Beam Benefits is an innovative dental benefits provider that's bringing a unique experience to the market. From their tech-centered company philosophy to their innovative SmartPremiums¹ program that offers rewards for good brushing habits, Beam is providing a dental insurance experience that delights brokers, employers, and members alike.

The challenge

This commitment to excellent experiences drove Beam to look for a solution to establish seamless integrations with the many benefits administration platforms their brokers rely on. These platforms–which facilitate access to benefits information, payroll, and HR functions–play an important role in helping brokers match employers with the right Beam products. Once a match is made, the platform and Beam must be able to send and receive large volumes of data to administer coverage for members.

Typically, insurance carriers rely on outdated file feeds or even manual data entry into web portals to manage member updates. In addition to being inefficient, these are highly error-prone and resource-intensive options. In many cases, it can take 2–4 months just to set up the initial connection. From there, managing the ongoing operational work is expensive and time-consuming for valuable teams like engineers and operations specialists.

The solution

Beam recognized an opportunity to do things differently and went in search of a simple, scalable solution for managing external integrations. They partnered with Noyo to replace file feeds and manual data entry with best-in-class API connections.

Noyo’s technology-first approach and modern, developer-friendly API solution were the perfect match for Beam, introducing a new approach to solving legacy industry challenges while offering an exceptional experience to their platform partners.

During the 8-week initial integration, the Beam and Noyo teams worked together to plug Noyo's technology into Beam's existing systems, perform security audits, and run comprehensive tests. When member data started flowing through the new connections, the results were dramatic: for one partner, Noyo replaced what had been a completely manual process with an entirely automated one. Beam estimates that Noyo's connections have cut the time spent activating new groups in half, from two hours per group to just one.²

Beam has also handed off most of the work involved with building and maintaining platform integrations to Noyo; in return, Beam has confidence that member transactions are running automatically and reliably. 

"I can trust that transactions going through Noyo are going to be done right; that peace of mind is huge," says Hannah Thompson, Beam's platform integration lead.

The impact

Once the initial integrations are in place, Noyo is Beam’s first line of defense against errors. Because error resolution is expensive, Noyo’s continuous monitoring technology is particularly valuable. Round-trip transaction confirmation and proactive audits reduce the likelihood of errors, and Noyo collaborates directly with Beam and connected platforms to identify and resolve any potential issues before clients are impacted. The results speak for themselves: since turning on Noyo connections, Beam has seen a 50% reduction in time spent resolving data discrepancies.²

With Noyo powering their connections, Beam is providing platforms and brokers with one of the most seamless benefits administration experience in the industry. While integrations with most carriers take months, platforms can get up and running on Noyo-Beam connections in just 2-3 weeks. Brokers and platforms no longer have to spend countless hours configuring files or dealing with manual data entry; Noyo makes it all work behind the scenes. To make life even easier for platforms, Noyo provides first-of-its-kind³ tooling that gives them unmatched visibility into the state of their transactions and surfaces potential errors for fast resolution.

Time and productivity gains are not limited to the platforms; brokers benefit from them too, and it makes them more likely to recommend Beam.

"Noyo enhances our distribution capabilities and improves our speed to market–they make it easy for our broker partners to sell Beam's products." says Andy Hutter, Beam's Director of Digital Distribution Strategy. In fact, Beam is already recognizing wins, like unseating a large, well-established carrier to become the dental benefits provider of choice on two fast-growing platforms.

These recent experiences have validated Beam's strategy of leveraging technology to improve the broker, employer, and member experience. As partners and collaborators, Beam and Noyo will continue to bring innovative solutions to fuel Beam’s rise as a leading tech-enabled carrier.

¹Lower rate based on group's participation in Beam® Perks wellness program and a group aggregate Beam score of "A."  Based on Beam® internal brushing and utilization data. Presented amounts are for illustration purposes only; actual discount, if given, may be less. Not all products are available in all states.

²Based on data collected from March to July 2020.

³Based on Noyo analysis.