes, quality, access, cost, and use of health care resources. The candidate chosen for this position will serve to support the mission of the MI division.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:
The incumbent will work closely with consultants, scientists, and business unit staff to support the MI mission through the following major activities:

• Quality and Outcomes Improvement, Management and Research Initiatives
• HEDIS
• Surveys
• EPSDT/ TENNderCARE
• Epidemiological/Geospatial Studies, Evaluations, Investigations, and Surveillance Programs
• Research Studies
• Statistical Analyses
• Report and Tool Development

1. Use prior experience in the development and maintenance of above-mentioned activities and programs.
2. Keep up with the latest research and development in these areas and apply it appropriately.
3. Be responsible for maintaining production of reports related to the above-mentioned activities, conduct analyses, and provide recommendations based on data contained in the report.
4. Produce visual explanations and conduct research studies related to the above-mentioned activities.
5. Present reports/analyses internally and externally to appropriate professional forums.
6. Serve on related committees and workgroups.
7. Provide mentoring to junior staff and consulting to business users/senior staff.
Qualifications
• Minimum acceptable qualifications include a bachelor's degree in a quantitative/research discipline and four or more years of data analyses or research experience in a managed healthcare environment or an advanced degree in a quantitative/research discipline and two or more years of data analyses or research experience in a managed healthcare environment
• Have experience in the application of modern statistical design and analytical techniques to health-related data; have experience using SAS, including data extraction, data preparation and working with large databases
• Have experience working with geographic information system (GIS) and/or spatially oriented data is a plus
• Have knowledge of MS Office products
• Prior exposure to clinical concepts/coding and familiarity with regulatory guidelines and requirements (NCQA, CMS, EQRO, URAC etc.) is essential
• Must have proven problem solving ability and experience in managing multiple assignments with critical deadlines
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, both verbal and written are essential.
• Teamwork and leadership qualities are desirable.

Our client has need for a SAS Developer in CHATTANOOGA, TN. This position will be a contract to hire and sit in Chattanooga; TN. Qualified candidates will need to have experience in design, development and testing of HEDIS Technical Solutions.

Required Skills:
-SAS MACROS
-SAS MF
-SAS PC
-SAS for UNIX
-HEDIS business knowledge

Only qualified candidates will be contacted.

Brian Rose IT Recruiter
408 N. Cedar Bluff Rd.
Knoxville, TN 37923
T (865) 292-2357 M (865) 414-2684
F (865) 292-2390

0800254 - Associate Accreditation Analyst

The incumbent is accountable for assisting with reporting and analyses on initiatives that focus on the quality, economic and financial aspects of the Government and Commercial healthcare markets.
• You will assist with analysis, background research and reports for Quality Improvement, Management and Research Initiatives, EPSDT/TENNderCARE, HEDIS
• Data extraction and data preparation using SAS to execute deliverables for above mentioned functions
• Provide report development, analysis, design and execution of applied research activities to assist quality and medical management
• Present research findings internally and externally to appropriate professional forums
• Serve on related committees and workgroups
Qualifications:
• BS degree in Statistics, Biostatistics, Math, Public Health, Economics or other natural science discipline and 1-3 years of managed health care experience. An advanced degree in Statistics, Biostatistics, Math, Public Health, Economics or other natural science discipline may substitute for the work experience.
• Basic knowledge of statistics and experience using SAS, including data extraction, data preparation and working with large databases is required
• Survey experience a must
• Must have expertise with MS Office products
• Prior exposure to clinical concepts and coding
• Familiarity with regulatory guidelines and requirements (NCQA, HEDIS, CHAPS, CMS, EQRO, URAC, etc.) is desirable
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, both written and verbal are essential
• You must have experience in managing multiple assignments and must be able to demonstrate problem solving ability

Please apply via our career site at:

https://www.bcbst.com/about/careers/openings/

BioStatistical Research Analyst

The mission of the Health Services Research (HSR) department is to support the Commercial Business and Established Markets and Government Business and Emerging Markets business units by conducting research that improves the outcomes, quality, access to, and cost and utilization of health care services. HSR achieves this mission through health services research designed to (1) improve clinical practice, (2) improve BCBST's ability to provide access to and deliver high quality, high-value health care, and (3) provide policy makers with the ability to assess the impact of system changes on outcomes, quality, access, cost, and use of health care services. The candidate chosen for this position will serve to support the mission of the HSR department.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:
The incumbent will work closely with senior researchers and HCS staff to support the HSR mission through the following major activities:

