• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

State of Louisiana Employs Innovative Processes for Healthcare Benefits Plan Management

Posted on: Monday, 8 August 2005, 12:01 CDT

Louisiana Office of Group Benefits enlists Benefits Lifecycle Management solutions from IE-Engine to help reduce its $1 billion in annual healthcare spending

IE-Engine Inc., the leading provider of Benefits Lifecycle Management solutions, today announced that the State of Louisiana Office of Group Benefits has purchased its technology-based services. The Office of Group Benefits will seek to proactively reverse the trend of rising healthcare costs with an unprecedented ability to evaluate vendor responses to Requests for Proposals (RFPs).

Many large employers manage their healthcare benefits RFPs in a manual and labor-intensive manner, which encumbers their ability to properly analyze and compare vendors. By collecting benefits data electronically, The Office of Group Benefits can automate and streamline its evaluation of RFP submissions. This will empower the organization with greater control over the selection and management of healthcare plans, as well as the ability easily seek significant price discounts and rebates once a plan is in place.

The Office of Group Benefits, which spends more than $1 billion annually on healthcare plans that cover 280,000 employees and retirees from 400 state offices, joins other leading-edge organizations that are optimizing their benefits lifecycle management processes to lower costs without sacrificing the quality of employee benefits.

"Technology has always been a key component in our efforts to control healthcare spending," said Rizwan Ahmed, CIO for the Office of Group Benefits. "By bucking the status quo in how benefits plans are managed, we will provide greater value to state employees and ease budget pressures."

Specifically, the Office of Group Benefits will utilize IE-Engine's Benefits Lifecycle Management solutions to:

-- Utilize an online process for immediate qualitative and quantitative analysis of RFP submissions;

-- Drive disclosure of all fees associated with healthcare plans; and

-- Evaluate service delivery and comparing it to contractual terms.

"Whether in the private or public sector, large employers are discovering that the last frontier for significant cost control in their businesses is the line item covering employee healthcare," said Paul Daoust, president and CEO of IE-Engine. "Employers that cannot get control of these costs face an uncertain future. More than 100 IE-Engine customers have discovered that the key to containing costs is Benefits Lifecycle Management."

About IE-Engine

IE-Engine (http://www.ie-engine.com) is the leading provider of Benefits Lifecycle Management. Its technology-based solutions and services provide visibility and enable collaboration throughout the design, procurement, management and communication of employee benefits plans. IE-Engine's comprehensive solutions for managing the benefits supply chain saves large employers millions of dollars in benefits costs without sacrificing quality. Clients include some of the world's largest companies, such as Toyota, Staples, Lucent, Watson Wyatt, and Hilb, Rogal & Hobbs. Founded in 1999, IE-Engine is a privately-held company that is headquartered in Woburn, Mass.

Source: Business Wire

More News in this Category