CoreSource News

CoreSource Welcomes Back An Old Friend

Lancaster General Health, a well-known health system in central Pennsylvania that was twice a CoreSource client in the 1990s, once again selected CoreSource to administer its employee health benefits plan. In deciding to return to CoreSource for a January 1, 2010 effective date, Lancaster General became the first CoreSource client to select the CareChampion product, which provides guidance on health issues and benefits as part of an around-the-clock “concierge” service for employees and their families.

Lancaster General, which was named among the top 50 hospitals in the country by U.S. News & World Report for the sixth time in 2009, based its decision primarily on CoreSource’s highly integrated capabilities, which were not fully developed in the 1990s. In addition, CoreSource demonstrated how it would customize services to fully support the employee health plan while meeting the other business needs of the health system.

“When Lancaster General identified its need to enhance customer service for health plan members, a 24/7 telephone concierge desk was at the top of its list,” said Jason Dennis, Sales Executive, CoreSource Lancaster. “We explained how we would set up a single, dedicated toll-free telephone number that members will contact at any time of the day or night, which is an attractive feature for handling service calls, regardless of what shift an employee works.”

CoreSource worked with Health Contact Partners (HCP) to develop a solution that streamlines calls in order to connect each caller with the right person every time. When a health plan member calls the toll-free number, the call is routed through the HCP call center, which directs the caller to the appropriate resource. For example, a caller with a claim question will be directed to a CoreSource claims professional, a caller who needs to pre-certify an upcoming hospital stay will be directed to a nurse, and a caller seeking help with health issues, benefits or a claim appeal will be routed directly to advocates who staff the CareChampion program. “What CoreSource embeds into CareChampion really resonated with the health system,” Dennis said.

“Beyond service, we also showed Lancaster General how we will support the hospital’s provider strategy using the Aetna Signature Administrators network to save money on medical care that has to be performed outside the health system because a service is not available through Lancaster General or because the employee lives outside of Lancaster County,” Dennis said. “Aetna contracts with providers to offer a wide range of physician services at discounted prices. And, these savings are passed on to Lancaster General.”

The CoreSource team also explained how CoreSource’s robust capabilities for collecting, managing and analyzing claims data will enhance the hospital’s healthcare management programs. In addition, CoreSource’s proprietary YourCare health and wellness programs will be fully integrated with Lancaster General’s own initiatives resulting in even stronger programs.

“CoreSource’s healthcare management, integrated technology, and willingness to creatively partner with Lancaster General to accomplish the hospital’s wellness and benefit objectives, surpassed the proposals of competitors, such as Highmark Blue Cross and Health Assurance,” said Chip Sernyak, Regional President, Northeast, CoreSource.

“The milestone for me during this process was when leadership from Lancaster General, the principals from Stoudt Advisors, who is the broker and benefits consultant for Lancaster General, and the CoreSource management team sat together around the table discussing how we could work together to improve the delivery and funding of healthcare to benefit our local community,” Dennis said. “We are very excited to welcome Lancaster General back as a premier CoreSource customer, and we are looking forward to working with the hospital to accomplish their goals and to solidify our community partnership.”