How OrthoUnited ran open enrollment without a single benefits meeting and an HR department of one

OrthoUnited went into open enrollment with two changes at once: a new benefits administration platform, and new voluntary benefits carriers, all managed by an HR department of one. Two weeks later, the enrollment period closed with no confused employees because every enrollee found what they needed through Pasito. That translated into ~16 hours of HR time saved due to zero signups for on-site OE meetings.

The challenge: three major changes, three campuses, and an HR department of one

OrthoUnited, an Ohio-based orthopedic care provider, was one year into adopting a self-insured model, with a new brokerage relationship to support it. The same enrollment season, the benefits administration platform moved to a new system and the voluntary benefits carriers changed. Every one of those transitions landed on an HR department of exactly one person, Amy Dunn, the company's HR director, who ran this enrollment with no benefits support staff at all.OrthoUnited has a care-focused culture where staff spend a lot of time supporting patients. The company's biggest worry about adding a new benefits tool was potentially creating software adoption challenges and tool confusion on top of already large benefit plan changes.

The solution: a launch that barely touched HR

OrthoUnited needed something immediate, and the implementation asked almost nothing of an already busy HR team. Pasito handled the benefits build-out and answered implementation questions fast. Because the benefits administration platform was changing at the same time, Pasito Communications became an invaluable tool to emphasize that Pasito is where employees learn and compare their plans, then actual enrollment happens in the new system. Five email campaigns went to benefits-eligible employees between May 29 and June 12, from OE introduction through final reminder.

The results: Two weeks, zero meetings

The brokerage firm was scheduled to spend two days on site answering employee questions across OrthoUnited's three campuses. Nobody signed up, and the sessions never happened.

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OrthoUnited is careful with the causation, since there's no proof the usual meeting-goers went to Pasito instead. What's certain is that the questions never reached HR either, which was the outcome the company wanted.For a first enrollment launched in a rush, the self-service habit took: 99 employees used the microsite, 44 worked through decision support, and the feedback that reached HR called the tool user-friendly. The next step is already scoped: wiring Pasito into new-hire onboarding, so the education piece scales as OrthoUnited adds physicians and staff without adding HR headcount.