"When we refer an employee to Hewitt's Advocacy Services team to resolve a claim, we know that the Advocacy unit will get to the bottom of it and be able to provide an explanation that makes sense." Lenora Emerson and Roanne Simmons, Global Benefits Team, Halliburton

Challenge

Halliburton serves upstream oil and gas customers in more than 70 countries worldwide. Its Human Resources group adopted an outsourcing strategy in the late 1990s for its U.S. and expatriate employees so that HR could focus on planning, strategy, and analysis to support its global presence. Yet up until early 2006, a small team in Global Benefits remained dedicated to helping participants with claims related to access to care, eligibility, billing, and other issues. This took a significant amount of time, leaving the team unable to work on other priorities, such as tracking and analysis of trends. Not only was this in conflict with their outsourcing strategy, they felt they were duplicating efforts of the customer service center. Plus, they would sometimes hear stories of employees spending hours of their workday on the phone with a doctor's office or health provider, yet still coming away without a clear understanding of the answer.

Solution

When Halliburton's benefits administration contract with Hewitt came up for renewal, it was a natural step to consider adding Hewitt's Advocacy Services to the new agreement. Due diligence by the experienced Halliburton team convinced them that Hewitt's advocacy representatives had better tools, such as Workflow Tracker and Call Tracker; extensive expertise (the average advocate has more than 15 years of experience working in the health care area); and the time and dedication needed to fully explore and resolve the employee's issue. By supporting the transition to Advocacy Services with a strong, ongoing employee communications program, Halliburton felt confident employees would become aware of and feel comfortable with the new service.

Results

The time that the Halliburton team now allocates to other priorities like annual planning, compliance, and program management is significant. Across all clients, Hewitt's data shows that the average case handled by advocacy representatives takes 17 calls and 4.5 hours to resolve. Employees, too, can be more productive at work. They have confidence in the service and report that even if a claim is not resolved the way they had hoped, they're satisfied with the help and the explanation. The Halliburton and Hewitt team regularly use tracking data to pick up on trends and assess plan performance. By redirecting all inquiries—even those from senior management—to the Advocacy Services team, all Halliburton employees are well-served and able to focus on other priorities.