Director of Insurance Tom Martens, Insurance Coordinator Jolene Collins, Account Manager John Enderle, and Client Service Representative Rachel Patting comprise the ISMA insurance team.

After 44 years of experience with ISMA and with insurance, Director of Insurance Tom Martens knows a thing or two about how insurance can change over time.
 
“We’re more than just an insurance agency—we’re your trusted partner in care. We offer customized, physician-focused solutions with exclusive benefits for ISMA members. With our dedicated support team, you can rest assured knowing that your health, income, and practice are in good hands.”

ISMA’s insurance is different because it is a member benefit, and because of that, the insurance team is a problem-solving force for physicians, their spouses, and employees and their families. ISMA’s insurance employees don’t even earn a commission. 

“About 10 years into this, I thought I might want to go back to school to be a nurse because I wasn’t helping people enough,” Martens, who started at ISMA when he was 20 years old, said. “Then, it dawned on me that I could serve people through this job. I realized I can help people right here.”

Martens works closely with physicians to assess their practices’ needs and budget and helps them choose from a variety of group health insurance options that provide comprehensive coverage for the entire team. 

“We ensure the employees are protected so that physicians can focus on running the practice and providing care to the patients,” Martens said.

For Insurance Coordinator Jolene Collins, a 24-year employee of ISMA, that means forming special bonds with some of her clients. 

“I have a doctor who sang the song ‘Jolene’ on my voicemail once,” Collins said. “That was pretty funny. At the end, he just laughed and asked me to call him.”

Collins says talking to physicians about their lives and the significant role insurance plays in their health creates a unique rapport with them.

According to Account Manager John Enderle, the consistency created by Martens and Collins has pulled the department together despite changes that have occurred over the years.

Until about the mid-1990s, insurance at ISMA was relatively simple. There were around 5,000 policyholders with separate policies. Then physicians began to sell their practices to hospitals, which shrank the market. ISMA had to pivot to offer physicians coverage that made sense in the new landscape.

ISMA now offers members five different insurance options:

• Group health insurance through Anthem is for employers who want to offer health, vision, dental and/or term life. Whether the practice is small or large, comprehensive group plans are available for physicians to offer to their teams.
• Medicare supplement insurance is an Anthem policy for physicians and their spouses who want to supplement their Medicare benefits (dental or health).
• International travel insurance through GeoBlue is for physicians and their families traveling abroad. This includes access to a global network of providers, telemedicine services, and 24/7 customer support.
• Group disability income protection is through MGIS and helps ensure physicians are covered if they are unable to work due to illness or injury.
• Medical practice consortium consists of more than 70 medical practices that have pooled together to leverage their numbers for health coverage for physicians and employees.

“We offer premium billing assistance, education, and customer support that is tailored to help our members,” Martens said. “This allows ISMA to offer better-than-market benefits at an affordable cost.”

However, ISMA is also there to lend a helping hand, no matter what the problem.

“I help physicians the most when they are entering the Medicare stage of life,” said Client Service Representative Rachel Patting. “Whether they’re turning 65 and plan to still work or they are retiring, I will guide physicians through the process of enrolling in Medicare. This can be a confusing process, so I enjoy being the point of contact to guide them through it.”

The ISMA Insurance Agency has a Board of Directors of five physicians: William Mohr (President), MD; Heidi Dunniway (Secretary/Treasurer), MD; Gordon Hughes, MD; Rhonda Sharp, MD; and Stephen Tharp, MD. The medical practice consortium is self-governing, and its board is made up of three physicians and one practice manager. 

“Working with the board and other advisors of the medical consortium, we see health care from a different perspective than a patient or even a doctor sees it,” said Enderle. “We see the interworking of the system.”

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