Avi Waren brings a unique consultative perspective to benefits administration challenges. As a senior account manager at Viventium and former SNF AIT, he works daily with nursing homes and healthcare facilities to help them streamline their benefits processes. We sat down with Avi to discuss the real costs of manual benefits administration and why system integration makes all the difference.
Q: You work with nursing home clients every day. What do they tell you is the hardest part of managing benefits?
A: Look, I'm obviously going to hear about problems since people usually call us when things aren't working smoothly. But the common thread is that benefits administration just takes longer than it should.
I'll be on a call, and someone will mention they spent their morning updating insurance information in three different places because their payroll system doesn't talk to their benefits tracking. It's not dramatic – it's just inefficient. These are busy people who'd rather spend that time on other priorities.
Q: When you speak with prospects, what’re some of the biggest headaches with their current process that they talk about?
A: The biggest thing is the disconnect between systems. Someone will tell me they have to log into their carrier's website to make a change, then separately update their payroll system, then remember to note it in their ACA tracking spreadsheet.
A prospect recently told me about an employee who wanted to drop from family coverage to single coverage. Simple request, right? But it meant updating their internal records, notifying the carrier, adjusting payroll deductions, and making sure it was reflected properly for ACA reporting. Nothing complicated, but definitely more steps than it needs to be.
Q: There are probably plenty of prospects who aren’t dissatisfied with their current process. What questions should facilities ask themselves if their current benefits process is working for them?
A: That's totally fair – if something works, why change it? I usually ask them to walk me through how they handle a typical benefits change, just so I understand their process.
As they explain it, I might ask "How often do you have to double-check that the payroll deductions match what you submitted to the carrier?" or "What happens when someone forgets to update one of the systems?"
I'm not trying to make their process sound terrible – I'm genuinely curious about how they manage it. Sometimes they'll mention little workarounds they've developed, which usually tells me there's room for improvement.
Q: What makes Viventium's Benefits Administration different from other solutions they might be considering?
A: The key difference is that our Benefits Administration isn't a standalone system – it's built into the same platform as our payroll and ACA compliance modules. When someone makes a benefits change, that information automatically flows through to payroll deductions and ACA reporting without any additional data entry.
Most other solutions require you to integrate with your existing payroll system, which creates potential sync issues. With Viventium, there's no integration needed because it's all one system. When an employee enrolls in benefits, the deductions automatically appear in their next payroll run. When they have a qualifying life event, the ACA compliance tracking updates automatically.
It's the difference between having three separate systems that you hope will talk to each other versus having one system that handles everything natively.
Q: Can you give me an example of what adding a new employee looks like with Viventium’s integrated system?
A: Sure. Let's say they're hiring a new CNA. The employee completes their benefits enrollment through our online portal – they can see all available plans, compare costs, and make their selections in one sitting. That usually takes about 10-15 minutes.
Once they submit their enrollment, several things happen automatically: their benefit elections are recorded, their payroll deductions are calculated and scheduled to begin with their first paycheck, and their information is added to our ACA compliance tracking. The facility administrator gets a notification that the enrollment is complete.
Compare that to what I hear from prospects using manual processes: they're printing forms, having the employee fill them out, manually entering that information into payroll, separately tracking it for ACA purposes, and then following up with the carrier. That's easily 45 minutes to an hour of administrative work for what should be a simple process.
Q: What does successful implementation look like for your nursing home clients?
A: The facilities that see the biggest impact are usually the ones that were spending the most time on manual processes before. I've had clients tell me they've gone from spending several hours each week on benefits administration to maybe 30 minutes.
But it's not just about time savings. The administrators I work with mention feeling more confident about compliance because everything is tracked automatically. They're not worried about whether they forgot to update something or whether their ACA reporting is going to be accurate.
One client mentioned that their staff actually appreciates the benefits more now because the enrollment process is so much cleaner. Employees can log in anytime to see their coverage details, which reduces the number of questions coming to the administrator.
Q: What advice would you give to facilities that are evaluating their current benefits administration process?
A: Start by tracking how much time you're actually spending on it. I think a lot of places don't realize how much administrative work is involved until they add it up. Note every time you have to log into a different system, make a phone call, or send an email related to benefits.
Then ask yourself: what happens when someone makes a mistake? How long does it take to figure out where the error occurred and fix it? That's usually where the real cost becomes apparent.
Finally, think about what you could be doing with that time instead. Most administrators I work with would rather focus on operations, staff development, or resident care than on data entry and system reconciliation.
Q: Looking ahead, how do you see benefits administration evolving for healthcare facilities?
I think we're at a point where standalone solutions don't really make sense anymore. Everything in HR is connected – benefits, payroll, compliance, reporting. When you try to manage those separately, you end up creating more work for yourself.
The facilities that are most successful are the ones that recognize that benefits administration isn't just about enrollment season. It's an ongoing process that affects payroll, compliance, and employee satisfaction. Having everything integrated makes that much more manageable.
Ready to see how Viventium's integrated Benefits Administration can streamline your facility's processes? Learn more about our comprehensive solution here.