Peter Fendler shivered as he got into his car on Thursday morning. The overnight temperature had dropped to the low teens in Cumberland, ME, down from a balmy 52 degrees the day before. As he switched on his radio and heard reports on the continued shortfall in Federal and State Funds for low income heating assistance, he wondered how people less fortunate than he survived the cold Maine winters without adequate heat.

Entering his office at Norton Financial • Insurance in Cumberland, he resolved to do something to see if he and his company could make a difference. “I started doing some online research, and I came upon several organizations that are committed to helping Mainers stay warm. I started emailing my business partners, and they responded with a resounding, ‘Let’s do it!”‘

So, today Norton Insurance • Financial made five gifts totaling $7,000 to provide heating assistance to Mainers. Norton contributed $2,000 to the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation in Bangor. That foundation matches all gifts up to $70,000 received to provide heating assistance for Bangor area residents. Norton also contributed a total of $5,000 to Community Concepts Fuel Assistance Program and three Maine Community Action Agencies – Waldo Community Action Partners, Western Maine Community Action, and Penquis – all of which provide heating assistance programs in their communities.

“With the matching gift from the King Foundation, we were able to turn our $7,000 gift into a $9,000 gift,” said Fendler, President of Norton Financial. “As financial and insurance professionals, we just love it when we can produce that kind of return on our investment. We encourage other Maine business who have been fortunate during difficult times to do the same.”

For more about Norton Insurance • Financial:

http://www.nortonne.com/about-us/

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Media Contact:
Ted Darling, Ethos
tdarling@ethos-marketing.com
(c) 207-671-9638

In what is the only program of its kind in Maine, Patient Advocates, LLC, now offers advocacy services to employers who buy group health insurance on the open market, a service previously offered only to large self-insured employers. Nurse advocates from the company work on behalf of plan members to help them better understand their conditions and what treatment options are available to them.

“Employers tell us that their plan members need more help navigating the health care system and timely access to specialty care is an issue,” says James Ward, President of Patient Advocates, LLC. “Our nurse advocates help patients find the right care, at the right time, when they need it. As a result of our long-standing relationships with regional centers of excellence, patients learn about medical choices they might not have known about as well as have opportunities for quicker access to specialty care.

“Recently one of our clients was hospitalized with meningitis symptoms said to be complications of his treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Facing a wait time of six weeks for a follow up appointment with his doctor, our nurse advocates were asked to help. They arranged an appointment with the Clinical Director of Rheumatology at Massachusetts General for a second opinion in just five business days. This patient was diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and with proper diagnosis and management of his disease, the patient is now feeling well.”

Patient Advocates has been offering this service to self-insured companies for many years. They have now extended that service to employers who buy group coverage through commercial insurers. Employers purchase advocacy services directly from Patient Advocates and offer this program to plan members as an additional employee benefit.

“Advocacy is great for the patient and helps make sure health dollars are spent wisely,” Ward said. “Accessing the proper treatment quickly leads to the best results for both the patient and the employer.”

About Patient Advocates

Patient Advocates LLC has been helping clients navigate the health care system since 1995. Patient Advocates offers innovative patient advocacy and disease management services, award-winning wellness programs, and creative benefit plan designs with third-party administration. For information, go to www.patientadvocatesllc.com or call (207) 657-7733.

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]]> http://www.prmaine.com/2011/12/new-service-helps-patients-in-commercial-plans-navigate-health-system-effectively-2/feed/ 0 http://www.prmaine.com/2011/12/mercy-hospital-and-maine-red-claws-renew-their-commitment-to-youth%e2%80%94-helping-give-them-a-%e2%80%9cbest-shot%e2%80%9d/ http://www.prmaine.com/2011/12/mercy-hospital-and-maine-red-claws-renew-their-commitment-to-youth%e2%80%94-helping-give-them-a-%e2%80%9cbest-shot%e2%80%9d/#comments Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:21:52 +0000 BroadreachPR http://www.prmaine.com/?p=9179

PORTLAND, Maine (December 6, 2011) —  Mercy Hospital and the Red Claws are proud to kick off the 3^rd annual Best Shot for Youth initiative supporting active and healthy lifestyles for children and young athletes. Funds raised from this initiative through its sponsors will provide free sports physicals at Mercy Primary Care locations for students, grades 6-12 who do not have a primary care physician or who are currently patients of Mercy Primary Care.

