VBA User Conference – Registration is Open!
Remember to register for VBA’s 3rd Annual Connect and Engage User Conference, which will be held from August 21-23, 2023 at the Milwaukee Marriott Downtown. Each client can bring up to three attendees to the event. Click here to visit the event registration page. We hope to see you there!
Product Updates and Industry News
From the desk of Jessica Lockhart – EVP of Sales & Marketing
Hello, and welcome to the Q2 edition of the VBA Newsletter. Summer is here and things are heating up at VBA. As always, I am watching the industry trends and keeping you in the loop on all things VBA. I have a lot of updates to share, so let’s get started.
What’s Everyone Talking About?
Technology modernization, interoperability, personalizing the member experience and AI/machine learning has everyone talking, and we are too. At VBA’s Connect and Engage User Conference, we will be tackling all these topics and the impact on VBA’s technology. You will hear from not only the VBA leadership team and in-house experts, but also your peers! There will be plenty of time to network and share best practices in an informal setting. Space is limited, so don’t wait. Click here to register.
Key Priorities for Healthcare Payers
According to the latest research from Gartner, healthcare payers are prioritizing data and analytics tools, core administrative processing systems, consumer engagement tools and CRM tools. VBA’s got you covered for three of the top four priorities with VBAnalytics, VBASoftware and VBAGateway.
Infrastructure is also a key area of focus and VBA has you covered there too. We are at the leading edge with our fully cloud-based solutions, and we offer VBAPI as a solution to help enable interoperability and share data with all of your internal external systems.
What are your top technology priorities and how do they compare to what’s trending in the industry today? Remember that VBA is here to help so don’t hesitate to reach out to us for advice or consultation on your toughest technology challenges.
VBA Featured in Amazon Web Services Case Study
Did you hear that VBA was featured in a case study with our partner Amazon Web Services? The case study highlights VBA’s emerging technology around lightning-fast auto adjudication, currently under development, which has been proven to process 60,000 claims in just a few minutes. We’re excited about the possibilities, and we’ll be talking more about it at the upcoming VBA Connect and Engage User Conference. In the meantime, you can read the Amazon case study here.
Member Portal Redesign Update
The redesign of the VBAGateway member portal is underway and will be completed in phases. Here is a look at what we have scheduled for Q2 2023.
This quarter’s primary focus is the member dashboard, which includes the following:
Member Dashboard
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Implement screen level “tab view” by plan type. Each plan type will have a separate view
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Convert Recent Claims POD
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Create a new look for My Deductibles POD
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Create a new Benefit Level tracker POD
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Create new Plan Information POD with Plan Documents
Create new Resources PODs
Create new Quick Links POD
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Create a new Recommended for You POD
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Create Critical Announcements POD for “pinned” or high visibility announcements
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Dropbox: Claim Summary and Claim Details
Claim Appeals workflow will be available in a later release
Gateway Login Page
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Provide the ability for clients to add a photo or text to the login page via the Administrator portal
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Add HTML editor functionality to Announcement creation so that clients can add images to announcements
Dental and Vision Benefit Verification Comes to IVR
VBAVoice IVR has been expanded to include dental and vision benefits verification. That’s two more reasons to purchase VBAVoice IVR. If you don’t have IVR yet and would like to learn more about these options or if you have VBAVoice IVR and are interested in turning on these additional verifications, please contact your dedicated VBA Account Executive.
Provider Portal Registration – A VBAVoice IVR Use Case
As a reminder, VBAVoice IVR can also be used to distribute a portal registration code. If you want to make it easy for your providers to register for your portal, try using VBAVoice IVR as a way to distribute a registration code to your providers.
Distribution Data Now Available and Health Risk Assessment Data Coming Soon
We continue to invest in VBAnalytics to make it a premiere solution in the market. The latest premium distribution reports are now available in VBAnalytics. The premium distribution report gives users a holistic view into the premium paid to the reinsurer in consideration for the liability assumed by the reinsurer. If you use VBASoftware to manage your reinsurance contracts, this report will assist with overall tracking of those premiums.
