What to Look for When Automating Benefits Enrollment

By Ginny Carpenter

Benefits enrollment is an essential part of the service offering provided by many professional employer organizations (PEOs), administrative services organizations (ASOs), or human resource outsourcing organizations (HROs). But from an administrative point of view, if benefits enrollment is being handled manually, it can be one of the most time-consuming, error prone, grueling processes a service provider implements.

As PEOs, ASOs and HROs seek ways to maximize productivity without increasing costs, large-scale projects like open enrollment or adding new clients can challenge their organizations. And setting up and delivering benefits to small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) with a variety of evolving needs is not easy. The most common needs and issues that service providers and their clients have with benefits enrollment typically include the following:

  • Paper form management
  • Clunky online enrollment systems
  • Lack of smart phone / mobile-friendly options
  • Inability to compare multiple plans side-by-side
  • Unreliable or outdated reporting and tracking tools

An effective online benefits enrollment solution allows PEOs, ASOs, and HROs to address all of these issues. It can also help them achieve significant efficiencies and time savings, decrease their physical storage needs, and increase their accuracy. Once you’ve made that important decision to adopt an automated benefits enrollment solution, here are the most important factors to look for and to ask potential vendors:  

    • Is it mobile-centric?
    • Is it user-friendly?
    • Is it fully integrated with your payroll system?
    • Does it have automatic reminders?
    • Can it scale?
    • Is it frequently updated with regulatory changes?
    • Does it provide advanced tracking and reporting?
    • Does it allow your clients to use their own brand?
    • Does it allow point-and-click form creation?

Making the decision to automate your benefits enrollment is an important one, and there are many factors you should consider as you do so.

Be sure the solution you choose meets the unique needs of your clients and your business, to ensure that not only can you provide a more positive benefits enrollment experience for your clients today but also as their business grows and changes in the future.  

For more information, check out this eBook about automated benefits enrollment, and review this case study about a PEO/ASO service provider’s experience with going to a paperless benefits enrollment system.