The Best Shot for Youth initiative consists of Free Throw Tournaments that are open to all youth. The first tournament is on Dec. 17^th from 1 to 2:30pm at the Portland Expo. Youth of all ages are welcome to try out their skills, learn some new tips and have a chance to win one of 50 free tickets to the Dec. 31 Red Claws game against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. There is no cost to participate. Qualifying students will receive a voucher to redeem for a free sports physical for the 2012–2013 school year.

“Sports physicals are as important for youth competitors as they are for elite athletes,” says Dr. Patrick Pierre of Mercy Windham, and the Red Claws Team Physician. “In the industry, we know that young athletes are more prone to injury due to a number of factors. By providing free physicals for students who wouldn’t normally be able to afford them, this program is not just ensuring healthier lives, but may be saving lives.”

For information on how to participate in the tournament, please contact redclaws@mercyme.com or (207) 879-3605. Mercy is the official healthcare provider for the Maine Red Claws.

About Mercy Health System of Maine

Mercy Health System of Maine is a growing community of healthcare providers who provide clinically-excellent, compassionate care.  A recognized leader in quality, safety, innovation and patient experience, Mercy operates campuses throughout southern Maine, offering a broad range of medical and surgical services, as well as primary and specialty care.  The story of Mercy includes Mercy Hospital, Gary’s House, McAuley Residence, Mercy Recovery Center, and VNA Home Health & Hospice. For more information, please call (207) 879-3486 or visit www.mercyhospital.org.

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Dr. Jacobs is a member of the ICPA (International Chiropractic Pediatric Association) and may be reached for more information at 207-774-6251 or by emailing drj@drloujacobs.com. For more information on the ICPA visit www.icpa4kids.org or follow Dr. Jacobs on twitter @drloujacobs.

Scheduling and maintaining appointments during a busy week day can be a challenge, so Patient Advocates and Mercy Hospital are hosting the first Saturday screening event for current clients of Patient Advocates with the hopes that events like these will continue, especially with several studies showing the percentage of women receiving mammograms has declined in recent years. Patients will be receiving pink bracelets, pink ribbon pins and refreshments.

“As many know, breast cancer is a devastating disease that affects not only the individual but also the entire family and studies have also shown that one of the most effective weapons against this disease is a simple mammogram. Early detection saves lives, so we’re trying to save more lives by making this simple test more available,” said James Ward, President of Patient Advocates.

“With all of the state of the art mammography equipment now available in communities and much not being used on the weekends, we thought it would be a great benefit to our clients and their employees—to partner with these facilities to provide them access to screenings without having to take time off from work.”

This special Saturday screening at Women’s Imaging Services at Mercy is the first of hopefully more to come as Mercy and Patient Advocates continue to work together to help Maine women get this necessary test for early detection.

About Patient Advocates

Patient Advocates LLC has been helping clients navigate the health care system since 1995. Patient Advocates offers innovative patient advocacy and disease management services, award-winning wellness programs, and creative benefit plan designs with third-party administration. For information, go to www.patientadvocatesllc.com or call (207) 657-7733.

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The conference focused on a variety of topics relevant to divorce planning including: valuing pensions, advanced divorce taxation, estate planning before and after a divorce, understanding money behavior, case studies in divorce, and marketing the collaborative divorce model.

“It is essential for planners to always be educating themselves on the newest information in the financial sphere, particularly when counseling on complicated situations like divorce,” said Boynton. “One of the key points I took away from the conference was that not only technical knowledge, but creativity is needed in finding solutions to separating a marriage in a fair and equitable way, especially in today’s challenging economic environment.”

Jill is a Certified Financial Planner® practitioner and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst. She graduated from Tufts University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Magna Cum Laude and currently resides in Newington, NH with her husband and two sons.

About Cornerstone Financial Planning

Cornerstone Financial Planning has been providing unbiased and client-focused financial planning services in Maine, New Hampshire, and Northern Massachusetts since 2004. As Certified Financial Planner® practitioners and NAPFA Registered Financial Advisors, Cornerstone helps its clients through financial transitions and moves them toward more confident decision making for the long-term. For information, go to www.cornerstoneplanning.com or call (603) 431-1133 in New Hampshire or
(207) 772-8133 in Maine.

