Wade through the flood of benefits and HR technology pressreleases and you'll find some interesting solutions for benefitsmanagers and brokers. These five are the result of partnershipsbetween companies.

#1: Cutting down on FSA receipts

A benefits administration provider and an e-commerceFSA/HSA-eligible product site have partnered -- their goal is tomake it easier for people to purchase items reimbursable under aFlexible Spending Account (FSA) or Health Savings Account(HSA).

Customers of Clarity Benefit Solutions will be able to purchasehealth care products at FSAstore.com and HSAstore.com. Items purchased throughFSAstore.com and HSAstore.com are auto-substantiated, eliminatingthe need for participants to make manual claims and receiptsubmissions to Clarity.

#2: Creating an enrollment process with no visibleseams

An insurance carrier and a cloud-based benefits enrollmentprovider have partnered up, aiming to help brokers offer benefitsvia a cloud-based benefits enrollment solution.

Colonial Life and EaseCentral teamed up to offer a solution withthe ability to set up and manage benefits, do onboarding of newhires, and give employees one place to find HR-related information.It also includes payroll, plus paid leave tracking, performancereviews and goal setting for managers.

#3: Helping employers offer a retirementplan

A provider of cloud-based solutions for accountants ispartnering with two retirement services providers to offer aretirement solution that integrates with a payroll solution.

AccountantsWorld is offering its Payroll ReliefRetirement Solution (PRRS) in partnership with TransamericaRetirement Solutions and TAG Resources (TAG), who will be theservicers of the PRRS.

The PRRS will fully integrate with AccountantsWorld's signaturepayroll offering, Payroll Relief, and aims to relieve companies ofretirement plan administrative tasks, help with compliance, andoffer fiduciary liability protection, among other features.

#4: Automating employee benefitscommunications

A provider of a human capital management solution and a providerof automated carrier connections have partnered to offer automatedcommunications about employee benefits enrollment information.

iSystems announced its Evolution HCM product will beintegrated with eBenefits Network automated carrier connections toreduce the need for manual entry of communications regardingemployee benefits enrollment information.

#5: Creating a regional employee benefitsbenchmark

A regional affiliation of businesses is partnering with a datasolution provider to offer employers a data analytics tool to gaininsight into health costs and other issues.

The Lancaster, PA., Chamber of Commerce affiliate, the BusinessGroup on Health (BGH) has teamed up with Innovu to provide BGHemployer-members access to the Innovu CommunityLens solution.CommunityLens aggregates health and other benefit program data tohelp employers understand cost drivers, health issues, and regionalhealth priorities to make more informed decisions.