County Commission | The Magazine May 2019 | Page 25

FROM THE COVER
2018-2019 ACCA president, is a
commissioner in Choctaw County.
Elmore County’s chief engineer and
operations officer, Richie Beyer, and
ACCA Executive Director Sonny
Brasfield round out the group.
2
Expert staff with a
single focus
CRS is composed of a top-
notch staff of professionals, many
of them with decades of experience
working with counties in Alabama.
What’s more, counties have their
full attention. CRS has no clients
other than the counties and county-
related entities in the ACCA Funds.
By contrast, commercial third-
party administrators often provide
services to more than one group
of self-insurance pools. And in
the case of a national company, a
natural disaster in New England
might dictate that Alabama-
based staff members back up their
colleagues elsewhere.
CRS
County Risk Services, Inc.
tools
3 It New
would be difficult to overstate
the capabilities of Origami Risk,
the best-in-the world, cloud-based
software powering CRS. Features
and tools are being rolled out
gradually to Fund members, with
training provided along the way.
Many routine tasks are shifting
online, so administrators will no
longer have to keep tabs on the
number of days needed for mail
to reach Montgomery, and CRS
staff will be able to respond more
quickly.
In the not-too-distant future,
county employees will be able to
submit claims using their mobile
devices, uploading photos on the
spot. Do you need a particular
form? It will be in there. With
sophisticated data analysis, safety
coordinators will have no need to
scour a long list of training videos
for something appropriate at the
next departmental safety meeting.
Resources will be recommended
based on claims history.
4 Not for-profit
What’s the old saying about
“you get what you pay for?” The
usual expectation is that better
service comes with a bigger price
tag, but CRS turns that on its head.
Legally, CRS is organized as a
nonprofit corporation, and unlike
a typical for-profit business, there
are no shareholders expecting a
return on their investment. “In the
long run, it will cost the Funds
less with the in-house, third-party
administrator,” van Arcken said. n
COUNTY COMMISSION | 25