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Jill Boynton

Five Star Professional is an organization that conducts research to help consumers with the important decision of selecting a service professional. The Five Star Professional award is determined through a survey of 65,000 high net worth households and 3,500 registered financial services professionals and is awarded to less than 3 percent of licensed wealth managers in the area.

Jill is a Certified Financial Planner® practitioner and Certified Divorce Financial Analyst. She graduated from Tufts University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Magna Cum Laude and currently resides in Newington, NH with her husband and two sons.

About Cornerstone Financial Planning
Cornerstone Financial Planning has been providing unbiased and client-focused financial planning services in Maine, New Hampshire, and Northern Massachusetts since 2004. As Certified Financial Planner® practitioners and NAPFA Registered Financial Advisors, Cornerstone helps its clients through financial transitions and moves them toward more confident decision making for the long-term. For information, go to www.cornerstoneplanning.com or call (603) 431-1133 in New Hampshire and (207) 772-8133 in Maine.

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WESTBROOK, ME – October 5, 2011 – Insurance Automation Group (IAG) announces that Aspen Insurance has chosen its iAutomate: Company Surety solution to help launch its commercial surety business. Aspen U.S. Insurance will use the surety platform for underwriting, as well as integrated booking and account management, as it builds its specialized commercial surety business.

“We have clear objectives for our emerging surety business, and we wanted to focus on our producers and our client relationships rather than on building a software solution,” says Michael Toppi, EVP-Chief Surety Lines Underwriter, Aspen Insurance. “Upon review of several surety solutions available in the market, it became quite obvious to our team that Insurance Automation Group and their products were best suited to meet our specific automation requirements; IAG has a strong surety platform and a robust technical team – this partnership is the right investment for our surety business.”

iAutomate: Company Surety helps surety companies streamline workflow and manage the volumes of information required to support underwriting and portfolio management needs.

“We welcome Aspen Insurance to the commercial surety business, and are pleased the company has chosen our iAutomate: Company Surety solution,” says Jeff Bucci, National Sales Manager, Insurance Automation Group. “We look forward to supporting their growth with our technology, our people, and our expertise.”

About Aspen U.S. Insurance

Aspen U.S. is a subsidiary of Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd., a leading global insurance and reinsurance company and listed on the NYSE (AHL). Aspen U.S. writes property, casualty and specialty insurance in the U.S. on both a surplus lines and admitted basis through Aspen Specialty Insurance Company and Aspen American Insurance Company. It offers depth of underwriting expertise and the ability to assess and manage technically complex risk. Its commercial surety business was launched early in 2011. For more information, visit http://www.aspenspecialty.com .

About Insurance Automation Group

The Insurance Automation Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of Workgroup Technology Partners, a provider of advanced technology solutions and services based in Westbrook, Maine. The Insurance Automation Group develops software solutions that help insurance firms and Plans grow their businesses and capture more revenue without adding personnel overhead. The product line includes iAutomate: Erlon Surety, iAutomate: CompanySurety, iAutomate: SmartForms, iAutomate: Claims DataManager, iAutomate: OPL CaseManager and iAutomate: Overpayment CaseManager. The Insurance Automation Group is an Applied ConneXion® Integrating Vendor and a Vertafore Integration Program Company. For more information, call 207-856-5300 or visit www.insuranceautomationgroup.com.

Contact:

Jeff Bucci, Insurance Automation Group

207.856.5325

jeff.bucci@insuranceautomationgroup.com

Alison Harris, Harris Media Services

207.829.4500

alison@harrismediaservices.com

Media Release

For Immediate Release

Contact:      Willow Sherwood, Executive Director, Wellness Council of Maine   

director@wellnesscouncilofmaine.org   

(207)  947-0307 

Workplace Wellness Leadership Symposium provides professional development for leaders around the state.

Keynote speaker Dr. David Hunnicutt of WELCOA will discuss the importance of healthy and engaged employees during difficult economic times.

