Premier Insurance Management Services Introduces Leading Healthcare Dependent Eligibility Audit Program to 2,200 Hospital Members of the Premier Healthcare Alliance
 
December 8, 2009 -- Premier Insurance Management Services Inc. : (PIMS) today introduced HRAdvance, the established leader in dependent eligibility audits for healthcare organizations, to the 2,200 members of the Premier healthcare alliance.

The results of a comprehensive dependent eligibility audit indicate an opportunity to enhance the internal controls utilized in benefits enrollment. Traditional enrollment
processes no longer meet the basic needs of the fiduciaries administering health plans.

“We believe that employees are the most valuable asset of virtually every organization. Cost savings from eligibility verification help employers sustain employee benefit levels,” said Craig Firestone, president of HRAdvance. “HRAdvance audits deliver unmatched visibility, project oversight and vendor management tools. With more than 160 clients that range in size from 500 to more than 100,000 employee lives, our extensive experience with healthcare organizations is unparalleled in the industry.”

HRAdvance is a technology solutions firm whose mission is empowering human resource professionals and senior management teams with best practice hosted solutions deployed without capital expenditure or information technology dependency.

Said Benefits Manager for The MetroHealth System of Cleveland Pat Modjeski, “At MetroHealth we can closely evaluate the cost-benefit relationship of our current enrollment processes with HRAdvance. The audit is an effective cost measurement technique.”

Established in 2004, HRAdvance has helped hundreds of companies improve their visibility in human resources and benefits data, costs and resource constraints. Their average project outcome finds more than 11 percent of enrolled dependents are ineligible and produces a first-year ROI exceeding 1,400 percent.

“I have witnessed firsthand the difference between organizations with systems, tools, and business intelligence for decision making and those without. Managers need tools that make it easier to manage, lead, develop and reward employees,” said Firestone.

HRAdvance has created health plan cost containment technology-enabled business solutions that.

- Improve the fiscal wellness of employer health plans;
- Mitigate employer risks (fiduciary, regulatory, tax compliance, and litigation risk management);
- Streamline and minimize the complexity and labor cost of traditional administrative processes; and
- Enable managers to make informed management decisions through Web-based tools and intelligence portals.

“HRAdvance contributes to the bottom line,” said PIMS President Robert Dowdy. “In today’s market conditions, the economy demands that organizations and their health plans identify and realize every cost containment opportunity. HRAdvance is a well-designed eligibility audit that enables health plans to avoid paying claims for unintended beneficiaries.”

A dependent eligibility audit is a controlled process designed to preserve the integrity of an employer’s benefit plan by identifying incorrectly enrolled participants. Incorrectly enrolled or ineligible dependents can result in significant and unnecessary costs to the plan sponsor and participants, as well as create a compliance/fiduciary violation on the part of the employer.

HRAdvance’s management competencies and healthcare focus reflect more than 150 years of combined experience in developing automated human resource, benefits, administrative and financial solutions for public and private organizations.



About HRAdvance

HRAdvance was founded in 2004 with a narrow mission in mind: to provide HR and Benefit professionals with best-practice hosted solutions that can be deployed without capital expenditure or IT dependency.
HRAdvance’s core competency is Plan-Smart™ and Plan-Guard™ ( dependent eligibility audit) verification services. With more than 160 clients that range in size from 500 to more than 100,000 employee lives, HRAdvance is the best-practice dependent eligibility audit solution. Their management competencies and healthcare focus reflect more than 150 years of combined experience in developing automated human resource, benefits, administrative and financial solutions for government, public and private organizations. HRAdvance’s background and experience ensures that every client and their employees will be served by a firm with the greatest possible familiarity with their industry, an acute understanding of their workforce and firsthand appreciation of the value every employee represents. Visit  www.plan-smart.com to learn more.


About Premier Insurance Management Services Inc. (PIMS)

Incorporated in 1987, PIMS is an Illinois for-profit corporation wholly owned by Premier Inc. PIMS provides contracted management services for American Excess Insurance Exchange, Risk Retention Group (AEIX), and is attorney-in-fact for Premier Insurance Exchange, Risk Retention Group (PRx). PIMS also serves as program manager offering enhanced sponsored programs with leading commercial insurers through a comprehensive portfolio of property, casualty and employee benefit products. Other services include providing claims and risk management assessments and education offerings regarding medical professional liability for hospitals and their physicians. For more information, visit www.premierinc.com/risk/tools-services/pims/index.jsp.


About Premier Inc., 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient

The Premier healthcare alliance is more than 2,200 U.S. hospitals and 63,000-plus other healthcare sites working together to improve healthcare quality and affordability. Premier maintains the nation's most comprehensive repository of clinical, financial and outcomes information and operates a leading healthcare purchasing network. A world leader in helping deliver measurable improvements in care, Premier works with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the United Kingdom's National Health Service North West to improve hospital performance. Headquartered in Charlotte, Premier also has offices in San Diego, Philadelphia and Washington. Follow Premier on Twitter.

Premier Inc.Alven Weil, 704-733-5797