Nucleus Research Study Reveals Method for Battling Rising Healthcare, Benefits Costs; In-Depth Analysis Details Savings in Employee Healthcare Expenditures Through Benefits Lifecycle Management

Business Wire, Sept 26, 2005

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Nucleus Research, a global provider of IT research and advisory services, today announced the release of a new study illustrating how a new approach to benefits management - benefits lifecycle management - is helping companies combat the rising cost of employee benefits. Beyond basic benefits administration solutions, benefits lifecycle management supports information gathering, analysis, bidding, contract negotiation, and vendor management.

Corporations are challenged to manage benefits costs, and in-depth analysis from Nucleus Research found that benefits lifecycle technology saved companies an average of 4-6 percent annually on overall healthcare contracts. In addition, some organizations reduced ancillary benefits plans covering non-medical costs by up to one-third.

The report looked at how customers of HighRoads, Inc., a leader in this marketplace, are targeting benefits management functions within HR to improve management of vendors, automate key benefits tasks, generate greater competition for bids and streamline request-for-proposal (RFP) events. In its report, Nucleus identified key benefit areas from benefits lifecycle management and how this new approach can deliver real cost savings.

Key findings of the report include:

--End users reduced their overall healthcare contract price by 4-6 percent

--Benefit management solutions users reduced 3rd party fees associated with administrative tasks and data gathering by 75-90 percent.

--On average, companies using management solutions cut RFP cycle time by 29 percent.

--Companies using benefits management solutions such as HighRoads were able to improve visibility into their benefits expenditures to identify key savings areas, and reduce the time and cost of summary plan description (SPD) updates.

"Although many companies have addressed other areas of HR with technology to reduce costs and drive savings, benefits lifecycle management is still often a manual process for many companies," said Rebecca Wettemann, vice president of research at Nucleus Research. "Given the rising cost of healthcare and other benefits, using a benefits management solution such as HighRoads can drive considerable savings to the corporate bottom line."

Nucleus independently contacted customers to assess their experiences using HighRoads. Prior to interviewing HighRoads customers, Nucleus reviewed the HighRoads Web site, online technology publications, discussion forums and print journals to better understand customer demographics and profiles. The full report, entitled "ROI Evaluation Report: HighRoads," is available at www.NucleusResearch.com.

About Nucleus Research

Nucleus Research is a global provider of IT advisory and research services that provides CFOs, CIOs and their staffs with the real-world information they need to maximize the business returns from their technology investments. Its analysts blend financial analysis and case-based investigations with comprehensive technology expertise to deliver factual return-on-investment (ROI) data to organizations worldwide. The company uses an uncompromising set of processes and tools to evaluate the financial return on IT assets and is the only firm to gain certification by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. Nucleus Research has analyst experts across the entire enterprise software and hardware space and provides clients with ongoing advice to help with both short-term technology decisions and long-term strategic plans. For more information, visit www.nucleusresearch.com.