Challenge
Disjointed processes increased risk of error and limited visibility.
Sentara Health, an integrated, not-for-profit health care delivery system, is one of the 20 largest not-for-profit integrated health systems in the country, with over 30,000 employees, 12 hospitals in Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina, and the Sentara Health Plans division, which serves more than 1 million members in Virginia and Florida.
Sentara Health has set an ambitious plan for growth—a goal empowered by digital transformation. In this journey, contracting emerged as a strategic target for digital transformation in its health plan division.
Sentara Health Plans works closely with brokers and employers to negotiate health plans that best fit employees’ needs while complying with regulations and financial controls. This includes things like determining unique plan designs: Sales teams negotiate modifications, submit those modifications for approval, and then send the proposal to the broker for review.
Sales teams faced significant challenges in their proposal process. Modifications to health plans were initially submitted for approval via email to compliance and operations teams. Approved changes were then manually entered into proposals for brokers and customers, creating a slow and labor-intensive workflow. This approach not only increased the risk of human error but also limited visibility over the process.
Previous attempts to digitize and automate this process had failed due to the complexity of modification workflows, approval processes, and the challenge of compiling customer-ready proposals.
Solution
Icertis integrated with Salesforce creates a seamless proposal process for sales teams.
In response to these challenges, Sentara Health opted for Icertis as its enterprise-wide contract lifecycle management (CLM) solution, enhancing operations across payer and provider functions.
The integration of Icertis with Salesforce provided a pivotal opportunity for the health plan division to unify its fragmented sales and operational processes, enabling collaborative and efficient workflows. With automated and trackable procedures, the sales team can now access standard plan information and input modifications directly within the existing CRM for a seamless experience.
Annie Alexander, Vice President of Sales Solutions at Sentara Health Plans, remarks, “The Salesforce integration was critical. Our sales team was already using Salesforce, and this allowed them to stay within that system, which is a significant factor for user adoption.”
Proposals are routed to the relevant reviewers through Icertis based on the nature of the modifications. Depending on the type of modifications, specific workflows are triggered so that the appropriate teams can review. Once approved, updated information flows seamlessly back into Salesforce, generating the proposal document for the sales team to present to customers.
Benefits
Greater visibility and reduced risk across critical proposal processes.
The automation of the proposal process marks a significant early achievement in Sentara’s long-term roadmap with Icertis. As the organization introduces more use cases to the platform, Alexander anticipates enhanced capabilities that will support Sentara's growth goals through contract automation and data insights.
Key early benefits include:
- Enhanced Proposal Management: Centralizing proposal processes through the Salesforce integration gives leaders greater visibility. “We can align our products with customer needs more effectively and provide more insight during product design,” explains Alexander.
- Scalability: Automating previous manual tasks positions Sentara to scale its proposal processes in line with growth aspirations without significantly increasing operational costs.
- Improved Broker Experience: Streamlined proposal reviews enable brokers to receive proposals more quickly, enhancing their buying experience.
- Reduced Risk Exposure: Automation improves the management of proposal modifications, ensuring appropriate reviews are performed before proposals reach brokers. “Previously, information was sent to everyone; now, we’ve streamlined visibility based on specific modifications,” shares Alexander.
By leveraging Icertis for contract lifecycle management, Sentara Health Plans is positioned to deliver exceptional value and customer experience through optimized proposal processes and enhanced operational efficiency.
