About Bon Secours Health System, Inc.

Bon Secours Health System, Inc. (BSHSI), a $2.9 billion non-profit Catholic health system, was formed in 1983 to provide skilled, unified management and professional resources for all Bon Secours healthcare operations. Committed to providing quality care to all, BSHSI provides integrated care to communities through acute-care hospitals, nursing care facilities, home care and hospice programs, assisted living facilities and one psychiatric hospital.

Headquartered in Marriottsville, Md., BSHSI has more than 21,000 employees in seven states, primarily on the East Coast. Bon Secours originally partnered with Benefitfocus in 2003 to simplify employee benefits management, and the BENEFITFOCUS® Platform enabled employees to enroll in their health benefits online.

Challenge

Bon Secours needed a way to ensure it was only paying benefits for eligible individuals. During previous Open Enrollment seasons, the organization found it was carrying dependents who did not meet eligibility rules.

“The majority of our Human Resources administrators’ time was spent tracking down information and answering questions,” said Dana Jones, Manager of Benefit Operations for BSHSI. “We needed a cost-effective way to verify the dependents that employees were enrolling in our benefit plans were indeed eligible for coverage.”

Solution

Starting with Open Enrollment for 2010, Bon Secours made dependent verification a new component of its benefit enrollment process. Benefitfocus worked with BSHSI to determine the appropriate enhancements to the Platform to add this requirement to the Open Enrollment, new hire and life event self-service process.

During 2010 Open Enrollment, Bon Secours employees added dependents and submitted dependent verification forms for nearly 13,000 dependents. The Platform seamlessly integrated this information to update employee elections and payroll information in real-time. After employees successfully enrolled, they received a confirmation notice in the enrollment tool within 24 to 48 hours. Dependent verification communication was added to the Open Enrollment and new hire literature as well as online notes within the Platform.

For the 2010 Open Enrollment season, BSHSI realized $2.2 million in savings by implementing Benefitfocus’ dependent verification feature. The organization continues to save money through ongoing verification for new hires and members with life events after Open Enrollment. Employees enjoy the simplicity of the Platform, which allows them to view dependent enrollment status at initial login. The Web-based benefits software also allows BSHSI to accurately track and maintain dependent records, resulting in lower reconciliation with the organization’s insurance providers.