Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us now work from home, shop from home, and our kids even learn virtually. Something else that's gone virtual due to the pandemic is open enrollment or choosing benefits from your employer. It's a change that employers say is actually working better than ever before.
"The level of engagement that we've experienced this time around is like nothing before," says Leah Dunn, Employee Services Manager at Utah based tech company Lucid. "Making sure that people are selecting the plans that work best for them and their needs has never been easier by moving into this virtual environment."
Due to the current pandemic, benefits providers like Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah have had to make adjustments to the way they help with all kinds of things, including open enrollment.
Scott Standing, Senior Account Executive with Regence says, "Historically we've provided in person support for open enrollment and actually have our sales representatives you know go out to different locations and actually sit down with employees, maybe one-on-one, or do standup presentations with the employees, but due to the COVID environment that's just not an option this year."
Standing says instead, Regence now provides 24/7 virtual assistance through live and pre-recorded virtual presentations, webinars, electronic booklets and more.
For a company like Lucid, Dunn says this shift to virtual open enrollment is a welcome change. "Using all the different resources that Regence has been able to provide, along with what we can create internally, has definitely enhanced the whole process."
With 20-percent growth through the pandemic, Lucid says virtual enrollment is now a method they're using for new hires, because of how much it simplifies the process.
It's a new way of doing things that Dunn says will only continue. "We've seen such great success with these virtual tools that we definitely plan to continue using them, not only in open enrollment but for new hire processes and just any kind of employee engagement initiatives that we'll launch in the future."
For more details about virtual open enrollment and insurance solutions for your company, visit regence.com.