Tag: school district

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Press Release
Crowne Consulting Group

Healthy Bottom Line for Healthy Workplaces

Heart Health and Financial Savings for CareHere Crowne LLC’s Onsite Care Clients.

Feb. 2, 2017 (Ocoee, Fla.) – Crowne Consulting Group, benefits experts helping employers save money through onsite healthcare, is spotlighting patient-focused care in celebration of American Heart Month this February.

“Onsite care is optimized when coupled with personalized initiatives including health-risk assessments, incentive programs, and worksite health coaches to help individuals maintain a healthy lifestyle through physical activity, nutrition, and disease prevention,” said Ray Tomlinson, president of Crowne Consulting Group.

The District School Board of Pasco County promotes a healthy culture with onsite care for over 10,000 plan members. The district has worked with Crowne’s experts and medical affiliates since 2011 through CareHere Crowne LLC, which oversees onsite care operations. Onsite and near-site health centers provide employees, retirees, and dependents convenient access to no-cost primary and chronic care, screenings, lab work, X-rays, EKG, generic prescriptions, and wellness programs including smoking cessation.

“After 25 years of smoking, I succeeded to permanently quit smoking without any tendency to smoke again,” said Maged Honien, 41, who is an eighth-grade science teacher working with a certified health coach at Pasco schools’ onsite health center. “I’ll keep taking care of my health by staying smoke free and by going to the gym at least twice weekly.”

In addition to success stories and district awards from the American Heart Association for promoting a healthy workplace, the district has drastically cut costs. Between 2011 and 2016, Pasco schools reported over $26 million savings in health and medication expenditures. Simultaneously, district employees saved over $4 million in co-pays for office visits and generic medication.

“In addition to lowering expenses, employers with onsite or near-site care centers are promoting heart health and demonstrating measurable outcomes in employee care,” added Tomlinson.

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.

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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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Pasco County Schools’ Employee Health
Initiatives Earn Recognition from
American Heart Association

Florida school district is among elite group of Platinum Fit-Friendly Worksites.

View PDF: Pasco-Crowne-Press Release-1-23-2015

Land O’ Lakes, FL – (January 23, 2015) – As the nation recognizes American Heart Month this February, the District School Board of Pasco County is celebrating news that it earned the Platinum Fit-Friendly Worksite Award from the American Heart Association for demonstrating a strong commitment to providing a healthy workplace.

“Physical activity and employee wellness are important priorities for us at the district, so we are honored and excited to be recognized by the American Heart Association,” said Superintendent Kurt Browning.

The Fit-Friendly Worksites program is a catalyst for positive change in making employees’ health and wellness a priority.  Qualifications for the platinum-level include:

• Offering employees physical activity options in the workplace.

• Increasing healthy eating options at the worksite.

• Promoting a wellness culture in the workplace.

• Implementing at least nine criteria outlined by the American Heart Association in the areas of physical activity, nutrition and culture.

• Demonstrating measurable outcomes related to workplace wellness.

“We’re committed to providing the best workplace environment possible. This will benefit our employees’ health and produce even more positive results for our worksite overall,” said School Board Member Cynthia Armstrong, who represents the board on the district’s Employee Wellness Committee.

Pasco County schools also took an innovative approach to cut costs while enhancing healthcare for its more than 10,000 members by offering onsite care for employees, retirees and dependents.

“Employees, retirees and dependents visiting the onsite health and wellness centers enjoy free and convenient access to primary medical, screenings, lab work, X-rays, EKG, occupational health, wellness programs, disease management, and generic prescriptions,” said Ray Tomlinson, president of Crowne Consulting Group, which collaborates with CareHere Crowne LLC to operate more than 30 health and wellness centers throughout Florida, including five centers for Pasco County schools.

Ocoee-based Crowne Consulting Group’s management of the district’s CareHere health centers, in combination with Tampa-based Med-Vision’s health-data analytics for wellness planning, have proved valuable in helping the district’s wellness committee create results-driven programs.  For example, the district’s incentive program rewards employees who complete a health-risk assessment, follow-up with a health coach, and complete a questionnaire.  If an employee completes these three sections, he or she is awarded $150.  Employees can earn up to $100 in additional incentive awards for completing a program on CareHere Connect, an online wellness portal, or attending three out of four onsite-wellness sessions.

These incentives resulted in approximately $14 Million in savings over the past three years.  These achievements were highlighted in the December 2014 issue of District Administration Magazine, and have earned the district several local, state, and national awards in addition to the current honor from the American Heart Association.

About The District School Board of Pasco County: Pasco County Schools is the 11th largest school district in Florida and the 50th largest in the nation, with more than 69,000 students and nearly 11,000 employees.  The district includes 45 elementary schools, 16 middle schools, 13 high schools, four centers, nine charter schools, and a robust eschool.  Pasco is led by an elected superintendent and five elected school board members, who administer a $1.2 billion annual budget.  More than 93 percent of the general fund resources are committed to teaching and other school-level programs such as transportation, counseling, psychological services, school administration, and operations & maintenance.

