The ad is confusing. That's the point. “Your CEO wants a PPO. COO an HMO. CFO to IPO. You need a good TPA,” announces the piece, created for Entrust, a third-party benefits administration company in Houston.

The clever spoof underlines a real problem. The benefits administration world is awash in alphabet soup, with acronyms to denote everything from medical products and procedures to laws and regulations. As long as everyone in a conversation knows what an acronym means, the shorthand referrals are harmless ways to save a little time.

Trouble can arise, however, when not everyone knows what a given acronym means. “The use of acronyms in our industry can lead to confusion for employees or their dependents, and it's incumbent on us to be as clear as possible so they understand their benefits and their rights as they relate to those benefits,” says Robyn M. Jacobson, Entrust's chief operating officer. Achieving that clarity, she says, means paying attention to how and where you use acronyms.

A necessary tool 

For all their potential for confusion, acronyms serve a legitimate function, allowing people in the benefits industry—or any group—to say and write things faster.