My experience in the past with third-party FSA administrators has ranged from mediocre to bad.  However, this time I’m writing to give kudos, because when I went today to submit my first claim through PayFlex’s self-service Web site, I discovered that they have an intelligent, well-designed, innovative claim submission process, the kind that makes you say, “Why the heck can’t everybody do things this way?”

When you log into the Web site and click “Express Claims”, you are immediately brought to a screen where you enter the details of each charge you’re submitting (expense type, date, amount).  The data entry form is intuitive and responsive, and it doesn’t make you fill out the fields that aren’t needed.

When you’re done and click “Submit”, you are brought to a confirmation screen where you can review all of the information you entered and go back to correct any mistakes.

This is cool.  You are entering your data directly into their database, which means that transcription errors and data-entry delays are eliminated.  Furthermore, since they don’t have to pay people to do data entry, their costs are presumably lower, and one would hope that the cost savings is passed on to my employer in the form of lower administrative fees.

But that’s not even the coolest thing.  Once you confirm that all of the information is correct, you arrive at the receipt submission screen.  They offer you the choice between faxing in your receipts and uploading them as a PDF file produced by a scanner. Since scanners are common nowadays and pretty much every scanner can produce PDFs, uploading a PDF is less trouble for many people than faxing.  Furthermore, the uploaded file is linked immediately and automatically to the claim, once again reducing both delays and processing costs.

Of course, PayFlex also offers the option of filling out a claim form on paper and submitting it by mail or fax, so people who don’t feel comfortable using the online process can still submit claims.

For more information about PayFlex’s claim submission process, see their FAQ page.

Nice job, PayFlex!

UPDATE: I received an explanation of benefits from PayFlex via email, indicating that my claim had been paid, less than 15 hours after I filed my claim. Wow!