Industry Report Blog Series: Automation, Security and Comprehensiveness

Sovos recently partnered with Aberdeen Group to survey 179 compliance decision makers across a number of industries to find out how they have handled Affordable Care Act (ACA) reporting. This is the third in a series of four blogs that detail some of the survey’s more notable results and findings. This installment will address how organizations performed in ACA reporting based on what kinds of solutions they used.

Tackling Compliance with Comprehensive Solutions

Respondents who used technology to augment their organizations’ reporting processes had overwhelmingly better insights. They were almost twice as likely as companies with no ACA solution to have automated updates that reflected regulatory changes; more than three times as likely to have real-time visibility into reporting deadlines; nearly four times as likely to have access to real-time audit trails; and two-and-a-half times as likely to have the ability to monitor compliance on an ongoing basis.

Using Automation to Improve Processes

Automation is perhaps the biggest component for deploying a successful ACA compliance strategy. Over half of respondents with ACA solutions reported having automated data importing and accurate form generation, compared to just 16 percent of those without such solutions. This can be a huge benefit for those organizations that struggle in keeping up with data aggregation. Likewise, 41 percent of those with ACA solutions had ongoing automated data validation, while a mere 8 percent of their counterparts without solutions had this ability. Organizations with ACA solutions were able to automate the majority of their processes, leading to electronic filing, fewer errors and less employee time spent on manually entering data and transmittals.

Ensuring Security in Compliance

Security is a prominent talking point for organizations considering software solutions that serve any purpose. It is important to identify the right solutions that are capable of managing and protecting sensitive data. There was a direct correlation among our respondents between having an ACA solution and achieving thorough security in their compliance efforts. Those with solutions were twice as likely than those with without solutions to have secure connections to eliminate outside entry. In addition, 55 percent of those with complete solutions reported having a HIPAA-compliant vendor compared to just 24 percent of those without complete solutions. The numbers demonstrate the importance of identifying and implementing end-to-end ACA solutions when improving reporting processes. Organizations need automation to simplify data aggregation and security to protect their sensitive information. The best proven way to accomplish this is to invest in a comprehensive ACA solution.