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.

About the American Heart Association: The American Heart Association is devoted to building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Our mission drives everything we do. To improve the lives of all Americans, we provide public health education in a variety of ways. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke.

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Districts Save Millions with Onsite Care
Employee Health Centers Pop Up to Push Down Costs

By Ray Tomlinson, President of Crowne Consulting Group
Sept. 2014

The Affordable Care Act has prompted an increase in healthcare-system changes for employers.  In the effort to produce better patient outcomes, the importance has shifted to quality of care and increased access to care.  An increasing number of school districts, specifically, are implementing the onsite-healthcare model to create a culture of health for employees.

Crowne Consulting Group, an employee benefits consulting firm operating worksite health and wellness centers across Florida, has seen its client list triple in the past five years.  Mitigating risks early and keeping employees healthy have prompted positive financial results for employers, including reductions in plan costs, decreases in prescription costs, and drastic reductions in sick time.

“Employees visiting onsite health and wellness centers enjoy increased access to low-cost preventative care, which is helping employers to lower average healthcare costs,” said Ray Tomlinson, president of Crowne Consulting Group, which collaborates with CareHere, LLC to operate nearly 30 worksite health and wellness centers throughout Florida, including centers for several school districts.

Crowne’s client Pasco County Schools, which offers four health and wellness centers for its employees, recently reported about $14 Million in savings over the past three years. Pasco School Board member Cynthia Armstrong called onsite care “a win-win” for administrators and staff.  Due to a high-demand for services, the district is looking to expand the program.

School district employees across the state are embracing the idea of onsite care.  Utilization proves to be high for the following reasons:

  • Health and wellness centers offer onsite or near-site access to primary care, occupational services, pharmacy, disease management, and wellness services.
  • Services are provided at no charge to plan members and dependents, including  zero deductibles and no copays.
  • Members have access to free health-risk assessments with lab work for evaluation of cholesterol, blood sugar, liver function, blood pressure, and other bio-metric panels.
  • Onsite health and wellness centers provide easy access to low-cost primary and preventive care while decreasing specialty care needs and ER visits.

Crowne Consulting Group’s 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.

Contact Crowne Consulting Group’s team at 407.654.5414 to learn about their years of expertise in serving school districts, governments, and private clients.

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Updated Media Buzz & News Reports
Pasco Schools, Fall 2014:

The local news media is talking about major successes in onsite healthcare.  CareHere and Crowne Consulting Group’s client, Pasco County School District, has reported that the district has saved millions of dollars.  Tampa Bay Times notes $9.2 Million saved, while the Tampa Tribune references over $14 Million saved over the past three years of Pasco Schools having employee health and wellness centers onsite.  Article quotes include:

~ “I’ve been on the board for six years, and I think this is one of the most significant decisions the board has made,” board member Joanne Hurley said of the clinics. “It’s a feather in our cap.”

~ Board member Cynthia Armstrong called the clinics “a win-win” for administrators and staff.

~ “Employees actually said ‘Wow, you’re helping us save money’ and we said ‘Wow, you’re helping us save money.’ “

“I think this is one of the most significant decisions this board has made in terms of employee well-being and containing costs,” board member Joanne Hurley said at a recent board workshop….

Read the full articles:  

UPDATED LIST 10-26-14: Expansion Approved

-Clinic for County Workers to Expand
Tampa Tribune, Ronnie Blair, Oct. 26, 2014

-School District Clinics Thrive
Tampa Tribune, Ronnie Blair, August 24, 2014

-Pasco School Board considers expanding employee health clinic
Tampa Bay Times, Lisa Buie, August 12, 2014

-Pasco School Board considers expanding employee clinic
BayNews9, News Brief, August 13, 2014

Read more news stories and see TV reports about Crowne Consulting Group.

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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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School Board Signs CareHere to Provide Health Clinic

Newspaper Article Clipping
VeroNews, Feb 25, 2014
by Debbie Carson

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Indian River County School Board Tuesday night approved a three-year contract with CareHere to provide an employee health clinic School District employees and their families can use.

…CareHere is expected to provide services to employees who voluntarily sign up for the health clinic option beginning sometime around July 1… Visit VeroNews to view this full story.  See our “In the News” page for more stories about center openings and successes.

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UPDATE:

September 12, 2013 (Ocoee, Fla.) – Crowne Consulting Group is proud to announce that Pasco County School Board has been awarded the Healthiest Employers Award 2013 in the category for 1500+ employees.  Read the full article about Pasco’s successes in the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

ORIGINAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Crowne Consulting Group Client Nominated for Healthiest Employer Awards

August 19, 2013 (Ocoee, Fla.) – Crowne Consulting Group, an  employee benefits consulting firm specializing in onsite health and wellness centers, is proud to announce that our client, The District School Board of Pasco County, is being recognized for outstanding achievements in their employee wellness successes.

