Strengths Member Relationships
CIS’ successful employee benefits program, which provides coverage to 24,000 individuals across Oregon, spent the year building on its strong relationships with members.
CIS Executive Director Patrick Priest praised the Benefits team for going above and beyond. They not only increased outreach but also enhanced service.
“The Benefits team has had an exceptional year,” said Patrick. “They focused on meeting our members in person and conducted a record number of member meetings. The excellent customer service was appreciated by our members.”
After COVID sidelined the CIS Benefits team to virtual meetings for over two years, staff hit the road, traveling across the state for a record number of both Employer Open Enrollment meetings in July and Employee Open Enrollment meetings in October. In the end, CIS staff held 37 On-site Employee Open Enrollment Meetings (and 15 virtual ones), traveling as far as Joseph, Ashland, and Astoria.
During July, the Benefits team also led Benefit Advisory Committee (BAC) meetings in conjunction with each Employer Open Enrollment meeting to make the most out of each visit. Not only did the effort improve communications with members, but it also helped staff gather valuable member feedback to improve an already outstanding program.
During CIS’ February and July Benefits Advisory Committee (BAC) meetings, members requested improvements to CIS-Connect such as building functions for searching and sorting — as well as improving the reporting tasks. The team worked with the software developer to accomplish these member-requested improvements.
In addition to meetings, the team enhanced services. Participation increased for the effective BeyondWell program, and users increased from 1,824 to over 3,000. The innovative program provides incentives for employees to take concrete steps to improve their overall health.
Starting in August 2022, CIS offers Hinge Health. This program provides virtual physical therapy with treatment materials — including sensors and tablets mailed directly to the homes of the participants — which allows direct communication with their physical therapist. Employee participation has exceeded expectations.
Member employees who are enrolled in a Regence plan through CIS Benefits can now access not only Hinge Health but also SurgeryPlus. If an issue can’t be resolved through physical therapy through Hinge Health, they can turn to SurgeryPlus (a program that helps find the highest quality surgeon with the best outcomes in the industry).
These two programs should help keep rates stable for members and give employees better tools to deal with musculoskeletal (MSK) issues. It will also save them money (if they go through SurgeryPlus for their non-emergency surgeries). SurgeryPlus is completely voluntary, so employees can try it or continue to go through the Regence network for their surgeries — it just gives employees one more option.
Our strategic plan called for enhancing communications with members, so CIS Benefits Director Mike Beyrouty got to work and assigned each member a specific benefit representative. This streamlined member interactions, allowing for a better comprehension of overall issues and improved response times.
Each week the Benefits team meets to hone communications, plan upcoming events, and problem-solve any issues that may come up. They’re also incorporating a customer relationship management (CRM) tool to improve overall awareness of what’s happening with Benefits members and potential members.
Two more important milestones were accomplished in 2022 — adding quarterly trainings for Employer Administrators as well as doubling the amount of informative Enrollment Materials on CIS-Connect. And toward the end of the year, the team hit another milestone by enhancing the “employee home page,” where personalized Benefit Plan and vendor contact information can be found in one place.
“This is a major improvement towards better communication and access to personalized information for employees,” said Mike. “Previously, employees had to click around to find this information and documents. It’s now more user-friendly and navigable. The enhancement will be officially announced in early 2023.”
Members are appreciating the extra care they’re receiving.
“CIS Benefits provides outstanding service,” according to Tualatin’s HR & Risk Manager Debra Bullard. “When I call, I am greeted with a cheerful voice, who works through whatever issue I am having. When asked, they always go the extra mile — such as typing out specific instructions (with screenshots!) to help me walk through an unfamiliar task in CIS-Connect, or by calling carriers and working through a difficult benefits situation. CIS Benefits staff are true partners I can count on.”
Another member shared that they notice the Benefits team going above and beyond.
“CIS has been my constant since I started in HR in October 2018,” said Tillamook County’s Human Resources Technician Robyn L. Jolly.
“I hit the ground running and it hasn’t stopped since,” she said. “Lori Newsome and Heather Matthews have never left me hanging. I am 100% confident, when I tell an employee ‘Let me reach out to my contact at CIS’ that I’ll have an answer in a timely manner. This is nearly always the same day. COVID changed a multitude of things and pushed forward a number of needs our employees had. This is not the same job it was 5 years ago and I’m ever so thankful that CIS is just a quick email or phone call away.”
