At Ideon, we’re proud to have such a talented, diverse team leading the charge for a better and more connected health insurance and employee benefits industry. Our ongoing Employee Spotlight series showcases the people behind our product and unveils what life is like at Ideon. Next up… Kevin Montgomery, our Customer Success Manager, InsurTech!
Name: Kevin Montgomery Department: Solutions Delivery Title: Customer Success Manager, InsurTech Location: Fairfax, Virginia
Work
How long have you worked at Ideon?
A year and two months.
Tell us about your day-to-day.
The exciting part about this role is that each day is different from the last. I am constantly working with customers and finding ways to improve their experience with Ideon. Each day consists of coordinating with different teams, from sales to operations to marketing.
What projects are you excited to work on?
Our enrollment and member management solutions! When I joined Ideon I worked primarily with our Quoting and Decision Support products and loved being part of the progress we made with those. I’m excited to dive in and help drive growth and adoption for our enrollment solution now as well. It’s such a critical stage of the member journey and there are so many possibilities – I am excited to see what we accomplish.
What excites you about the future of Ideon?
I am really excited about Ideon’s growth. Over the last two years I’ve been privileged to witness the company expand from 40 employees to over 100! Seeing that growth is motivating, inspiring, and it’s a big part of why I’ve enjoyed my time at Ideon.
What attracted you to Ideon’s mission?
Coming from a benefits administration platform before Ideon, I have seen a lot of inefficiencies and problems with the health insurance industry. There is A LOT of work that can be done to make the entire process of quoting, enrolling, and utilization of health insurance easier and more efficient. It is exciting that Ideon’s goal is to push the insurance industry into a more tech-forward space, and I am proud to be a part of that journey.
Life
Favorite activity when you’re not working?
Watching and playing soccer! I am a huge Liverpool FC fan and I also play in a casual league with my friends.
Favorite place you’ve traveled?
Paris, France. Amazing food, wine, and history.
Interesting fact about yourself… Go!
Growing up, I was a really big Washington Capitals fan. I have a signed hockey puck and picture of Adam Oates and Peter Bondra!
At Ideon, we’re proud to have such a talented, diverse team leading the charge for a better and more connected health insurance and employee benefits industry. Our ongoing Employee Spotlight series showcases the people behind our product and unveils what life is like at Ideon. Next up… Tyler Henn, our Quality Assurance Coordinator!
Name: Tyler Henn Department: Data Ops Title: Quality Assurance Coordinator! Location: New York
Work
How long have you worked at Ideon?
Two and a half years.
Tell us about your day-to-day.
My day-to-day involves a lot of quality checks on our data — ensuring everything is the way it is supposed to be. I also work on automating our validation checks and coming up with new ideas to further improve our data accuracy.
How have you grown professionally while on our team?
This is my first full-time job, so I have grown quite a bit over the years. All of my co-workers at Ideon have helped to shape me with a focus on being professional and respectful of everyone I work with. They always push me to do better and come up with new ideas to further exceed our goals.
What excites you about the future of Ideon?
I am really excited about Ideon’s growth. Over the last two years I’ve been privileged to witness the company expand from 40 employees to over 100! Seeing that growth is motivating, inspiring, and it’s a big part of why I’ve enjoyed my time at Ideon.
What do you like about Ideon’s company culture?
I love the overall atmosphere of my team and the company as a whole. Everyone is super supportive and I think Ideon really pushes to make sure that our company culture is welcoming and enjoyable.
Life
Favorite activity when you’re not working?
I love to play the board game Catan! And I have found a new obsession with Reality TV.
Favorite place you’ve traveled?
My favorite place I have traveled to would definitely have to be France.
Interesting fact about yourself… Go!
I can’t think of anything, so I am just going to go with the generic response – I am left handed!
Welcome to the second episode of Ideon Insights, our monthly interview series featuring thought leaders and innovators driving the benefits industry forward. In this episode, we had the pleasure of speaking with Elek Pew, Head of Digital Partnerships at Beam Benefits, an ancillary benefits provider known for its innovation and digital-first approach.
In this Q&A, Elek provides insights into the evolution of the benefits technology ecosystem and the unique advantages that come with being a digitally native carrier. He also delves into how Ideon complements and enhances Beam’s digital distribution strategy, enabling seamless integration and collaboration within the industry.