• Provider Profiling
• Clinical Program Evaluation
• Population Assessment
• Statistical Analysis
• Outcomes Assessment
• Report Development
• Assist the senior researchers with developing the above-mentioned activities and programs.
• Be responsible for maintaining production of reports related to the above-mentioned activities.
• Produce visual explanations and conduct analyses on all reports related to the above-mentioned activities.
Qualifications
• Minimum acceptable qualifications include a bachelor's degree in a quantitative/research discipline and two or more years of managed health care experience or an advanced degree in a quantitative/research discipline;
• Have some experience in the application of modern statistical design and analysis techniques to health-related data;
• Have a strong interest in statistical and research methodology;
• Strong abilities in the use of SAS and other computational software for statistical analysis.
• Teamwork and leadership qualities are a plus.

To apply for this position, please visit our website at:
https://www.bcbst.com/about/careers/openings/

SAS Developer
Vanderbilt University consistently ranks in the Top 100 Universities in the world and in the Top 25 Universities in the U.S. We have great health benefits and vacation packages for employees.
Full-time permanent in Nashville, TN, and salary depends on experience.

Requirements: Vanderbilt’s Requirements: This position requires a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related degree and 24 months of programming experience. Experience with SAS, Oracle, SQL, VB applications, and large-scale database management is needed. Vanderbilt’s Job Summary: This position will be responsible for leading the data management of a large-scale longitudinal research project. Specific duties include researching secondary datasets, downloading and importing data, screening and cleaning data, creating new variables and data dictionaries, applying formats, and merging data with other primary and secondary datasets. These data management tasks require the writing of complex SAS data-step programs to manipulate data, create analysis datasets and produce descriptive statistics (e.g. frequency distributions, cross-tabulations, means, etc). Be a part of Vanderbilt’s culture of education, research and healthcare environment where your hunger for learning and succeeding will be rewarded.

To apply to this position, please go to www.vanderbilt.jobs. Search using requisition LC61064. Please visit our website at www.vanderbilt.edu.
Vanderbilt University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

Business Analyst
San Diego, CA
$80-$105K
Identity Risk Management is our firm's exclusive focus. We provide our clients with comprehensive analytical solutions that effectively manage identity risk across the customer lifecycle. Our ability to spot suspicious behavior patterns from a 360 degree view of fraudsters, rather than from their interactions with just one company or industry, distinguishes our offerings from other solutions and provides invaluable insight for fraud prevention strategies.
The Business Analyst will drive efforts to analyze complex data and identify powerful business solutions for our customers.
Principal Duties
* Partner with company team members to design and execute tests of company products on client and prospect data sets
* Lead efforts to evaluate customer data sets and identify the optimal manner in which company solutions can be implemented
* Organize and present findings and recommendations to the customer in a concise and compelling fashion
* Design and implement other consulting opportunities for customers
Experience:
Required:
- Strong Quantitative skills
o BA/BS Degree in a Quantitative Field
o Exceptional Analytical and Strategic Thinking Skills
o Proven ability to interpret and evaluate complicated data sets to identify optimal solutions
- Strong Communication/Presentation Skills
o Proven ability to organize and present analytical findings and recommendations in a concise manner (both oral and written)
o Ability to present complicated information and solutions in an uncomplicated way
- Solid Organizational and Multi-Tasking Abilities
o Ability to effectively prioritize multiple projects and deliver results in a timely manner
- Experience with SQL and/or SAS
- MBA or Master's Degree in Quantitative Field
- 3+ years experience in financial services and/or wireless industries
- 3+ years experience with credit/fraud risk management