Up next, Health Risk Assessment data integration. As part of the July release, VBAnalytics will have the ability to further stratify your population and identify risk using health risk assessment data. Imagine being able to gain insight into a member’s attitude, readiness to make behavioral changes to improve their health, the impact of chronic conditions on a member’s lifestyle, social determinants of health and more. Check out the upcoming VBAnalytics July release notes for details.
Upcoming VBA Best Practices Webinar
VBAPI and the real-time revolution will be the topic of our next best practices webinar. Join us on July 13 as Matt Salerno from VBA and Nirab Pant from Angle Health, a VBA TPA client, discuss the impact and real-world use cases for VBAPI. Watch for an invitation coming to your inbox soon.
VBA Partners With the Phia Group to Create More Efficient Appeals and Grievance Workflow
Processing appeals and grievances can be time-consuming because information is located in multiple systems and is not always readily available. VBA is partnering with The Phia Group to provide an integrated and efficient way to manage appeals and grievances.
By integrating VBASoftware with the Phia Group’s PROS case tracking solution, all of the necessary information will be located in one place, which will improve accuracy of decisions and reduce the time it takes to process appeals and grievances. As an added benefit, the PROS system will automatically share case activity and information back to VBASoftware.
Contact your designated VBA Account Executive if you would like to learn more about VBA’s latest preferred partner, the Phia Group, and what they have to offer.
Thanks for taking the time to read all of our updates. I hope to see you in-person at the VBA User Conference in August.
Operations
From the desk of Rachel Lanser – Chief Client Officer
Hello everyone and welcome to the second VBA client newsletter of the year. It has been another busy few months here at VBA as we have been working on substantial improvements to our solution suite and bringing new customers on board. We are so glad you are on this journey with us.
VBA User Conference Survey – Results
First, I would like to thank all of you who took the time to share your thoughts about the upcoming VBA User Conference in August. We are excited to announce that based on your feedback, we will be offering a Learning Lab staffed by VBA Solution Consultants to answer your questions and provide live demonstrations during the event.
We are working on developing presentations around other high-priority topics to make this an informative and productive event for everyone. The preliminary agenda is now available. Click here to view the agenda.
Call for Presenters
On that note, we are looking for clients to join us as presenters at the User Conference. If you would like to co-present with our VBA team and showcase how you are using VBA solutions to enhance your business, please reach out to your Account Executive and let them know. We are happy to work with you to brainstorm topics for your presentation, so don’t be shy. We’ll make it easy for you.
Training Video Update
We are continuing to build a video library for training on most of the functionality within our products. The library will be released to you this summer.
Fun Fact
Did you know that VBA is able to successfully process 99.8% of all files received? That equates to approximately 12,000 files per month.
VBA Suggestion Box
Just a reminder that you can submit feedback to VBA anytime via our suggestion box. Whether you have a suggestion for how to improve our solutions or a comment about our service, we want to hear from you. Simply email us at [email protected]
I hope you have a wonderful summer and I look forward to seeing many of you at the User Conference in August.
Did You Know?
Tips & Tricks from VBA
Process Automation
Did you know that you can use process automation in VBASoftware to make your workflows more efficient? Here is one example of how you can automate simple tasks related to COBRA notifications. When an event happens, such as the member disenrolling from the plan, you can use process automation to automatically send out COBRA notifications. In the example below, there are six steps in the process that can be automated, freeing up staff resources to focus on other things.
The trigger for this automation would be the disenrollment of a member where Step 1 is to generate the COBRA packet and print it to a specific printer. This could also be set up as a print file that is sent to a third party for printing and distribution. In Step 5, as shown above, you can use the template to send an automated email to the enrollment department if the member does not select coverage. The automated process continues step by step until it is stopped by an administrator, or the process finishes on Step 6.
