Resource:

Transamerica Bolsters Enrollment for Acquired Healthcare Providers

Case Study

Challenge: Cultural Transformation  

Content provided by AHA Endorsement partner: Transamerica

Learn how Trinity Health streamlined the retirment benefits enrollment across three newly acquired organizations, each with their own unique culture.

The Challenge
Communicating retirement plan benefits to a small group of colleagues who all work in the same location isn’t always easy. Imagine, though, trying to communicate important plan messages to nearly 10,000 colleagues—who were part of an acquisition—and who were required to re-enroll into the retirement plan, instead of having current contributions mapped over automatically to the new plan. Consider, too, that the newly acquired organizations were spread out across three separate locations and had different cultures and processes.

That’s what Transamerica Retirement Solutions and Trinity Health Division were up against when Trinity Health—one of the nation’s largest Catholic health care systems—acquired Loyola University Medical Center, Mercy Hospital and Medical Center, and Gottlieb Memorial Hospital.

The Solution
“Knowing how important it is to help acquired colleagues transition smoothly from their previous provider to Transamerica, we built a communications strategy that centered on the lofty goal of reaching each of these individuals personally…and giving them the information and motivation to continue saving for their future,” explained Transamerica’s Randy Watha, who manages the Retirement Education and Planning Services for Trinity Health. Reaching that goal would require a huge effort that accommodated different colleague interaction formats, work shifts, and meeting location sites. With that in mind:

  • Mercy Hospital and Medical Center held 42 group meetings over a 16-day timeframe. Five Transamerica retirement planning consultants were onsite each day, and two more on the weekends to meet with colleagues working those shifts. Aside from group meetings, a walk-up room for one-on-one meetings was available. There was also a computer lab with an attending retirement planning consultant for colleagues who couldn’t attend a group meeting. By the end of the campaign, a total of 1,043 colleagues had enrolled in the plan.
  • Loyola University Medical Center held 30 group meetings in just two weeks. There were eight Transamerica retirement planning consultants working each day. A one-on-one meeting room was also provided for walk-in traffic, as well as a cafeteria kiosk during peak traffic times. In addition, for a six-day time period, three retirement planning consultants were dedicated to handling all of the one-on-one meetings for the facility’s physicians. These one-on-one sessions also ran concurrently to the group meetings. By the end of the campaign, more than 2,800 had enrolled in the plan.
  • Gottlieb Memorial Hospital had two Transamerica retirement planning consultants who held 11 group meetings one month. Additionally, a walk-up kiosk for one-on-ones was staffed on a daily basis. By the end of the campaign, 303 employees had enrolled in the plan.

 

In between group meeting times at each of the three facilities, the retirement planning consultants would do facility walk-throughs to see if employees had questions about the new retirement plan or how to enroll. Print materials such as the transition newsletters, enrollment forms, and beneficiary forms were used to make it as simple as possible for employees to understand their options. The Internet was used for on-the-spot enrollments, and for education on contribution rates and investment fund information.

The Results
The communications strategy delivered a variety of positive results:

  • Mercy Hospital and Medical Center saw its enrollment rate rise to 63 percent from 43 percent.
  • At Loyola University Medical Center, the enrollment rate rose to nearly 50 percent. Before the acquisition, it was 41 percent.
  • Gottlieb Memorial Hospital’s plan participation rose to 29 percent from 23 percent.
  • The overall contribution rate for two of the three acquired organizations was higher than the plan’s contribution rate before the transition to Transamerica.

 

Additionally, the campaign was selected to receive a Silver Signature Award in the category of Conversions from the Plan Sponsor Council of America. The award honors excellence in plan communication and investment education.

Note: Results may vary based on an employer’s particular situation and other factors. Client testimonials do not imply an endorsement of any particular product or service.