For Elek’s complete thoughts on digital distribution, partnership strategy, and more, watch the video here.
Below we’ve highlighted six key moments from the conversation.
IDEON: How has the transformation of benefits technology informed your distribution strategy?
ELEK PEW: Technology is really at the forefront of everything today. Efficiency is king, especially in the small group market. We see that brokers care most about being really quick and efficient, so we pride ourselves on meeting those distributors where they are — whether that’s XYZ quoting or enrollment platform, or Beam’s own digital tools.
If they use a third-party system to quote business, we’ll find a way to integrate with that platform whether it’s through Ideon or directly. We’ll meet them where they are.
The benefits ecosystem is getting more complex. How do you choose the right partners?
There are a few things we think about when it comes to partnership strategy.
Do we potentially have access into a limited marketplace, where Beam is one of three or four benefits providers?
What does the partner’s technology stack look like in terms of their ability to integrate? If a new partner comes to us and says, “we’re already integrated to Ideon” — that’s great for us. We know there’s not a ton of work to activate that new partner, compared to a net-new direct connection.
How do they think about API connectivity? Are we living in a file-based world? We’ll meet people where they are, but that’s definitely something we think about.
Are they willing to offer all of our product lines? Beam was historically a dental-first company, but now we’re focused on Beam as an ancillary benefits provider.
How does Ideon fit into your distribution strategy?
We definitely see the value in the partnership with Ideon from a middleware standpoint. As Beam has transitioned from Beam Dental to Beam Benefits — bringing on voluntary life, accident, hospital, and critical illness — our ability to turn those products on through one connection to multiple players in the ecosystem is game-changing. It’s a powerful thing that we want to continue to invest in.
We’ll connect to third-party platforms directly if that’s their preferred method, but we’ll meet folks where they are. Some will say, “we want to connect through Ideon,” and we’re more than happy to make that happen. It makes our jobs a lot easier knowing we have a trusted player in the middle, ensuring that our data is presented accurately and the data Beam gets back is in top fashion.
What are the advantages of being a newer, tech-focused benefits carrier?
Beam is well positioned in the market because, at our core, we’re a digitally native company. The idea of exposing our core functionality—enrollment, admin, quoting, etc.— and embedding our products into the benefits ecosystem really is inherent in how Beam has built core capabilities.
We’re able to go to market really quickly with new platform integrations because we’ve built our systems with the concept of exposability in mind. Now that the market is moving to third-party platforms, we’re well positioned to be able to connect and meet distributors where they are in the marketplace.
Why are rating APIs valuable for Beam and brokers?
Without a rating API, rates could only change once per quarter and it didn’t allow for customization — rates were prepackaged.
With a rating API like the one we’re building with Ideon, we’re able to take in real-time census information and generate a rate based on that specific employee population. We’re able to arrive at much sharper rates because we have more information about the group. It also enables our back office operations to be more efficient because we receive information about the group from that initial employee census.
With an API, we know it will only return rates and plans where Beam will 100% be able to offer the plan — rates are always bindable.
What’s a benefits technology trend you’re excited about over the next few years?
Instantaneous policy issuance — Beam is moving there, and I think the benefits industry overall will move that way, following in the footsteps of the P&C space. The group installation process is still painfully manual today.
The industry has made a lot of progress in terms of carriers accepting enrollment information from platforms and loading it into carrier systems, and we’re seeing instantaneous quoting making its way to the market with rating APIs. The next step is to bridge the gap between the two — take a quoted product, win it, turn it into a bindable policy, then have it ready for employees to enroll in coverage. That experience — quote to bind to enroll — we’re now seeing the foundation that will allow us to get there.
Stay tuned for new episodes of Ideon Insights each month. Subscribe to our newsletter below to stay in-the-know about Ideon and receive our latest content directly to your inbox.
At Ideon, we’re proud to have such a talented, diverse team leading the charge for a better and more connected health insurance and employee benefits industry. Our ongoing Employee Spotlight series showcases the people behind our product and unveils what life is like at Ideon. Next up… John Emge, our SVP of Carrier Sales!
Name: John Emge Department: Carrier Sales Title: Senior Vice President of Carrier Sales Location: South Carolina
Work
How long have you worked at Ideon?
I have been part of the Ideon team for one incredibly exciting year.
How have you grown professionally while on our team?
