Benefitfocus Adds Virtual Assistants to Marketplace Solutions Through CodeBaby Partnership

Cloud-based benefits software provider to offer virtual benefits advisor within private exchange marketplace

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Jun 13, 2013, 09:00 ET

CHARLESTON, S.C., June 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Benefitfocus and CodeBaby today announced their strategic initiative to add virtual assistance to the benefits shopping experience. Through this partnership, Benefitfocus will provide insurance carriers and employers convenient, on-demand consumer support by incorporating CodeBaby's Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVAs) within its private exchange offerings, BENEFITFOCUS® Marketplace and BENEFITFOCUS HR INTOUCH MARKETPLACE® Edition. This strategic alliance creates a leading solution for the healthcare and benefits market.

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"Today's consumers, employers and insurance carriers are increasing their demands for innovative and diverse options to elevate healthcare consumerism," said Dennis McGuire, CEO of CodeBaby. "We are thrilled to work with Benefitfocus, a leading provider of cloud-based benefits software solutions, to assist in meeting these growing market requirements. We believe this partnership will further assist Benefitfocus clients by delivering relevant information in a way that makes understanding healthcare choices less confusing while improving the overall enrollment process."

Intelligent Virtual Assistants, commonly referred to as avatars, offer self-service guidance and support in the plan selection process to help consumers make better choices for their individual needs and confidently complete their enrollment online. Benefitfocus Marketplace Technology creates an engaging enrollment experience that integrates personalized shopping tools like the BENEFITFOCUS® Plan Shopping App and a virtual shopping cart for informed decision making. By partnering with CodeBaby, Benefitfocus brings a new level of personalization to benefits with IVAs that can be customized for brand association.

IVAs can be configured into the enrollment workflow within Benefitfocus Marketplace Solutions to explain plan features as well as cost versus benefit scenarios. IVAs also assist in ensuring proper documentation is completed for applications and can be programmed to promote voluntary benefits enrollment or participation in wellness programs. Conversational scripts using Natural Language Response (NLR) technology are combined with menu-driven options to direct users through predetermined paths based on their profile and interaction within the marketplace.

"CodeBaby offers innovative technology that delivers an enhanced healthcare consumer experience, and together we provide the instant customer service that online shoppers have grown accustomed to," said Benefitfocus President and CEO Shawn Jenkins. "The complexities associated with managing benefits are growing exponentially for insurance carriers and employers, and we're responding by bringing new communication tools into the Benefitfocus Ecosystem. Integrating the new avatar technology into our marketplace solutions will help clients adapt to the rise in healthcare consumerism and will provide consumers the education and knowledge to make more informed healthcare choices."

Both companies are participating in the AHIP Institute 2013 this week in Las Vegas. Conference attendees will have the opportunity to hear first-hand how Benefitfocus and CodeBaby can deliver an enhanced consumer experience with intelligent decision support through Benefitfocus Marketplace Solutions. For more information about the partnership, visit Benefitfocus at booth #545 in the AHIP Exhibition Hall.

About CodeBaby
CodeBaby is a leading intelligent virtual assistant (IVA) technology provider offering self-service and customer engagement solutions that enable the benefits health insurance and healthcare provider industries to increase online customer engagement, drive conversion objectives, and improve online self-service. Its benefits advisor solution, based in the cloud, guides and engages consumers and employees towards decisions on health exchanges and benefits platforms using a combination of interactive web elements, decision support tools, and emotionally expressive 3D intelligent virtual assistants. The technology improves education and service while improving operational support such as calls to customer service and inaccuracy on enrollment and application forms, all with the flexibility of multilingual options. Its many additional CIVA solutions create tremendous value for a rapidly growing number of industries, Fortune 1000 companies as well as mid-sized clients. Visit our website: www.codebaby.com or follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CodeBaby.

About Benefitfocus
Benefitfocus is a leading provider of cloud-based benefits software solutions for consumers, employers, insurance carriers and brokers. Benefitfocus serves more than 20 million consumers on its platform that consists of an integrated portfolio of products and services enabling clients to more efficiently shop, enroll, manage and exchange benefits information. With a user-friendly interface and consumer-centric design, the Benefitfocus Platform provides one place for consumers to access all their benefits. Benefitfocus solutions support the marketplace technology and administration of all types of core benefit plans, including healthcare, dental, life and disability insurance and voluntary benefits plans, such as critical illness, supplemental income and wellness programs. For more information, visit www.benefitfocus.com.

Benefitfocus.com, Inc.
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SOURCE Benefitfocus