CIS Benefits members received some good news in February when they learned that we would use our strong reserves to reduce the proposed rate increases. Because CIS reserves are held for the benefit of members, we can help soften rate increases when reserves are strong.
“We use interest earnings from our reserves to offset increases,” said Mike. “These reserves were also used to fund the popular CIS-Connect Open Enrollment system.”
There have been many successes that the CIS Benefits team has enjoyed in 2022.
“The only reason that CIS exists is to help Oregon’s cities and counties to be safer, stronger, and healthier,” said Patrick. “Clearly, the worthwhile efforts of the CIS Benefits team are getting noticed because they’re working.”
The CIS Benefits team has consistently been very helpful. Their patience and diligence in addressing all circumstances goes beyond what anyone would expect. My emails are quickly responded to, and their explanations are worded clearly and accurately. It's a pleasure to work with a team that is knowledgeable, communicates well and cares.
CIS Benefits provides outstanding service. When I call, I am greeted with a cheerful voice, who works through whatever issue I am having. When asked, they always go the extra mile — such as typing out specific instructions (with screenshots!) to help me walk through an unfamiliar task in CIS-Connect, or by calling carriers and working through a difficult benefits situation. CIS Benefits staff are true partners I can count on.
CIS has been my constant since I started in HR in October 2018. I hit the ground running and it hasn’t stopped since. Lori Newsome and Heather Matthews have never left me hanging. I am 100% confident, when I tell an employee “Let me reach out to my contact at CIS” that I’ll have an answer in a timely manner. This is nearly always the same day. COVID changed a multitude of things and pushed forward a number of needs our employees had. This is not the same job it was 5 years ago and I’m ever so thankful that CIS is just a quick email or phone call away.
Heather is my primary contact for benefit-related issues and questions. I requested she remain my contact when clients were distributed among the benefit team. Heather is incredibly responsive and knowledgeable. I can rely on Heather responding back to me quickly, and with the information I need in order to manage the issue being dealt with. I could not be happier with the service I receive from Heather and the entire CIS team.
We became CIS members in August of 2022 after receiving notice that our current insurance at the time was going to cancel July 31, 2022. We did not have much notice and our benefits representative Heather Matthews was absolutely wonderful getting everything in place for our employees. It was a very stressful time for the City of Molalla, and I am sure it was very stressful for her as well since we were all working on a short timeframe. She was and still is very helpful with the many questions that come either from our employees or me and usually always responds back within the same day. I cannot say enough about Heather, just that I am very thankful to have her as our CIS Benefits representative.
I want to tell you that you have all stars on your team. I retired in April 2021, I was brought back to work by my longtime employer, due to a lack of acceptable candidates in the Water treatment field in May of this year (2022). I have recently retired for the second time. This meant working with Lori and Melinda several times in both years. Dealing with your team, I never had a problem. I was a little stressed every time we would switch, as medical insurance is very important... They kept me very informed, and basically held my hand through each process. Thanks again to all at CIS.
When it comes to benefits it gets personal for everyone because it affects the ability to care for yourself or others. Therefore, when you work with an employee representative you want them to treat the problems you are experiencing as if they were their own. Mostly this is not the case as we have all experienced. However, when I work with my representative at CIS I get even more than I could hope for — easy accessibility, not just for me, but a confidential contact for all the employees, an answer within minutes or within half an hour, information about where I can find the answer on my own next time (which is very helpful), real resolutions, technical fixes where appropriate, and, the sort of persistence it takes solve the harder cases. I have worked with my rep on at least 3 or 4 complicated benefits problems for employees that have taken months to sort out. Every couple of weeks I receive reassurance that the work is ongoing and won’t be dropped until there are real answers. I think my CIS rep is the best I have worked with in my entire 28-year HR career. Of course, the representative can only be good, if the benefits themselves are good, and in recent years, I think we must all agree, that CIS have put expertise and money into keeping rates low in times of need, adapting to a pandemic world, watching the bigger picture and bringing solutions such as Hinge Health and Surgery Plus, which are fantastic enhancements. Altogether a partnership worth the trust!