Vendor management. Service levels, guarantees and scorecards.

Your plan's vendors make promises in their contracts, and those promises only matter if someone measures them. Ethos Benefits writes service level agreements and performance guarantees into your contracts, scores every vendor against them, reviews one vendor in depth with your committee each quarter, and documents what happens when a vendor falls short.

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What you get.

Most plans have no scorecard for their vendors, so performance is judged by complaints. A guarantee that is never measured is never paid.

Service level agreementsResponse times, accuracy, reporting and data delivery written into each contract as measurable standards.
Performance guaranteesMoney at risk when a standard is missed, with the reconciliation done every year rather than left to the vendor.
KPI scorecardsA scorecard for each vendor, reported to your committee every quarter.
Quarterly in-depth reviewsOne vendor reviewed in depth at each committee meeting, on rotation, so every vendor gets a full review in turn.
Escalation and remediationProblems escalated through the contract, with the response and the outcome recorded.
Vendor and contract inventoryEvery vendor, contract, renewal date and notice window in one list, so no deadline passes by default.

What we measure.

Vendor	Examples of what is measured
PBM	Pricing guarantees, rebates passed through, generic dispensing rate, data delivery
Administrator	Claims accuracy, turnaround time, call answer time, eligibility processing
Stop-loss	Reimbursement turnaround and accuracy
Navigation and advocacy	Response time, resolution rate, employee satisfaction
Specialty programs and direct contracts	Participation, outcomes reported, and the savings claimed against the data

When a vendor falls short.

The contract decides what your plan can do. That is why service levels and guarantees are negotiated during procurement, not after a problem appears. When a standard is missed, Ethos documents it, collects what the contract provides, and brings the options to your committee.

Part of your Fiduciary Framework™.

Every Ethos service reports to your benefits committee. The work is reviewed at your quarterly committee meeting, each decision is recorded with the reasoning behind it, and the record lives in your Ethos Fiduciary OS. That is what lets your committee show the plan was run prudently.

See the Fiduciary Framework™ · How fiduciary governance works

Questions employers ask about this.

What is the difference between a service level agreement and a performance guarantee?

A service level agreement sets the standard the vendor must meet. A performance guarantee puts money behind it: the fee credit or payment the plan receives when the standard is missed.

Which vendors get a scorecard?

Every vendor that serves the plan, including the PBM, the administrator, stop-loss, navigation and advocacy, and specialty health programs.

What happens when a vendor misses its guarantees?

The shortfall is documented, the guarantee is collected, and the committee decides whether to remediate, renegotiate or remarket. The decision and its reasoning go into the record.

See what your plan is really costing you.

A Strategic Analysis starts with your plan documents and your broker agreement, then shows you what your plan costs, where the risk sits, and what a committee would decide with the full picture.

Request a Strategic Analysis Call (407) 803-4710