Tag: human resources

Posted on by
Onsite Employee Healthcare Centers
Reduce Wasteful Spending in Pharmacy Costs


Crowne Consulting Group Helps Employers Save Money
with Wholesale Prescription Programs 

April 17, 2018 (Ocoee, Fla.) – Beyond improving care and convenience, onsite healthcare centers are helping both employers and patients achieve significant savings in medical and pharmacy costs.

Crowne Consulting Group, Inc. is engaged in co-operating over 30 health and wellness centers for large employers across Florida. In addition to medical care, centers offer free pharmacy services with generic prescriptions available for employees, dependents, and retirees.  Employers pay low-cost wholesale rates on prescription drugs, which drastically reduce expenses for the employers. Patients benefit by conveniently walking away from appointments with free or low-priced medicine.

“Employers need innovative solutions because Americans are wasting millions annually on price gouging, clawbacks, and other forms of prescription drug overcharging,” said Ray Tomlinson, president of Crowne Consulting Group, which specializes in decreasing employer healthcare costs through customized onsite-healthcare models.

In addition to improving access to quality care, Crowne’s experts stay focused on helping employers combat the rising costs of specialty pharmacy drugs through drug-spending evaluations and cost-containment programs.  Spending control is vital according to a study released in March by University of Southern California – Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, which found customers overpaid for prescriptions 23 percent of the time. Reports reference “clawbacks” as when customers unreasonably pay prescription copays that are higher than a drug’s actual cost.

JAMA Internal Medicine recently reported generic drug substitutions are critical in reducing wasteful spending in healthcare. The researchers specifically noted expenses can be mitigated with generic versions of statins as opposed to brand-name drugs with higher costs.

Through wholesale generic drug programs and onsite healthcare services, Crowne’s clients have reported multimillion-dollar savings in healthcare expenditures, while simultaneously enhancing care for patients.

 

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.

###

Posted on by

PRESS RELEASE

Employers Take Control of Medical Costs
With Self-Funded Health Plans

Nov. 16, 2016 (Ocoee, Fla.) – Healthcare cost control and risk management are critical reasons why Crowne Consulting Group and its benefits-planning partners are helping employers to self-fund their health plans.

While Crowne’s solutions have supported corporations, school districts, sheriff’s offices, and municipalities spanning Florida, the self-funding trend is spreading nationwide. Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, published a July report on trends in self-insured health plans between 1996 and 2015.  A rise from 28.5 to 39 percent was reported for private employers offering self-funded plans.

For decades, a majority of large employers and government agencies have benefited from self-funded plans, but EBRI’s report notes an increasing percentage of small and mid-sized businesses self-funding. Additionally, October’s Market Realities report by Willis Towers Watson forecasts lower rate increases for self-insured plans compared to fully insured plans in 2017.

“Whether a decision to self-fund is for lowering insurance expenses or for managing government provisions, employers are achieving greater control of costs,” said Ray Tomlinson, president of Crowne Consulting Group, which is aligned with partners offering special programs with rate-caps from one of the nation’s largest stop-loss carriers for those risks who qualify.  “Reinsurance or external insurance for catastrophic events is essential in managing long-term risk and avoiding losses through high-cost claims.”

Crowne and its partners are also helping self-funded employers mitigate risks and lower expenses through the operation of onsite and near-site health and wellness centers.  In contrast to the typically expensive fee-for-service model of filing insurance claims, a self-funded employer can launch an onsite-care model and pay significantly less for medical services for employees, retirees, and their dependents. No-cost primary and chronic care, screenings, x-rays, wellness programs, and onsite pharmacies are among the benefits to patients of worksite healthcare.

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.

Posted on by

Crowne Consulting Group was recently featured in American City & County Magazine for its expertise for serving governments and municipalities.  See the excerpt below and visit the magazine link to read this entire article.

Bankrolling benefits

Local governments’ varied responses to the Affordable Care Act
http://americancityandcounty.com/health-reform/bankrolling-benefits
By Derek Prall, American City and County Magazine, Feb. 2015

Excerpt:Onsite Care “…Regardless of the number of employees affected, the ACA has created numerous challenges for Human Resources departments – especially those with constrained budgets. Ray Tomlinson, president of Crowne Consulting Group, an organization helping business and governments set up health clinics, says in this way, local governments are no different than their private sector counterparts. “[Because of the ACA,] employers are experiencing additional oversight, restrictions and costs,” he says. From a local government standpoint, there is now less management discretion at designing benefits packages that would help keep costs low, Tomlinson says.

However, municipalities are increasingly looking to an outside-the-box solution, Tomlinson says, opening onsite or near-site health clinics. These facilities cut down on costs by lowering the number of claims made by covered employees and thus lowering expenses across the board.

“The Affordable Care Act has actually created – even if unintentionally – an opportunity for employers to take a look at the onsite or near-site clinic or heath center as an option to run alongside of their health plan,” says Tomlinson.

Several municipalities have opened health clinics in the past few years, including ….”

Read this full article at: http://americancityandcounty.com/health-reform/bankrolling-benefits.  Contact Crowne Consulting Group at 407-654-5414 for more information about onsite health and wellness centers.

Posted on by

Press Release
For additional information, contact:
rtomlinson@crowneinc.com

View and Print PDF

Win-Win in Workers’
Compensation for Employees and Employers


Onsite health centers enhance care while lowering
workers compensation costs

December 5, 2012 (Ocoee, Fla.) – Beyond improving employee healthcare through onsite health centers, Crowne Consulting Group, Inc. is drastically lowering health costs and decreasing workers’ compensation costs for employers.

Crowne collaborates with Tennessee-based CareHere, LLC to operate more than 25 health and wellness centers throughout Florida, with the City of Lake Mary opening last month and the City of Kissimmee slated for 2013.  CareHere specializes in primary care, occupational services, pharmacy, and disease management.  Its cost-saving model helps self-funded employers extend employee benefits to include zero copays, no deductibles, and free screenings.

Crowne and CareHere’s worksite centers are the first stop for triage and treatment of workers’ compensation and other occupational services.  Services are fully compliant as there is no co-mingling of health information with work-related services.  The occupational health providers also follow required regulations related to medical surveillance programs, drug testing, reporting, and return to duty.

“An on-the-job injury can set back an organization’s productivity, but health centers offer prompt care to mitigate risks and expedite return-to-work programs,” said Ray Tomlinson, president of Crowne Consulting Group.  “Instead of days or weeks, many workers are back to work within hours.”

Since opening three onsite health centers in 2011 and implementing numerous wellness and benefits education programs, Pasco Schools realized a more than 50 percent decrease in workers’ compensation costs, totaling over $1.5 million in savings.

Th City of Ocoee’s medical costs of its workers’ compensation program averaged a 70 percent annual reduction during a four-year span.  Last year, 92 percent of eligible employees visited the center at least once, with 35 percent of the visits for acute care.

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 a cumulative 100 years of experience in serving public sector employers such as school districts, 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.

###