 Bethel, Maine – Businesses from across the state of Maine will gather at the third annual Wellness Leadership Symposium in October.  This two day event will help professionals from around the state learn more about how to properly implement workplace wellness programs to improve employee retention, morale and productivity, reduce absenteeism, decrease health care costs, moderate insurance premiums and help to improve the health of Maine’s workforce.

Dr. David Hunnicutt, President of the Wellness Council of America (WELCOA), is the featured keynote speaker at the symposium, which will take place on October 13 & 14 at Sunday River Grand Summit Hotel.  Dr. Hunnicutt is one of the nation’s lead experts on employee health and results-oriented workplace wellness programs. 

 “We’re thrilled to have Dr. Hunnicutt speak in Maine again.  Maine businesses of all sizes have made significant strides in workplace health promotion in the last several years and Dr. Hunnicutt will help to congratulate them on their efforts as well as provide helpful insights for moving forward in a sluggish economy” said Willow Sherwood, executive director of the Wellness Council of Maine, the symposium sponsor.

This 3rd annual state-wide symposium, which typically draws 200 business leaders each year, will also feature speakers from Maine’s business and healthcare industries to share their experience and knowledge. In addition to Dr. Hunnicutt presentations, the symposium will also feature Dr. Larry Catlett of Occupational Medical Consulting, LLC and Larry Bouchard national speaker and author.  Other speakers include representatives from MaineGeneral Health, Lohmann Animal Health, St. Joseph’s College, Maine Medical Center’s Lifeline Wellness Program, Chase Financial Solutions, Gold’s Gym, Medical Care Development and Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems. 

The symposium offers two breakout sessions. The first will allow participants to choose between three business case studies from companies of various sizes. The second session helps attendees put evidence into practice; highlighting financial wellness, chronic disease management, and physical activity for the workplace offering strategies for making positive changes in these areas.  Afternoon sessions include managing presenteeism in the workplace and practical tips for workplace health promotion.

 “We are proud to have such a strong network of business leaders in Maine,” said Sherwood. “Workplace health promotion is essential to the vitality of Maine’s economy.  Future economic success in Maine is tied to the health of our workforce and our ability to retain and attract great companies to our state.”

The Wellness Council of Maine is a licensed partner of the Wellness Council of America, one of the nation’s most trusted voices on workplace wellness. WLCME provides resources, leadership, guidance and support for businesses across Maine to develop and enhance results-oriented workplace wellness initiatives.

For more information on the Symposium, please contact Willow Sherwood, Director, Wellness Council of Maine at (207) 947-0307, director@wellnesscouncilofmaine.org or visit www.wellnesscouncilofmaine.org/Events.

“2011 football season head injuries in children may last a lifetime: Parents sign at your child’s risk.”

Portland, ME — Evidence suggests that every time you child butts heads with another player, they may be increasing their chances of various types of brain damage later in life. Dr. Lou Jacobs, a chiropractor in Portland is very concerned about the lack of concern among parents for the health of their football playing children. “Unfortunately, parents don’t realize that young kids who play football throughout their school years may experience damage to their brains.” Memory loss, depression, rage, impulsive behavior are all common side effects of CTE or Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a condition that is often found in NFL players. Repeated concussions and near concussive hits to the head that don’t heal properly may lead to CTE.

Dr. Lou says “Choose a different sport or activity”. As much as parents and children hate to hear it, allowing your children to play football and receive repeated head injuries is a decision that should be well thought out and the wrong decision could lead to permanent mental impairment. While there are many injuries sustained in football, CTE has more recently been recognized by football fans thanks to a law suit involving 75 former NFL players suing the NFL. These players claim that the NFL had a duty to protect them from head injuries that they knew were harmful and even life threatening.

Dr. Jacobs suggests that parents and children think carefully about the long term implications of short term seasonal athletic satisfaction. He also suggests parents talk to coaches about how their children are practicing as well as learning how to tackle and take a hit. “The head down & go technique is dangerous” says Dr. Jacobs. If a child “must” play football, then regular medical and chiropractic check ups should be routine to minimize risk of short and long term damage.

For More Information Contact:
Dr. Lou Jacobs
138 St. John Street
Portland, Maine
04102

drj@drloujacobs.com
O: (207) 774-6251
C: (207) 807-1119