How Employers Can Reduce Administrative Burden by Optimizing and Integrating Technologies

For HR teams and employers, managing employee benefits can be a complex and time-consuming task. Between compliance requirements, enrollment processes, and data management, benefits administration can quickly become a major administrative burden.

By optimizing benefits administration technology solutions and ensuring seamless integration between HR systems, companies can significantly improve accuracy, reduce the workload, and enhance the employee experience.

The Case for Benefits Administration Technology

Many employers have transitioned to a Benefits Administration (Ben Admin) platform by now to streamline their processes — to varying degrees of success. Some companies integrate the Ben Admin system with their payroll provider, while others maintain separate platforms for each function. For smaller companies — especially those with fewer than 50 enrolled employees — many still rely on outdated paper forms and manual input for benefits enrollment and administration.

This manual process presents a number of risks:

• Compliance Concerns: Managing HIPAA regulations and sensitive employee data on paper can create considerable security vulnerabilities.
• ‍Human Error: Manual data entry greatly increases the chances of errors, which can delay coverage, increase compliance risk, and cause frustration for employees.
• ‍Administrative Complexity: Employers must securely store, manage, and dispose of sensitive documents, creating an additional burden. Electronically and through automated technology, this isn’t so onerous; with paper and pen, it’s practically impossible to guarantee.

Transitioning to a Ben Admin platform ensures that employee benefits information is stored securely, reduces compliance risks, and minimizes administrative workload.

Integrating HR Systems for Seamless Administration

Even with a Ben Admin platform in place, the efficiency of the system depends on how well it integrates with other HR and payroll platforms. The ideal setup includes:

• Automated File Feeds: Instead of manually entering employee data into multiple carrier systems (e.g., Blue Cross, Delta Dental, EyeMed, etc.), automated file feeds transmit data securely and accurately from one system to another in an encrypted data feed.
• ‍A “Single Source of Truth:” When HR systems are fully integrated, all employee changes and elections — such as new enrollments, terminations, and life event updates, — are automatically updated across all platforms.  
• ‍Minimized Manual Intervention: The fewer manual entries required, the lower the risk of errors, such as incorrect birth dates, missing coverage, or even innocent but important “typos,” all of which could lead to denied claims and other costly mistakes.

For companies that do not meet the size requirements for automated file feeds (certain carriers require a minimum number of enrolled employees in order to accept file feeds), a Ben Admin platform can still centralize all of the company’s benefits data, reducing administrative effort and improving compliance as illustrated above.

Finding the Right Technology Solution

Choosing the right Ben Admin platform depends on a number of factors, such as company size, budget, and the company’s technical integration capabilities. While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, platforms like Employee Navigator, ADP, Benetrac, UKG, and many more have all gained popularity due to their flexibility and growing partnerships within the benefits industry.  

What’s important is to work with an employee benefits advisor who can help you evaluate the various tools available to you and who will guide you toward the specific solution that is the best match for your company, your employees’ needs, and your HR tech budget.

Employers should consider:

• Integration Capabilities: How well does the system connect with payroll and insurance carriers?
• ‍Support and Service: Does the platform offer responsive customer service, or does it rely on generic ticketing systems?
• ‍Reporting Tools: Can HR teams easily generate the reports they need for compliance, trend analysis, and decision-making?

The Future of Benefits Administration: API Integration

While Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) file feeds have improved benefits administration, the next step in HR technology will be Application Programming Interfaces, or API integrations. Unlike traditional file feeds, which run on a scheduled basis (e.g., weekly or biweekly), APIs provide real-time updates, ensuring that any changes made in the Ben Admin platform immediately reflect in carrier systems. This eliminates lag time and further reduces administrative errors.

Although API technology is still emerging in the benefits space, its adoption will eventually redefine efficiency in HR administration, making benefits management even more seamless and accurate. But we are still in the early stages of adoption as of early 2025.

Easing the Burden with Smart Technology and Willing Partners

Employers and HR teams can significantly ease the burden of benefits administration by embracing the integration of technology-driven solutions and ensuring that their systems are fully integrated across the HR space. Whether through automated file feeds, selecting the right Ben Admin platform, or exploring future API solutions, leveraging technology can reduce errors, improve compliance, and ultimately create a smoother experience for both HR teams and employees.

Even as technology continues to make our lives easier, we remind you that there are still humans here willing to serve as your guides, support partners, and sounding boards. No matter which Ben Admin platform you ultimately decide to integrate into your benefits administration processes, we welcome the opportunity to “plug in” to those systems and processes to the extent appropriate. Our clients often lean on us to be the “human hands” working in this platform, chasing down answers, and resolving issues that will still inevitably arise between employer, HR, employees, and carriers.  

And even if an organization is not yet ready to fully embrace a fully integrated HR tech solution, our team has developed processes and procedures to inject a similar level of quality control and “automation” into our daily work to help share the administrative burden and to reduce the risk of human error.

By working together in lockstep and investing in the right tools and integrations, employers working with LoVasco can spend their valuable time focusing on what truly matters — supporting their employees and fostering a positive workplace culture.

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