While I had been in the benefits technology industry for thirteen years prior to joining Ideon, I have grown in my understanding and appreciation of the various stakeholders in the benefits market (carriers, insurtechs, brokers, employers). I have learned that while they all acknowledge the need for improved data quality and data integrations in order to operate effectively and serve the members, each stakeholder has their own unique capacity and priorities.
My current focus is on actively listening to the market to understand how Ideon can best empower carriers and platforms at the crossroads of their data and business strategies. By doing so, we’ll drive meaningful and positive change in the industry.
What excites you about the future of Ideon?
We are helping solve problems in our industry — efficiently. When we meet with carriers and platforms, I clearly see our joint path ahead and our mutual desire to work to transform our industry through improved data management.
What do you like about Ideon’s company culture?
I really like our leadership — and I don’t just mean our executive team. Leadership is every member of the team who wakes up and approaches each day with an attitude of “how can I make a positive difference for our team today?” and “how can I contribute to supporting others in their objectives today?” “How can I help drive this company forward in our mission?” I consider myself very fortunate to work as part of a team in which this is the dominant mindset.
What attracted you to Ideon’s mission?
It’s simple: I believe that Ideon is going to help drive positive change with our partners. Benefits is an enormous industry, but what it is really about is families having the coverage they need, when they need it, for their health and financial protection. When they go to the hospital on that unexpected night, it needs to be there. For that to happen, all of the steps in the process must occur from quote, to card, to access, to claim. Whether that process functions correctly for that family is driven by data flow and data quality. Our industry has, for too long, accepted integration projects that take a year or more for point solutions and it has institutionalized post-impact data clean up or manual data entry that causes errors. We are helping to create a better way.
Life
Favorite activity when you’re not working?
I love traveling, camping, and backpacking with my family.
Favorite place you’ve traveled?
Southern tip of Patagonia in Chile while backpacking. It is so remote and beautiful. It is rugged and peaceful at the same time. The people that we met on the trail were wonderful. They had all made a hard personal effort and choice to be there and that makes a difference in a lot of ways – and not just on the trail.
Interesting fact about yourself… Go!
I enjoy scuba diving and searching for megalodon teeth and fossils that are 3.6M to 20M+ years old. When I was a kid, I developed an early interest in archeology (King Tut was all the rage) so that and enjoying scuba diving is likely where it comes from.
Over the past few years, three trends have intersected: healthcare costs increased, the healthcare system became more complex, and digitally native employees started expecting employers to provide technology for HR and benefits tasks.
Enter healthcare navigation platforms — digital tools that guide employees to better, more informed healthcare decisions based on cost, quality, and other criteria.
These platforms provide a wealth of information on doctors, hospitals, prescription drugs, and medical procedures. They also help employers to manage their healthcare costs by providing transparency into the pricing and quality of healthcare services.
Of course, offering an intuitive, modern user interface is essential for any healthcare navigation platform. But the breadth and quality of data behind the scenes, powering the features, often have the biggest impact on the overall user experience.
Here are five key data elements that some leading navigation platforms have integrated into their experience.
Provider network data This includes information about the doctors and hospitals in a particular health plan’s network, including provider locations, specialties, and more. This is a foundational dataset, providing employees with detailed information about the PCPs and other healthcare providers in their network. Navigation platforms can help employees to make more informed decisions about where to receive care, as in-network providers are usually more cost-efficient than out-of-network.
Provider quality data This covers the quality of care provided by different doctors and hospitals, as well as patient satisfaction ratings. This may also include outcome-based metrics. Platforms integrate provider quality data into their experiences to help employees choose healthcare providers that are more likely to provide excellent care.
Cost information This is data about the cost of different medical procedures, prescription drugs, and other healthcare services. By providing employees with transparent pricing information, these platforms can help them shop for healthcare and make more cost-effective choices.
Patient reviews Reviews and ratings of different healthcare providers from other patients who have received care from them. Armed with this information, employees can find healthcare providers that are more likely to provide a positive patient experience.
Claims data Information about the healthcare services that employees have received, including the cost of those services and any out-of-pocket expenses that they may have incurred. By giving employees access to claims data, these platforms can enable them to better understand their healthcare benefits and how to use them.
