The Role of Carrier Communication in the Employee Benefits Process

As data grows more and more important, the way Information is transferred also grows more important. Since computer technology has improved and allows for faster, safer data transfers, there is no reason for the employee benefits and carrier communication to remain stuck in the era of fax machines.

Carrier communication—also known as carrier connectivity—is an increasingly crucial service that improves the entire benefits process. Digitized forms save time for employees and HR staff alike, but the biggest advantage is accuracy. Enrollment and policyholder changes are lightning fast, secure, and reliable. Carrier communication is just a better way to manage benefits.

What is carrier communication?

Carrier communication is the digital system for relaying employee benefits information and forms to your benefit carriers, including health insurance. Because the communication includes sensitive personal data (some of which may be protected by HIPAA), carrier communication software must be secure.

The Netchex system currently supports three channels of carrier communication:

EDI Feeds

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) connects directly to your carrier or third-party administrator. The secure connection sends sensitive enrollment data automatically.

Digitized Forms

Use pre-populated digital forms with electronic signatures to accelerate paperwork. Bypass the time consuming hassle of exchanging and filing manual paperwork.

NetEnroll

Let employees directly access and manage their personal benefits through customized portals with NetEnroll. Training software and remote access minimize the burden on HR staff. 

Why is carrier communication important?

It goes without saying that benefits like health insurance matter a lot to employees. Unfortunately, conventional methods of managing benefits can be time consuming for HR staff and potentially confusing to everyone else.

Delays, mistakes, and lost paperwork jeopardize employee coverage. HR staff can spend the final days of open enrollment chasing down missing signatures and repeating deadline reminders. Carrier communication allows for faster, secure updates and self-enrollment while reducing the opportunities for human errors. 

Investing in improved carrier communication just makes sense. The whole point of employee benefits is supporting workers with policies they choose, and carrier communication gives employees faster access to those benefits.

Older alternatives remain slower and vulnerable to miscommunication, but integrated HR software automatically handles payroll deductions and other related processes. Invest in your workers, and the whole company will benefit. Talk to the team at Netchex to learn more about carrier communication and the options we provide.

5 greatest benefits of improved carrier communication

Improve your carrier communication, and you’ll see improvements like these in your benefits administration process. Here are just a few of the biggest advantages for today’s businesses.

Easier data delivery

It’s the wrong millennium for your business to settle for snail mail and faxed paperwork. Even email attachments are notoriously easy to forget or switch by accident. Advanced communication like EDI feeds dramatically reduce those potential mistakes and processing delays. 

Streamlined enrollment

Enroll employees with carriers more efficiently. With onboarding software, new hires can start paperwork before their first day in the office. Automatically notify current workers about open enrollment periods and deadlines. Instead of relaying paperwork for individual employees, give everyone direct access to sign up for the benefits they prefer. 

Faster changes and updates

Timeliness matters with insurance coverage. New dependents and policy changes can be managed by employees through their secure portal. Life change management allows policyholders to make changes to their benefits to reflect changes in life circumstances and household.

Software should notify HR staff when employees make changes to their benefits or profiles and forward the changes along to carriers. There’s no need for HR staff to manually enter changes. Updates to policies are also communicated quickly, whether rates or other details change.

Improved benefits tracking

Many employees and employers ask the same questions about benefits. Self-service portals allow policyholders to track their benefits use and progress toward deductibles. Integrated HR software for time and attendance allows employees to track PTO accrued and request leave. Some benefits descriptions and company policies may be included in the employee handbook, but online portals allow employees to compare their current options. 

Enhanced benefits reporting

Employers want to know how many employees take advantage of benefits and how much the employer contributions cost the company. Software makes it easy to automatically collect data across several variables.

Plan Usage Metrics show employers which benefits are most popular. If your workforce isn’t attracted to your conventional benefits, then it may be time to consider adding emerging perks and benefits. More popular benefits will make a bigger difference for recruiting and retention.

Automatic recordkeeping is useful for documenting compliance at each stage of the employee life cycle. Track employee signatures for receipt of COBRA paperwork. Use software to seamlessly handle COBRA and resolve benefits as part of your offboarding procedure.

Learn more about how Netchex can improve your company’s benefits process with better carrier communication:

Learn more about our Benefits Administration software, where comprehensive doesn’t have to mean complex. Netchex makes Benefits Administration (and carrier communication) easy, straightforward, and worry-free.

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