Most Loomis Armored employees spend their time on the road, transporting cash and valuables between stores, banks and ATMs. Add the tellers and vault staff working in branches spread across the country, and it’s a workforce that’s rarely sitting at a desk, checking email. So when Adrienne Lee-Jones, Director of Payroll and Benefits at Loomis, evaluated specialty care solutions for the company’s health plan, savings mattered, but she needed something else, too: a program her people would be able to access wherever they are, with a message that sticks.
Luckily, she’d seen one work before.
A Two-Time Lantern Client and Member
When Loomis’s broker first raised Lantern as an option, cost was the headline. Specialty procedures were getting more expensive, and the broker wanted a way to rein that in. But Lee-Jones had a second reason to say yes.
“I actually had used it when it was SurgeryPlus, and it had done a great job for my previous company,” she said. “I thought it would be a good fit for Loomis to help people get quality care and some reduced savings, and take away the fear from getting care.”
When her team turned to her and asked what she thought, the decision was easy. “This is what we should be doing,” she said. “We absolutely need to consider this.”
Sealing the Deal: Dedicated Support at Each Step
Ask Lee-Jones what stood out most, and she doesn’t point to a spreadsheet. She points to the Care Advocate.
“When you have employees who are hesitant about care and don’t really know what to do, having somebody who will be with them and guide them through their entire process takes away the hesitation and the fear,” she said. “Our employees really needed that handholding.”
She knew that firsthand. Heading into her own corrective foot surgery — her third attempt at a procedure that hadn’t gone as planned twice before — Lee-Jones was apprehensive about switching providers again. Lantern gave her three options in her area, and a Care Advocate walked her through the process from the first call to the day of surgery.
“I did not feel rushed. I felt heard,” she said of the surgeon she chose. “He understood my fears and my qualms about the fact that I was going to have to have this foot surgery for the third time, and he really listened to me and answered all of my questions.” Between the care team and the surgeon himself, she said, “it just kind of changed my entire experience.”
When a follow-up surgery turned out to be necessary, that same surgeon walked in and, before saying a word about the procedure, hugged her. “I was so taken aback by that because it was so unexpected, but it was exactly what I needed,” she said.
That’s not a detail Lee-Jones keeps to herself. Explaining Lantern to her own employees, she leans on the same story: a dedicated person to call, a network built for a specific kind of care, and an experience that doesn’t leave people feeling shuffled through the system.
The Power of Word of Mouth
Lee-Jones says her employees are still getting to know Lantern, but the early feedback has been consistent. “I will give an A-plus for everybody I’m aware of who has come back to me after using Lantern,” she said. “They have been very happy with the customer service, and they’ve been happy with the care and the quality they received from the medical providers.”
She’s watched skepticism turn into advocacy more than once. “I have had people say, ‘I don’t know how this is going to work, but because it’s lower cost, I’m going to give it a try.’ And then they give it a try, and they become my champions,” she said. “Especially when it comes from somebody who’s not me — because that’s what I’m supposed to do. I’m supposed to tout it.”
Lee-Jones knows the power of a positive patient experience firsthand. After all, she’s the champion she describes — the one whose own experience with Lantern turned a broker’s recommendation into an easy decision for Loomis.
I have had people say, ‘I don’t know how this is going to work, but because it’s lower cost, I’m going to give it a try.’ And then they give it a try, and they become my champions.”