Mary Parker
Managing Partner, Analytics
773-205-6308
mparker@agenthr.com

Modeler/Statistician
Bloomington, IL
Up to $125K Depending on Experience and Skills
This position is responsible for assisting in the building of statistical insurance risk models and in the presentation and explanation of models to both internal and external audiences. This position will also engage in additional loss-predictive and other insurance-related research efforts.
Key Responsibilities
Works with clients to analyze needs for information/resources and converts them into action items, requests or projects, defines project scope, manages projects, and oversees the quality of work produced
Conducts all phases of research and routinely engages in quantitative analysis on many non-standard and unique business problems
Consults with clients on the use/development/support of various mathematical statistics, primarily on various methods of modeling and sampling, but also including complex methodological designs that enable ruling out alternate hypotheses, either through statistical controls or through experimental controls
Applies programming skills to make use of computer intensive analysis techniques and data mining packages
Represents firm with external industry/vendors/consultants/governmental agencies in area of expertise
Provides quantitative commentary and critical thinking on insurance issues, proposed insurance regulation and legislation, and pending litigation
Position is located in Bloomington, IL
Competitive Salary/Benefits
Equal Opportunity Employer
Experience:
Graduate degree in Statistics, or equivalent, with excellent quantitative and analytic skills
Practical experience applying statistical science in a business setting
Experience using statistical software in a mainframe and/or client-server environment (SAS preferred)
Experience engaging in quantitative analysis on many non-standard and unique business problems using computer-intensive data mining techniques (decision trees, neural networks, etc.)
Excellent problem solving skills
Ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously
Excellent oral and written communication skills
Ability to work well with others
Experience creating commercially-viable statistical models that assess business risk or response
Experience using FCRA-governed consumer data sources (credit reports, CLUE, etc.) highly desired.

Mary Parker
Managing Partner, Analytics
773-205-6308
mparker@agenthr.com

Statistician
Milwaukee, WI
Up to $120K
A national market leader in health insurance with a 114-year tradition of innovation and excellence. Offering outstanding benefits, including immediate medical/dental insurance, paid vacation days and sick leaves, 401k plan, bonus plan, and a culturally diverse work environment with flexible schedules and business casual dress!
Multiple positions open in Business Data & Informatics Department for candidates with extensive analytical training and work experiences. The incumbents will be responsible for collaborating in the designs and the studies that utilize advanced statistical modeling approaches to address business issues. The areas of application include, but not limited to, risk scoring, customer segmentation, pricing, underwriting, outcome assessment, and business forecasting.
The applicants are expected to have:
• Comprehensive knowledge in one or more of these fields: linear/non- linear regressions, cluster/factor analysis, survival analysis, and/or econometric time series;
• Proficiency in SAS and MS offices products;
• Knowledge and skills in database creation and data processing;
• Excellent communication and time management skills;
• A graduate degree in statistics, epidemiology, economics, mathematics, or related quantitative fields. A Ph.D. degree is preferred.
At least one year of work experience in insurance, healthcare, medical research, financial services, or marketing industry.

Mary Parker
Managing Partner, Analytics
773-205-6308
mparker@agenthr.com

Data Mining Using SAS® Enterprise Miner introduces the reader to a wide variety of data mining techniques in SAS® Enterprise Miner v4.3. This first-of-a-kind book explains every node that is a part of Enterprise Miner with regard to SEMMA design and data mining analysis. Each chapter starts with a short introduction to the assortment of statistics that are generated from the various nodes, followed by detailed explanations of the option settings and results that are listed within each node.

Highlights of the book are the following:
· An overview to the Sampling nodes in SAS® Enterprise Miner to
read, randomly sample, and partition the data.
· An overview to the Exploring nodes that are used as a preliminary
step in data mining to graphically view the data.
· An overview to the Modifying nodes that are designed to perform
preliminary modifications to the SAS data set such as filtering the
data, estimating missing values, and transforming variables.
· An overview to the various Modeling nodes and modeling designs
that can be performed within SAS® Enterprise Miner such as least-
squares, logistic regression, neural network, decision tree, nearest-
neighbors, and ensemble modeling just to name a few.
· An overview to the Assessment node that evaluates and assesses
the results that are generated from the various models.
· An overview to the remaining utility nodes such as scoring the
data, perform SAS programming within the process flow, and
create subdiagrams to simplify the appearance of the process flow.

To order call 877-762-2974 or visit http://www.Wiley.com

For those just starting out, SAS now offers free tutorials at http://www.sas.com/apps/elearning/elearning_courses.jsp?cat=Free+Tutorials.

The East Tennessee SAS Users Group is open to all SAS Users in East Tennessee. To join, contact us using the contact information found on the SAS User Group Website.
Benefits of joining the group include support from SAS (speakers, discounts, special offers, promotional items), identification and recognition within the SAS community, and various educational opportunities.