EOI streamlined with HR tech solutions

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are transforming the way companies handle benefits enrollment, bringing seamless experiences to employers and employees alike.

Historically, it was rare for different HR systems — payroll, benefits administration and absence management — to easily communicate and share data. By facilitating the exchange of data between applications, APIs allow different applications to use each other's features. For example:

While EOI is required for employees to get the coverage they need, it presents a well-known challenge for administrators.

The manual process requires administrators to coordinate between employees, employers and insurance carriers for information requests. It’s a paper chase that’s time-consuming for HR and aggravating for employees — one that could sorely benefit from integration.

APIs can offer badly needed integration, but when they only share basic employee data, they don't resolve the day-to-day challenges faced by most HR departments.

That’s where deeper benefits integration comes in. By creating nearly seamless connections between various systems at the functional level, deep integration can reduce friction for both employers and employees through simple self-service enrollment, secure data transfer and the end of manual data entry.

If an employee elects additional coverage that requires Evidence of Insurability, these API-enabled integrations eliminate the need to input the same information into a new digital form — it’s automatically transferred over. The employee only needs to answer a few additional questions, not start all over with basic info.

Rather than waiting several weeks to get an answer, they will get a decision in seconds. Back-end algorithms and underwriting processes allow for quick responses. Approximately 85% of applicants will get an instant decision.²

Streamlined EOI, while essential, must be complemented with education and enrollment support. Educating your employees about the benefits available to them is a key part of recruiting and retaining top talent. Overworked HR teams often don’t have time to help individual employees troubleshoot enrollment issues or sift through the details of different policies.

The right carrier can help — they know their product, and the market for that product, better than almost anyone. Beyond an easy enrollment experience, look for a carrier that offers robust, on-demand support as well as a comprehensive library of educational resources. This should include automated support like chatbots, as well as easy access to live support via email or phone.

Similarly, your HR team can’t track the individual enrollment progress of every single employee. Your carrier, however, should be able to offer automated email reminders to employees who have not yet completed enrollment.

The transformation of HR tech has turned one of the biggest enrollment headaches into a simple task. As you look for a carrier, consider what digital approach to EOI works best for your business and select a partner who will tailor their product to your needs.

1 Unum Market View, HR technology and benefits data integration, 2024.
2 Unum internal data, 2023.
3 LIMRA and EY: Harnessing Growth and Seizing Opportunity, 2023 Workforce Benefits Study, July 2023.