All of these data sources are crucial for powering the new age of healthcare navigation platforms. By aggregating this data and presenting it to employees in an easily understandable format, these platforms can help to demystify the healthcare system and empower employees to make better decisions, resulting in significant cost savings for employers and improved health outcomes for employees.
For navigation platforms, collecting and integrating all of this data from disparate sources may seem like a colossal undertaking, but that’s generally not the case. Much of this information is now readily available via APIs. For example, Ideon offers structured, normalized provider-network data to navigation platforms via an API.
There are several healthcare navigation platforms on the market today, each with its own unique set of features and capabilities. Some examples include Healthcare Bluebook, Garner Health, HealthJoy, Accolade, Castlight Health, and others. Though their user experiences vary significantly, all rely on the power of data.
Welcome to the first installment of Ideon Insights, a new monthly interview series featuring thought leaders and innovators driving the benefits industry forward. In our first episode, we sat down with one of our technology partners, Lyle Griffin, president of Selerix, a leading benefits administration solution for brokers, employers, and carriers.
In this Q&A, Lyle shares his thoughts on the LIMRA Data Exchange (LDEx) standards, how the industry can facilitate more LDEx adoption, and how benefits data exchange will evolve over the next few years. Selerix and Ideon are both members of the Data Exchange Standards Committee tasked with developing the LDEx standards for the workplace benefits industry.
For Lyle’s complete thoughts on all-things LDEx, APIs, and data connectivity, watch the video here.
Below we’ve highlighted five key moments from the conversation.
IDEON: What’s the current state of LDEx adoption?
LYLE GRIFFIN, SELERIX: There are probably a dozen or so carriers that have stepped up and implemented LDEx in a really robust way. We’ve also been pleasantly surprised at the number of technology platforms that have been involved in developing the standard. That dialog between platforms and carriers is something that has been very refreshing.
What are the benefits of LDEx?
One, is just the speed of implementation, being able to set up your data connections quickly. Knowing that they’ll work as advertised is also very important.
As we move to API engagements, you’re really going to see the benefits. If we can move to something where we’re exchanging data in real-time, or as close to real-time as possible, the benefits back to the client or end-user are incredible.
Why is Selerix an advocate for data standards?
We’ve been very committed to implementing the standards since Day 1. What my team is telling me — the people who set up EDI connections with carriers — they’ve been very adamant that LDEx is good for them. They like it any time they can engage with people using the standard because it’s a concise way to start that dialog with the carrier. Having a common language really helps expedite the process.
How does Ideon help carriers and technology platforms use the LDEx format?
One of the most important things that [Ideon] brings to the table, is a fully formed view of how that data exchange ecosystem should work. Having a robust way to work with people on error resolution, initial engagement, data intake, being able to connect with an API or by exchanging files — I can see where this would be a very attractive proposition, not to have to build all of your business processes from scratch to take advantage of what a company like Ideon has to offer.
What’s the future of data exchange in the benefits industry?
In the long run, I think everyone’s vision is one of an interconnected ecosystem, an interconnected market, where trading partners exchange data more frequently and much more reliably than they do today. That’s what this is all about. As an industry, we’re still talking about this stuff, we’re still working on these challenges. So I think it’s going to take a while to realize that vision.
Stay tuned for new episodes of Ideon Insights each month. Subscribe to our newsletter below to stay in-the-know about Ideon and receive our latest content directly to your inbox.
At Ideon, we’re regularly expanding our network of carriers and technology platforms, from industry leaders with 100+ years of history to startups at the forefront of health and benefits innovation. We’re proud to introduce a new addition to the Ideon ecosystem: Brix, a group life insurance carrier offering affordable plans to small businesses.
In this video, John Flueckiger, Brix’s founder and CEO, shares the origin story of Brix, insights on their digital strategy, and how working with Ideon enables third-party platforms to quote Brix’s plans.
Here are three key takeaways from the video:
Brix offers an easy and inexpensive way for small businesses to provide life insurance coverage to their employees.
Through partnerships with other insurance providers, Brix offers employees the opportunity to enroll in additional life insurance coverage tailored to their individual needs.
Brix leverages technology and agile distribution to provide a seamless digital process for brokers and employers. And, by leveraging Ideon, Brix gains representation on some of the leading third-party quoting platforms for group benefits brokers.
To learn more about Brix, check out the video and visit Brix.co. Platforms interested in quoting Brix products via Ideon’s API can contact us, here.
