Minister for Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation Mary Mitchell O’Connor today announced that US-based Fazzi Healthcare Services has established a new Irish based coding and healthcare services company in Limerick, creating 300 jobs over five years.

The project is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation through IDA Ireland.

Medical coding, a regulated process is the transformation of healthcare diagnoses, treatments, procedures, outcomes and services into universal medical alphanumeric codes, known as ICD. It is the international standard used for health information purposes in primary, secondary, tertiary and public health settings. The process is defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and overseen by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Most countries, including Ireland, utilize the ICD process with the majority using the current ICD-10 edition. This latest edition contains codes for diseases, signs and symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances and external causes of injury or disease.

The new Irish company has already begun providing ICD-10 coding services to the US homecare and hospice sector and is now offering coding, billing and distance learning services to hospitals, doctors, homecare providers, healthcare centers, health insurers and governmental healthcare entities across the globe.

Founded in 1978, parent company Fazzi Associates is headquartered in Northampton, Massachusetts. The company also operates in the areas of consulting, education, benchmarking and research. It operates through two additional sites in India.

Making today’s announcement, Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor said: “This is a very significant announcement for Limerick with the creation of 300 new jobs in a new and emerging business activity for the medical sector. I am very keen to pursue opportunities for investment and job creation in new sectors, these are increasingly possible with our infrastructure and talented workforce which enables companies like Fazzi to undertake work for customers in different parts of the world. It is also very heartening that such a large project has been secured for a regional centre which represents the ongoing success of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs initiative, particularly the new Regional Action Plan for the Mid West”.

Speaking today the Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan TD said: “It’s great to see Fazzi Healthcare Services grow their presence in Limerick which is proud to be host to such an innovative company that combines healthcare and software. There will be many more opportunities now to join this company which places great value in its employees. I’m sure that many people from Limerick will become valuable members of the team at Fazzi. This is further evidence that the Regional Action Plan for the Mid West is delivering for the people of Limerick.”

The company’s Founder & Managing Partner Dr. Robert Fazzi said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be here in Limerick. Our Irish employees are clearly smart, dedicated and incredibly talented. We are very thankful to the IDA and the Irish government for welcoming us and helping us to develop our business here. Without question, Ireland has proven to be a country strongly supportive to the creation of innovative and growth oriented companies.”

IDA’s CEO Martin Shanahan said: “This is terrific news for Limerick and for the entire region as the creation of 300 jobs is substantial and will spread the benefit over a wide area. There is a growing number of Healthcare Services located here and Fazzi, as the first company to engage in medical coding services in Ireland, is a positive addition to the Life Sciences profile of the Mid West. I wish Dennis and his team every success.”

For more information/to apply for the new positions go to: FazziHealthcareServices.com or send e-mail to recruitireland@fazzi.com.

About the company

Fazzi Associates, parent company of Fazzi Healthcare Services, was founded in 1978. Its headquarters are in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest outsourced ICD coding service provider in the US market. Fazzi’s mission is to make a real difference in healthcare by strengthening the quality, value and impact of home care, hospice and community based services. The company is equally zealous about being a place where people love their job and love where they work. Fazzi operational areas include medical coding services, billing services, consulting, education (including distance learning), benchmarking and research. “Fazzi currently employs over 130 people in the US. It also operates in India through a partnership with two additional locations and 200 staff.”