There are many ways you can use process automation to improve your workflows and save time. To learn more about this feature, please contact your VBA Account Executive for assistance.
Meet the Team
Professional History:
Sharri joined VBA in April 2021 as a Business Analyst and has worked in various roles throughout the company, including Implementation Manager and Data Integration Analyst. She was promoted to Manager of Data Integration in 2023. In this role, she is responsible for building strong relationships with VBA clients and vendors by helping set up file feeds to support their business and ensuring they have a positive experience.
Prior to joining VBA, Sharri worked as a Project Manager for WPS Health Insurance. Sharri brings a wealth of experience in planning, project management, requirements gathering, quality assurance testing, training and technical documentation. She has a strong technical background and is an excellent communicator, which allows her to act as a liaison between business and technical staff.
Sharri earned a Master’s Certificate in Project Management and a Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Certificate from the University of Wisconsin School of Business.
Sharri Seffens
Manager of Data Integration
On a Personal Note:
In her free time, Sharri enjoys traveling, walking/hiking, movies, reading and spending time with family.
Release Notes
Make sure to share our release notes and videos with your team members to ensure all VBA users are up to date.
march
May
March
May
March
May
As a reminder, VBA schedules up to 10 releases a year to ensure our clients have the latest software without the wait. You can access the release schedule here in the Client Resource Center.
Here are the planned release dates for 2023:
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June 16 – Client
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July 21 – VBA
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August 25 – Client
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September 29 – VBA
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November 3 – Client
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December 8 – VBA
Upcoming Conferences and Events
We will be participating in the following events:
July 17-19
HCAA TPA Summit
Dallas, TX
August 21-23
VBA User Conference
Milwaukee, WI
Here We Grow Again!
Promotions
Application Services Team
Kris Kirchner
Data Systems Manager
Client Experience Team
Rachel Cell
Director of Client Solutions
Integration Services Team
Angie Smith
Data Integration Analyst II
Product Experience Team
Ashley Trawicki
Business Analyst Manager
New Hires
Application Services Team
Jenna Fischer
Software Engineer
Joshua Berrios-Rivera
Software Engineer
Data Developer Team
Cameron Bacon
EDI Developer
Implementation Team
Yadira Coto
Implementation Architect
Integration Services Team
Cole Shaffer
Data Integration Analyst
Sales and Marketing Team
Leslie Martinez
Senior Account Executive
Product Experience Team
Frankie Horner
Business Analyst
Evan Rinner
Technical Writer
Webinars
VBA Application Release Reviews
We held our March Release Review on Thursday, April 6, 2023. If you were unable to attend, the recorded session can be found here.
We held our May Release Review on Friday, May 12, 2023. If you were unable to attend, the recorded session can be found here.
VBA Webinars
Staying Connected: How VBAVoice IVR Can Support Your Customer Care Team and Keep Your Customers Happy on April 12, 2023, featuring Jared Delacerda, Vice President of Operations at Edison Health Solutions. If you were unable to attend, the recorded session can be found here.
Q2 2023 VBA Regulatory Roundtable on June 8, 2023, featuring John Barlament. If you were unable to attend, the recorded session can be found here.
Watch for an invitation to our next webinar, VBAPI and the Real-Time Revolution on July 13, coming to your inbox soon.
Client Resource Center Updates
Check out the latest materials that were posted to our Client Resource Center:
Holiday Schedule
The VBA offices will be closed on the following days in observance of the following holidays:
Tuesday, June 20 and Wednesday, June 21 – VBA Employee Summit
Tuesday, July 4 – Fourth of July Holiday
Monday, September 4 – Labor Day
Tell us what you think!
Your opinion is important to us so we can continue to enhance our products and improve your experience.
Ready to share?
Send your feedback to [email protected].
Thanks for reading this edition of the VBA Newsletter.
Stay tuned for next quarter’s newsletter.