1. Numerous HR Software Options Are Available
In addition to understanding how your performance affects the overall experience people have with you as a TPA, another TPA best practice focuses on understanding the HR software that employer groups and plan participants use to manage information.
But with so many HR software systems available, how are you supposed to understand all of them?
Hundreds of software options are available for businesses of all sizes to use — from small businesses with 10–100 employees to mega-corporations with thousands of employees in multiple countries. And that doesn’t include custom-built solutions. These software platforms include critical features like payroll, hourly time tracking, applicant tracking, performance management, benefits enrollment, time off, tax, and more.
Needless to say, when you form a relationship with a new employer group, it’s possible you may have no experience or familiarity with their HR software.
2. Not All HR Software Systems Export Data Similarly
As a TPA, you’re probably familiar with this scenario. An employer has contracted with you for benefits administration. As employee enrollment data starts coming in from their HR software system, you quickly discover that the information isn’t quite what you’re used to seeing.
For many TPAs, navigating this scenario translates into team members spending significant amounts of time reviewing files manually to extract and re-enter data — with the added pressure of ensuring accuracy.
Your success as a TPA depends on reviewing and processing enrollment and eligibility data promptly. This is singularly important at year-end when a large volume of groups are renewing their plans.
3. HR Software Systems Might Not Integrate with Your Benefit Administration Platform
To add another layer of complexity, how will employers’ HR software data integrate with your current benefits administration system? Is an integration even available? What is the process to get it set up? Will it standardize information into a single format once received?
If integration isn’t possible, would you build a custom benefits administration solution? Do you have the time and resources to commit to custom development? Custom development can be an extensive process that might not make sense for your business goals and the employer.
And what if your current benefits administration system is custom-built? What flexibility have you added into it to allow for future integrations with external HR software?
With the number of HR software systems out there, the inconsistency of enrollment data across platforms, and the potential that they might not work with your platform, makes working efficiently difficult. It’s time to consider a long-term solution — one that not only makes your work easier, but also makes life easier for brokers, employers, and their plan participants.
Good News — A Solution is Already Available
You don’t need to understand the intricacies of every single HR software system that’s out there. You don’t need to spend countless hours reformatting enrollment data for standardization. You don’t need to worry about employer HR software systems not integrating with your current benefits administration system.
Tools are available now that can help you seamlessly and efficiently process enrollment and eligibility data from a variety of HR software systems — regardless of format. Even better, those tools integrate with popular benefit administration programs like Alegeus, DataPath, and Wex Health (even custom platforms) — allowing you to get up and running quickly and easily and start serving people better.
Ready to make your process more efficient? Get started now.