Tag: Florida

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How Employers Battle Absenteeism, The Flu, Colds, and other Illnesses

The flu outbreak has sickened thousands across our nation in 2018.  It viciously spread across the state of Florida causing some school districts and organizations to close in an effort to stop the spread of the virus.

With flu diagnoses this year beating previous records, a large number of hospitals, medical providers, and pharmacies across the state became overwhelmed by the severity. The widespread epidemic led to supplies running low for antiviral medications and added difficulty for scheduling patient care during the peak of flu season.

“It’s times like this that employers truly appreciate the high value of onsite or near-site health and wellness centers for employee populations,” said Ray Tomlinson, president Crowne Consulting Group.  “Convenient access to vaccines, screenings, continuous preventative care, prompt primary care, and onsite pharmacies ensure patients get the best possible care and organizations stay productive.”

Avoidable sick days taken off for the flu, colds, and other preventable conditions could be days setting students and teachers behind.  In addition to discovering multi-million-dollar savings through the implementation of onsite care, many school districts are finding onsite care to be a priceless tool for promoting productivity and preventing teacher absences due to illness.

Several Florida school districts are benefiting from health and wellness centers at or near the worksite.  Engaged in operating over 30 centers across Florida, Crowne Consulting Group specializes in helping school districts implement an onsite-healthcare model with customized services to meet the needs of employees, dependents, and retirees.

Unlike outdated wellness programs that are triggered by large claims or passive educational material, the onsite-care model includes an active approach based on extensive lab work, Health Risk Assessments (HRA), and health education through customized wellness programs.

The ease of use and cost-free care keeps utilization high.  Teachers, for example, can access the center quickly and return to the classroom in the same day.  Patients visiting onsite health and wellness centers enjoy free access to primary medical, screenings, lab work, X-rays, EKG, occupational health, wellness programs, generic prescriptions, as well as comprehensive treatment and health education for managing conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.

“Preventative care like flu shots and screenings coupled with a broad range of medical services helps our onsite-care clients stay productive, while other organizations may fall behind due to absenteeism and uncontrolled expenses,” added Tomlinson.

In addition to serving school districts across Florida, Crowne Consulting Group and its affiliates also serve city government, county government, sheriff’s offices, and private organizations.  Visit www.crowneinc.com  or call 407.654.5414 for information.

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What Makes a Healthy Employer?

Crowne provides tips to build a healthy workforce.
Healthy Workforce
Build a Healthy Workforce with the Help of Crowne Consulting Group.

Employers have great opportunities to apply for an array of awards each year.  From the best places to work to fastest growing companies, there is no shortage of honors and nominations. Particularly, many organizations, respected journals, healthcare groups, and business associations across the nation give out employer health awards for having a healthy workforce.  The standards vary for award rankings, but most designate wellness and easy access to care as essential criteria for a healthy workplace.

“Preventative care and disease management are top priorities for cultivating a healthy workplace,” said Ray Tomlinson, president of Crowne Consulting Group, a benefits-planning firm specializing in the operation of over 30 onsite and near-site employee health and wellness centers throughout Florida.

Public and private organizations deemed as “healthy workplaces” have implemented onsite care for employees, retirees, and dependents.  Onsite care provides plan members with convenient access to no-cost primary and chronic care, screenings, lab work, X-rays, EKG, generic prescriptions, and wellness programs including smoking cessation.

  • Through Crowne’s onsite-care model, patient appointments can be made online or by phone for a 20-minute visit with a doctor.
  • Patients can reserve additional time with the physician if needed, and they never have to pay a copay.
  • In addition to physicians, the staff typically includes nurses, dieticians, exercise physiologists, and other medical staff.
  • Teams work together to provide a holistic approach to care while nurturing a healthy working environment.

Crowne points to the District School Board of Pasco County as a shining example for healthy workplaces. The district has worked with Crowne’s experts and medical affiliates since 2011 through CareHere Crowne LLC, which oversees onsite care operations for its more than 10,000 plan members. The district’s list of subsequent awards have included a Platinum Fit-Friendly Worksite Award from the American Heart Association, a Worksite Wellness Silver Award from the Florida Tobacco Cessation Alliance, the Top 100 list from the Healthiest100 awards, and a Healthiest Employers Award from the Tampa Bay Business Journal. Between 2011 and 2016, the District also saved over $26 million in health and medication expenditures

“Financially, the ease of use and cost-free care keeps utilization high for employers wanting a return on investment when implementing onsite care for a healthier workforce,” said Tomlinson.

