Why better data management improves the workforce benefits journey

In 2022, data is the lifeblood of your business decisions. 

And while there’s no shortage of data in the insurance industry — think: claims data, census data, enrollment data, payroll data and more — right now, it’s hard to turn it into actionable information to meet your customer’s needs, and even secure it from online threats.

That’s because data is often housed in disparate systems. Systems that can’t talk to each other in a meaningful way. Systems that must be independently operated and secured. 

Without a seamless view of each individual insured, benefits providers and their employer customers are missing out on creating the right annual enrollment program offerings, accurate pricing structures and attractive policy packages for each employee demographic. This lack of data management also holds back employees from choosing the right types of policies.

Barriers to seamless data collection and analysis

With data coming in from several sources, collecting and analyzing it all in a meaningful way is challenging. Any attempt at doing so leads to a significant investment of time and resources that insurers and employers don’t have. 

The greatest barriers to effective data management are: 

• Disparate systems. Most insurance carriers have disparate systems for quoting, enrollment, underwriting, claims and more. Often, these systems can’t be linked, and as a result, they lack necessary insight into employer and employee data, across all aspects of the insurance lifecycle.
• Lack of connectivity. Data can’t flow from the insurer’s network to the employer and ultimately trickle down to the employee level without systems integration. Instead, when data is collected in silos, analysis requires intervention from HR.
• Lack of security. Insurance carriers and employers can’t secure each and every desperate system that carries information of the insureds. The more systems, the greater the exposure. 

With disparate systems, it is nearly impossible for insurance companies and employers to create meaningful analysis of individual employee data and keep it all secure simultaneously. Similarly, sharing the data with and giving employers the tools necessary to do their own analytics is nearly impossible. 

Imagine a world with integrated benefits data – Oh, the places you could go! 

 Imagine a world where insurance data provided a 360-degree view of medical claims, employee absence and pay, underwriting, wealth management, and health benefits. How would that impact the carrier?

Such a system could analyze choices at a group level and create bundles of products most fitting for each employer, their employees, and their culture. For example, do employees at a construction company need accidental death and dismemberment coverage, or do these employees seek a voluntary coverage package that includes pet insurance? 

Data gives you the tools to customize benefits packages to each company’s needs. Having such data will actually shift the industry narrative. 

Finding the right solution

EIS Suite provides a thorough, but simple, solution to data gathering and analysis. Using application programming interfaces, or APIs, data is integrated seamlessly across the EIS platform, providing a full, 360-degree view of each individual policy holder. 

The policy holder’s data is then brought back to the employer and the insurer with dashboards and analytical tools to aid in managing the overall benefits program. Integrations allow your insurance company, the employer, and the policy holder to make sound decisions, based directly on data gathered at the individual policyholder level. 

For more on how EIS Suite can help you manage data to create a better customer journey, contact us.