BPOs can do a lot things for the brokers
When juggling a multitude of clients and a wide array of group coverages, health insurance brokers have a lot on their plate. It’s essential to make sure that every group is getting the right information at the right time. After all, your clients rely on you to ensure that their employees are getting the best possible coverage and service, at the best value.
Insurance business process outsourcing, or BPO, can help employee benefits businesses keep all the moving parts humming smoothly. Here are three core reasons the health insurance industry should consider BPO services to improve operations.
1. Improved insurance processing capabilities
When onboarding new clients and processing enrollment changes efficiently, it’s critical to maintain consistency and commit to quality. After all, a mistake on an eligibility transaction might go unnoticed by the group administrator until a critical illness or hospitalization occurs. At which point it is likely too late to make changes, making the group or the broker liable for the claim costs. When working with an insurance BPO partner, you’ll be able to develop standardized workflows and quality assurance procedures, ensuring that nothing falls through the cracks.
In addition to improved quality, these standardized workflows will improve overall efficiency. Working with a dedicated partner for employee benefits insurance processing should offer a clear path to improve cost efficiency and increasing revenue. These two goals are directly related: by spending less on processing eligibility and shopping plan options for each client, your business can work toward taking on additional clients and expanding your potential revenue.
2. Full management of small accounts
You likely have a mix of large group clients that take up most of your time, and small groups that trust you for the same level of service as the larger groups. We know that delivering a high level of service takes time, and trying to juggle a high volume of requests for service takes time and can cause delays in providing answers, or a lapse in quality to meet deadlines.
When you partner with Patra, we are able to fully service your small book of business. You can always trust that the highest standards for quality assurance will be followed and that our team will offer the same level of care and expertise as your internal staff while improving processes and extending new opportunities. Choosing to partner with Patra to manage your small accounts creates a full extension of your team and will not cause any disruption in service or branding, keeping your business growing according to your vision.
3. High-quality print and mail services
As much as we all love paperless service and digitization, there’s still a value to offering hard-copy versions of paperwork, such as Benefit Guides, enrollment forms, and open enrollment materials. When working with multiple plans and carriers, it can be difficult to maintain consistent branding and assure customers and insureds that all communications regarding their enrollment are coming from you.
As part of our print, mail, and document processing services, Patra offers a state-of-the-art print and mail center to manage physical communications and simplify mailing. We have the ability to easily print branded company collateral that can be delivered to your employee benefits business for in-person meetings, or shipped directly to the insured.
Choosing an insurance BPO partner
When considering a BPO partner, it’s important to take into account the unique needs of health insurance brokers compared to more standard P&C businesses. To appropriately serve employee benefits customers requires detailed knowledge of a wide array of policies, and how those policies interact and work together to offer the best possible coverage. It’s also essential to offer not only the best options for individual groups but also to develop full benefits packages that companies will be proud to offer their current employees and incentivize new hires.
At Patra, we carry the experience necessary to help health insurance brokers improve existing processes, increase revenue, and strive for full customer satisfaction.
