Technology: Creating Efficiency in Employee Benefits Technology is moving faster than ever. It is difficult to keep up! As it relates to technology and change, Insurance Companies tend to move at a slower rate than the rest of the world. That doesn’t mean we have to wait around. The largest and most successful companies in the world aren’t waiting; they are blazing the trail. The most successful employers use and experiment with the newest technologies. So, let’s take a look and see what they have been up to! Cell Phone Applications (Apps): Large employers are using cell phone applications (or “Apps”) for employees who are Android and i-Phone users. It seems as though there is an app for everything. Now, there is an app for employee benefits too! Employers can provide an application to employees to look up employee benefits information. Virtual Doctor’s Visits: Now employees can have 24/7 access to a doctor! Many insurance plans offer access to a Toll-Free Nurse Line. This is different. This benefit allows an employee to access a Doctor online and/or over the phone. This technology has tremendous cost savings potential for any self-funded or partially self-funded plan (such as an HRA). Each time the member opts to use the Virtual Doctor Visit in lieu of a traditional office visit, this will save the group health plan approximately (on average) $51 per visit. Moreover, each time the member opts to use the Virtual Doctor Visit in lieu of an Emergency Room it will save the group health plan approximately (on average) $543 per visit. Reverse Auction for Employee Benefits: What is a reverse auction? It is the opposite of a standard or traditional auction. In a traditional auction consumers bid up the price of a product to outbid each other. In a traditional auction, the highest bid wins. In a reverse auction it is the opposite; the lowest bid wins in a reverse auction. A consumer is (figuratively speaking) put on the auction block and the vendors are in the audience bidding the price down to win the business. Each insurance carrier can see all the bids on the table and will only place a bid if it is lower than the previous bid. The end result is, the insurance carriers will bid each other down and the lowest bid wins! We have taken a look at the newest technologies available in the world of employee benefits. Each technology listed above focuses on one or more of the following areas: reducing costs, increasing functionality, and/or streamlining processes. The largest and most successful companies in the world have used the above three technologies in the past few years to manage costs, increase functionality and to be more efficient. To learn more, contact Melissa DeWeese at Beneflex Insurance Services, Inc. at 805.684.5100 x 104 or learn more about Beneflex by visiting www.beneflexsb.com.