Outsourcing can mean integration, not disengagement

Often, outsourcing some aspects of operations, especially when it comes to human resource management and employee benefits, gives the impression of a disengaged management team. Here are ways for organizations to keep their in-house HR and engagement teams lean, yet enjoy innovative total employee benefits programming that optimizes financial and human resources, while streamlining business processes to drive increased efficiency and productivity.

The Client Case

Sometime in 2017, bnfts.ph met with a recruitment consultancy firm that was also engaged in general and professional search and selection services. The company had over 300 employees and over 3,000 personnel deployed across the country. Just like any other outsourcing firm, their HR team was very lean and overworked, with so many contracts to manage. They dealt directly with their healthcare provider but, unfortunately, were experiencing a lot of major service issues regarding billing reconciliation, personnel masterlist management, and challenges in coordination with the different facilities and clinics nationwide that were partnered with their healthcare provider. 

Every time Annual Physical Examination (APE) period came around, several hiccups to the set-up were experienced. In the Philippines, the APE is of particular importance because it serves as the basis for key reports to submit to the national government in line with a company’s license to operate. The firm had no onsite doctor or nurse at their head office because this was not legally required of them. However, health reports to the national government for business licensing required a doctor to sign off on such reports. The provider would not agree to do so. 

In terms of personnel masterlist management, the process was equally challenging. Given the nature of the recruitment firm, many movements (addition and deletion of employees) were a frequent occurrence. Because of inefficient masterlist management, daily hiring operations was severely affected. 

In terms of billing, the company had accumulated numerous credit memos that needed to be sorted through and reconciled, given the addition of new hires and deletion of employees several times a week. 

The recruitment firm needed their healthcare provider to be responsive but did not know how to leverage their position or resources. 

What Approach Worked to Respond to the Client’s Needs

As a proactive and collaborative broker, bnfts.ph conducted face-to-face meetings with key members of the company’s HR and management team. This helped generate a sound confidential assessment of the company’s internal processes and objectives. It also allowed the bnfts.ph team to map out (mis)alignments, past and recurring issues, key growth opportunities and current key strengths, within the organization, as far as healthcare availment, relevance, and impact, were concerned. 

Processes that worked were retained and built upon. Service issues were assessed against the company’s contract with its healthcare provider. Negotiations for specific services were spearheaded for the client by bnfts.ph to come to amicable solutions with the provider. The interaction between bnfts.ph as total benefits program adviser and the provider underscored the need for decisive and timely collaboration. 

Several brainstorming and planning conversations, between bnfts.ph and the client’s HR team, were also held, with the end-goal of generating workable, practical, and cost-efficient solutions. The client was part of the process of generating new solutions as a way to de-clog bottlenecks in the organization and to transfer technology and processes seamlessly to the client. 

Resolutions Reached and Results Realized

The company needed a healthcare provider that would act in a timely and strategic manner to their needs. The question of shifting to another provider was explored. However, given the contract with the provider, bnfts.ph deemed it vital to retain the relationship with the provider but ensure proper support mechanisms and processes were in place. 

The whole process of benefits programming and streamlining was essentially outsourced to bnfts.ph and resulted to the following: 

• A dedicated monitoring team that built on existing processes that needed improvement, such as enrollment via the provider’s portal. Support was given by bnfts.ph to ensure timely and responsive enrollments.
• The provider’s portal was complemented by an automated portal for masterlisting that could accept changes in the demographic population, regardless of timing (whether changes were last-minute or not). This helped manage impact on masterlisting on daily hiring operations as well as billing adjustments; 
• New processes and service levels were defined for recurring issues that were historically ineffectively addressed by the provider;
• When it was time to do the APEs, direct coordination was done by bnfts.ph with the provider's APE Network to make sure that exact specifications of the client were met, particularly for surprise drug tests, simultaneous APEs across different regions in the country, and the like. All APEs, especially the provincial ones, adhered to specific turn-around times and service levels;
• The health reports that required nurse/doctor sign-offs for annual business licensing were negotiated to be part of the APE network’s deliverable, though this is not a standard service provided by the network. Annually, the client now enjoys ease of submission of the national government’s health report requirement given the negotiated process with its APE network, without the need for the client to specifically hire a nurse or doctor, thus, generating savings for the company; and
• Negotiation of premiums for the client’s other insurance lines also resulting to company savings.  

Positive Outcomes for the Client

When we are too close to the problem, it helps to have another set of eyes take a look at it and help you through it. This is exactly what bnfts.ph was able to do for its client. The recruitment firm discovered the advantage of outsourcing their total employee benefits program that did not disconnect them from the process, but, instead, allowed them to take a step back, assess at arm’s length, how else their benefits programming could be and what they could demand from the healthcare provider. It also allowed them the relief from processes that impeded their day-to-day operational deliverables. 

At no additional cost, bnfts.ph served as the client’s total benefits program adviser. The client appointed bnfts.ph as its broker, at the same overall cost of contract under its original healthcare provider, essentially gaining considerable positive outcomes in its benefits programming for free. 

The integration of the bnfts.ph team into the client’s HR team allowed the latter to focus on their day-to-day operational concerns, resulting to focused and timely recruitment, training and response to employee queries and concerns. 

The process of engaging and contracting bnfts.ph, which included the confidential assessment and negotiation with provider, only took a total of roughly three months but resulted to long-term ease in the conduct of APEs, business operating license compliance, billing and reconciliation of member fees, refunds, credit memos, and quicker handling of new hires, among others. 

In effect, the recruitment firm successfully and virtually hired a whole team of health benefit specialists, at no cost to them, while also increasing their personal and organizational efficiency and productivity. 

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