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Learn more about bottom-line wellness! See Crowne Consulting Group’s featured statements in the Orlando Business Journal’s August 18, 2017 cover story: How Orlando-area firms save money on health care budgets.  The special issue also features the 2017 Healthiest Employers.

Crowne Consulting Group’s clients have included school districts, cities, counties, sheriff’s offices, and private organizations.  Call 407.654.5414 for information and employer solutions.

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PRESS RELEASE

Onsite Employee Health Centers Bring Cities Success

City Government Clients of CareHere Crowne LLC Cut Costs While Improving Care.

April 12, 2017 (Ocoee, Fla.) – The benefits planning team at Crowne Consulting Group reports enhanced care and lower medical costs for city governments providing onsite and near-site health and wellness centers for employees, retirees, and dependents.

Employers had faced relentless increases in healthcare expenditures for years. In an effort to control budgets and save taxpayer dollars, many Florida cities turned to self-funding and worksite healthcare models as a way to control medical costs, while preventing and managing chronic conditions.

“On average, the operation and administration costs for onsite health centers are 30 to 70 percent less than what employers are paying under the fee-for-service model,” said Ray Tomlinson, president of Crowne Consulting Group.

Onsite health centers provide plan members with cost-free access to primary care clinic services, chronic care, screenings, lab work, X-rays, EKG, generic prescriptions, and wellness programs including exercise, nutrition, and smoking cessation. Florida cities opting for worksite care include Ocala, Ocoee, Apopka, Sanford, Kissimmee, Lake Mary, Sarasota, Leesburg, Mount Dora, Deland, and others.

The City of Oviedo, a CareHere Crowne LLC client, has experienced success with onsite care and wellness programs designed to encourage healthy lifestyles. The city won the 2016 Healthy Weight Community Champion from The Florida Department of Health. Since opening its employee health and wellness center in March 2010, the city reduced medical care costs while improving care.

The Annual Survey on Employer Health Benefits by the Kaiser Family Foundation estimated five percent of employers with at least 50 employees offered health services through an on-site health clinic. The 2016 survey interviewed over 1,000 non-federal public and private firms. Approximately 25 percent of larger firms with at least 1,000 workers offer onsite care benefits.

About Crowne Consulting Group:  Crowne Consulting Group, Inc., founded in 1986, provides administrative oversight services for worksite health and wellness centers and is a related company with The Crowne Group, an employee benefits consulting firm specializing in employer solutions and personal lines of insurance.  Crowne serves public sector employers such as school boards, city and county government, sheriff offices, as well as private organizations.  Solutions for consumer-driven plans include health reimbursement arrangements, self-funded plans, onsite health centers, as well as risk management and human resources consulting.

Call 407-654-5414 for more information.

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How Schools are Saving Money and Lives
Preventive Care Simultaneously Helps Patients and Employers

Doctor and Employee, Onsite ClinicToday’s healthcare system provides an array of screenings for detecting everything from cancer to cholesterol issues. Screenings have become an essential component of preventive healthcare. Detecting health issues early can be the key to avoiding costly and complicated illnesses in the future.

In step with the movement towards consumer education, well-informed employer groups and school districts are launching onsite and near-site health and wellness centers to incentivize employees, dependents, and retirees to keep up-to-date on disease management and preventive health screenings.
Employers are discovering these value-added benefits of the onsite and near-site health model:

  • As a first line of defense, the onsite-care model ensures health screenings are free, easy, and conveniently accessible.
  • Unlike outdated wellness programs that are triggered by large claims or passive educational material, the onsite-care model includes an active approach based on extensive lab work and Health Risk Assessments (HRA).
  • The medical team can offer recommendations for when a patient should be tested and can provide customized care to meet each individual’s unique needs.
  • Physicians can proactively bring medical concerns to the attention of patients as well as create a potentially life-saving plan-of-action for patients to avoid future health problems.

A national Health and Productivity Survey from 2015 indicated that HRA and biometric screenings remain popular components of worksite wellness programs, with 57% of 700 surveyed employer organizations offering an HRA. Through easy accessibility, onsite and near-site health centers offer a solution for increasing utilization of HRAs.

Florida-based Crowne Consulting Group and its affiliates are helping dozens of employer organizations to operate onsite healthcare centers, in which high percentages of members utilize HRAs and screening programs, helping clients prevent high-dollar claims for chronic diseases including diabetes and congestive heart failure. Pasco schools’ first-year results included a 34 percent decrease in diabetes claims costs.

Increased screenings, HRAs, and easy access to preventative care are helping employers achieve millions of dollars in financial savings for taxpayers and reallocating those dollars for other school resources. Additionally, by shifting from disease management to disease prevention, health centers are providing a positive impact on members’ health and their wallets.