The District has been named a finalist for the 2013 Healthiest Employer Awards, which is being presented by the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

The award honors organizations that have made a rewarding realization — a healthier workplace means happier employees who are more productive, use less sick time, and remain loyal longer.  The  finalists’ ranking order will be revealed at a Tampa Bay Business Journal luncheon at the Mainsail Suites Hotel & Conference Center on Sept. 12.

Crowne Consulting Group collaborates with CareHere LLC in operating three Health & Wellness Centers for Pasco schools’ employees, dependents, and retirees.  For zero deductibles and no costs, the District’s health-plan members have free access to primary medical, screenings, lab work, X-rays, EKG, occupational health, wellness programs, disease management, and generic prescriptions.

About Crowne Consulting Group: 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 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.

For more information about launching an effective health and wellness center to improve the quality of healthcare for your Florida employees, call 407-654-5414.

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Pasco school district clinics
bring big health care savings

By Jeffrey S. Solochek, Times Staff Writer
Newspaper Article
Tampa Bay Times
Jan. 26, 2013

 

Dade City — Lose weight.

Rita Mitchell had heard the words many times before.

But it wasn’t until the Cox Elementary School prekindergarten teacher got the advice during a health risk assessment at the Pasco County school district’s wellness center that she took the message to heart. Mitchell learned she was at risk for diabetes, and heard loud and clear what ignoring the signs could mean.

“It was enough to get my attention,” she said. “This thing, if left unattended, it can kill you. She told me to lose weight. I’ve been hearing that for years. But it was like, hello.”

Flash forward a year, and Mitchell is a new woman.

“I just turned 50, and I lost 50,” she said. “I am excited.”

Her success mirrors that of many other district employees, and of the health clinic program that the school district introduced two years ago.

The School Board approved spending about $1.5 million a year to operate three school-based clinics, offering free appointments and medications, in addition to preventive wellness programs for employees. The idea was that the district would save money in the long run by reducing insurance claims and related expenses.

Last year, the district saw its claims drop by more than $2 million, with per-employee costs down by nearly 5 percent. Its rates did not increase as much as expected, allowing the board to use savings to reduce the number of furlough days imposed on employees.

Its focus on diabetes care resulted in a 34 percent decrease in related claims, and the district saw a 26 percent increase in diabetes patients actually getting the monitoring tests they need. Its efforts on weight reduction, expected to net about 1,000 pounds among participants, totaled a loss of 3,800 pounds by those employees.

Use of the centers has been so strong, in fact, that the district is considering opening two others, as well as a center focused on occupational health and physical therapy. District benefits director Mary Tillman said they had to add staff to the centers over the summer to meet the growing demand.

With medical costs rising, Tillman said, the only real way to cut expenses is to get people healthy. Making visits convenient and affordable, while focusing on managing chronic illnesses and catching problems before they get out of hand, has allowed the district to make such strides.

“I’m very proud of our wellness centers,” said School Board chairwoman Cynthia Armstrong, who sits on the district health and wellness incentives committee. “I really feel like it’s been a win-win situation for the district and the employees.”

Armstrong said she and her husband both take advantage of the services the clinics offer, and can see firsthand the benefits. Other districts have started looking at Pasco as a model, she added, as they consider establishing their own wellness programs….See Tampa Bay Times for this full story.

To learn more about Crowne Consulting Group and CareHere’s onsite care, visit our Health & Wellness Centers Page

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

 

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Shots for Tots Combines Toy Drive with Free Flu Shots

Crowne Consulting Group, CareHere, and Pasco Schools partner to collect toy donations while providing protection against the flu.

 

Dec. 19, 2012 (Ocoee, Fla.) – Crowne Consulting Group, Inc. and CareHere LLC announces that they teamed up with the District School Board of Pasco County last week for “Shots for Tots,” a program to offer free flu shots to all adults and children ten-years old and older who donated an unwrapped children’s toy.

As part of the program, CareHere nurses visited several school campuses offering the free vaccine to eligible individuals in an attempt to vaccinate as many people as possible during what is considered by the CDC as a more severe flu season.

In addition to inoculating community members and increasing protection against the flu, the program also collected toys for children in the Pasco County area to aid in the District’s yearly efforts to provide presents for children whose families cannot afford to purchase gifts this year. Guidance counselors from the District School Board of Pasco County joined the drive, picking up the donations and distributing them among needy families whose children attend Pasco County schools.

Toys donated at flu shot clinics outside school campuses were donated to Metropolitan Ministries to assist in boosting their annual toy drive, which had been experiencing a decrease in the number of donations this year.

Crowne Consulting Group collaborates with Tennessee-based CareHere, LLC to operate more than 25 on-site health centers throughout Florida.  Since 2011, Pasco Schools have had three onsite health and wellness centers for their employees.  A news segment highlighting how Pasco Schools saved $2 million in the first year of opening its CareHere health and wellness centers is available at https://crowneinc.com/news/.

 

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 a cumulative 100 years of experience in serving public sector employers such as school boards, city and county government, as well as private organizations.  The firm’s mission is to bring innovative solutions that meet the fiscal responsibility of employers and maximizes investments.  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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