SS&C Blog

BLOGS. May 28, 2021

How Health Plans Can Responsibly Delegate Authority

Health plans often choose to outsource or delegate administrative functions to gain expertise, reduce administrative costs, increase capacity and increase speed to market.  However, delegating authority to perform services is not the same as delegating responsibility for the compliance of that service. If a plan chooses to outsource administrative functions, regulatory agencies and accrediting bodies have defined expectations regarding delegation. This includes the plan’s responsibility for structured oversight of the selected vendor and even any subcontractors to that vendor. Regardless of who performs the administrative function, the health plan retains the responsibility for compliance with all regulatory requirements and accrediting standards. Depending on the number of outsourced functions and overarching line-of-sight, it could be a cumbersome task to monitor compliance. What can a health plan do to overcome this challenge?