Contact Crowne Consulting Group for more information about onsite care.

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PRESS RELEASE

Disease Management Successes Through Onsite Care
Helps Florida Employers Lower Healthcare Costs

Crowne Consulting Group and CareHere help employers reduce healthcare costs
through onsite health and wellness centers for employees.

Nov. 6, 2014 (Ocoee, Fla.) – Employers are faced with escalating healthcare costs, including the rising rates of costly chronic diseases affecting their workforce.  The American Diabetes Association, which is now honoring Diabetes Awareness Month, estimates the total national cost of diagnosed diabetes in the United States is $245 billion.

“Rising costs ring the alarm for bringing worksite care to employees; it’s crucial to make visiting the doctor more convenient for employees,” said Ray Tomlinson, president of Crowne Consulting Group, an employee benefits consulting firm.  “Our client’s employees say that easier access and personalized attention has helped them gain control over diabetes and other conditions.”

Crowne Consulting Group, Inc. (owd.dev/PCHP/CrowneGroup/wp) operates over 30 Florida-based employee health centers in collaboration with Tennessee-based CareHere, LLC, which operates over 100 nationwide.  At no cost to the employee, onsite health centers provide an array of medical clinic services including primary care, screenings, lab work, x-rays, occupational health, wellness programs, disease management, and free generic prescriptions.

According to a 2014 study by the RAND Corporation, a disease management component reduced healthcare costs by an estimated $136 per member per month, driven by a 29 percent reduction in hospital admissions.  The study concluded that workplace wellness programs may reduce health risks and costs for employees with manifest chronic disease.

“Employees utilize free screenings and wellness programs offered at onsite health centers, thus, preventing high-dollar claims by mitigating risks associated with chronic diseases,” said Tomlinson.

In addition to medical successes, Crowne’s clients have achieved 30 to 70 percent decreases in their healthcare claims, including clients seeing a 34 percent reduction in diabetes claims costs.

About Crowne Consulting Group, Inc: Crowne Consulting Group, Inc., founded in 1986, consults and provides administrative oversight services for onsite health and wellness centers to employers and is a related company with The Crowne Group, an employee benefits consulting firm, specializing in employer solutions and personal lines of insurance.  Crowne’s experts have experience in serving public sector employers such as school boards, city and county government, as well as private organizations.  Solutions for consumer-driven plans include health reimbursement arrangements, self-funded plans, onsite health and wellness centers, as well as risk management and human resources consulting.

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Crowne Press Release-PDF-11-6-2014

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Earning an A+ in Healthcare
How schools are making the grade in employee benefits
By Ray Tomlinson, President of Crowne Consulting Group

Healthcare expenses are ballooning nationwide, but forward-thinking school districts have taken matters into their own hands to push down costs.  Districts across Florida are finding value in providing primary-care services for employees at or near the worksite.  Employees visiting onsite health and wellness centers enjoy increased access to low-cost preventative care, which is helping employers to lower average healthcare costs.

Florida-based Crowne Consulting Group has become the state’s one-stop-shop for implementing and maintaining onsite care programs.  Crowne collaborates with the medical experts at Tennessee-based CareHere, LLC to operate nearly 30 on- or near-site health and wellness centers throughout Florida, including centers for several school districts.

In addition to physicians, the staff typically includes nurses, dieticians, exercise physiologists, and other medical staff.  Patients access a wide range of services, including x-rays and physicals, as well as comprehensive treatment for conditions like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

Patients make their own appointments online or by phone for a 20-minute visit with a doctor. They can reserve additional time with the physician if needed, and they never have to pay a copay.  What’s more, patients can walk out of their appointment with a free generic prescription in hand.  This ease of use and cost-free care keeps utilization high.  Diverting a large portion of doctor visits to the controlled-cost centers keeps outside health claims cost significantly lower.

“Our costs for the health centers, including operations and administration, are approximately 30 to 70 percent less than what employers are paying under the fee-for-service model,” according to Ray Tomlinson, president of Crowne Consulting Group.

Crowne’s client Pasco County Schools offers four Employee Health & Wellness Centers for over 8,000 employees, retirees, and dependents.  Within the first year of opening its first center, the district reduced health costs 5 percent, saving over $2 Million.  The district was also able to flatten prescription drug expenses and reduce workers’ compensation costs by 50 percent.

In addition to Pasco County Schools, Crowne has helped Citrus County Schools, Lake County Schools, and St. Johns County Schools to save millions of dollars in healthcare costs, while enhancing care for employees.  Newcomers Levy County Schools, which opened earlier this year, and Indian River Schools, slated to open in September, are poised for similar results.

