A General Health Insurance Agency Gains More Market Share

Executives See 25% New Client Increase Per Account Manager

"We've grown our client base without adding staff, which is key."

Senior Vice President of Employee Benefits Consulting

About The General Health Insurance Agency

Providing the same level of service to businesses with one or one thousand employees is a core value at this California-based general health insurance agency. The agency belongs to a national, independent collective of 180 insurance leaders whose collaborative approach sets them apart from other employee benefits practices. The collective is the 11th fastest-growing broker in the United States; and the agency is the top producer of small businesses.

The Challenge

Despite the agency's stellar performance, executives saw opportunities to achieve greater efficiencies and improve the client experience. "Eligibility processing was our biggest pain point, especially mid-year changes,” said a senior vice president at the general health insurance agency. “Account managers spent 50% of their day pulling elections from our benefits administration platform, verifying the correct information, submitting to the health insurance carriers and following up.” The agency’s efficiency challenges increased when COVID-19 forced employers to reduce staff headcounts. "The account management team is responsible for retention and they weren't engaging employers as often as they wanted,” said the senior vice president.

The Solution

Executives identified a potential solution when they absorbed a Nevada-based collective member agency's new account management team. While managing the Nevada agency’s client management practices, executives discovered how Patra’s OnDemand Employee Benefit Eligibility processing services were a key factor to the account team’s success. put somthing here “Everyone said Patra was doing wonderful things,” the senior vice president noted. “I reviewed the benefits processing Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) developed by Patra and thought – this is something my team could really use. I adjusted the SOP to fit my agency’s employee benefits processing needs. Then I called Patra and said, ‘We’ve taken your existing SOP and revised it for our office – let's get onboarded’.”

Client Profile:

  • Retail Agency
  • California

Challenges:

  • Account management team inundated with processing mid-year eligibility changes
  • Limited capacity to grow client relationships

Requirements:

  • Accelerate employee benefit processing without sacrificing quality or accuracy
  • Scalable service model to accommodate fluctuating mid-year processing volumes

Patra Solution:

Positive Outcomes:

  • 25% new client capacity increase per account manager
  • Strengthened client relationships through omni-channel engagement
  • Improved agility to support emerging client demands

Results

“Now, account managers are focused,” said the senior vice president. Patra’s employee benefit processing experts became an extension of the agency’s account management team. “Patra enabled my account managers to have more touch points with their clients – whether it’s face to face, virtual check-ins, e-mail or phone exchanges.” The agency’s operational transformation has been a growth catalyst, too. “We’ve expanded our client base without adding staff, which is key,” she noted. “Every account manager’s new client load increased 25%.”

Conclusion

General health insurance agencies stand to gain more market share though quick, effective responses to market shifts, carrier or employer challenges. Patra’s OnDemand Employee Benefit Eligibility processing enables agencies to elevate their service models. Agencies can use the flexible OnDemand service model to streamline and simplify a single process or transform the entire employee benefit renewal cycle. Patra’s 24-hour processing capabilities are backed by market-leading error and omission liability assumption. It’s a secure, scalable way for general health insurance agencies to gain agility needed to deliver high-touch service to carriers and employers amid a dynamic, complex market.

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