Remember that when considering the launch of any cost-saving healthcare solution, experience is most important.  Visit owd.dev/PCHP/CrowneGroup/wp and contact Crowne Consulting Group’s team at 407.654.5414 to learn about their years of expertise in serving school districts.

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Four Steps to Lower Healthcare Costs:
Benefits of Onsite Care During the Holidays

For a large number of corporations, businesses, and municipalities in Florida, employee health centers are just what the doctor ordered.  Adopting the onsite health model is improving quality of employee healthcare while drastically decreasing costs.

Crowne Consulting Group, Inc. collaborates with Tennessee-based CareHere, LLC to operate more than 25 employee health and wellness centers throughout Florida.  Crowne’s experts explain why easier access translates to lower costs for employers and employees, especially during the turbulent flu season and busy holidays.

1)     Worksite health services reduce “time off” and increase incentives to seek medical care.  Prompt attention is especially important during the Fall and Winter months, when flus and colds run rampant.

2)     Employees pay zero copays and no deductibles, preventing delays for financial reasons.  Employees can benefit from more cash in their pockets during the holidays.  Free health risk assessments (HRAs) and lab work for evaluation of cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure can also be conducted onsite to uncover or mitigate health risks.

3)     Primary care, labs, free prescriptions and more are fulfilled in one convenient visit.  This saves time and serves as one more checkmark on the shopping list.

4)     Disease management and wellness programs ensure chronic diseases are kept in check.  No matter the season, disease management and wellness should remain a top priority for preventing illness and avoiding costly conditions.

Remember that when considering the launch of any cost-saving healthcare solution, experience is most important.  Crowne Consulting Group’s team has expertise in serving corporations and private organizations as well as public sector employers.  Crowne’s team strategically collaborates with CareHere LLC to help employers hire medical staff and operate health centers.  CareHere operates more than 100 health centers nationwide, specializing in providing onsite healthcare through employers by making healthcare easier, better and more affordable.

…Learn more about onsite healthcare.

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Scoring an A+ in Employee Care

How onsite care and data-driven
programs save millions.

Jan. 30, 2013 — Crowne Consulting Group and CareHere joined the nation’s top benefits experts this week at the Health Benefits Conference & Expo (HBCE) in Clearwater, Florida.   In addition to being featured exhibitors at the conference, CareHere’s Director of Strategic Development, John Watson, joined Pasco Schools and Med-Vision LLC in offering a dynamic presentation on how to save money through onsite care and data-driven programs. Rather than passing rising health costs on to employees, CareHere and Med-Vision helped Pasco County schools discover an innovative approach to cut costs by enhancing healthcare for its more than 8,000 employees.  By coupling onsite health and wellness centers with customized wellness programs to engage employees, Pasco County schools flattened prescription drug costs and reduced health costs nearly 5 percent, saving more than $2 million in 2011. Mary Tillman, Pasco Schools’ Director of Employee Benefits, discussed the financial value of boosting employee health.  Med-Vision’s Vice President, Connie Gee, explained how health data analytics and wellness planning is crucial to controlling costs, and John Watson of CareHere highlighted the implementation and long-term benefits of Pasco Schools’ CareHere health centers. For more information about Health & Wellness Centers, e-mail jwatson@carehere.com.

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ABC – WFTV, Channel 9 Eyewitness News

Kissimmee wants to be next city with CareHere clinic

October 15, 2012, KISSIMMEE, Fla. — A new healthcare model seems to be sweeping through central Florida and it has nothing to with the Affordable Care Act.

Cities, counties and school districts are opening their own health clinics, offering free health care to employees, retirees, and their families.

Kissimmee is set to vote on Tuesday to contract with CareHere, a company that already operates more than a dozen clinics in central Florida.

“The numbers of heart failures have come down, asthmas are down, diabetes is down, all those chronic, big-dollar, big-ticket items,” said Brian Branham, of CareHere clinics.

Branham said health is up and costs are down at the facilities, saving taxpayers money.  And in exam rooms, patients not only consult with physicians, they get their blood drawn and pick up prescriptions.

Patients get more time than in a traditional medicine model, where a doctor gets a few minutes with a patient.

Doctors with CareHere are allotted at least 20 minutes of consultation time with each patient.

“The physicians get time to actually sit with the patients, talk with them, figuring out what’s going on with them,” said Branham.

Sanford opened a clinic last month. Lake Mary will open one in December and Kissimmee wants to be the next city with healthier employees.

There is already a long list of taxpayer-owned clinics around central Florida, including Flagler County, Lake County Schools and local cities: Leesburg, Deland, Mt. Dora, Sanford, Apopka, and more.

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