Category: Insurance

7 Reasons Why ECM Is the Answer for Insurers – Part 3

by podcastadmin, posted in Insurance

In this blog series, we’re looking at how enterprise content management brings modern technology to the insurance industry to streamline:

Part 3: Case Management

“I can’t find your file right now.” SAID NO CUSTOMER SERVICE REP EVER. But if your employees have to track down documents and data spread out among Excel spreadsheets, systems that don’t communicate with each other or worse, in paper files on employee desks, customer service suffers.

Insurers need on-the-spot access to claims information, case files, and documentation managed on one, easy-to-use platform.

Having a modern case management solution can make or break an insurer. It enhances claims and new business processing by giving a full view of the insured’s profile or risk in one single view. It amounts to better, more informed decision-making by improving investigations, customer service, incident management and claims handling.

Without up-to-date and automated ways to manage cases, insurers face delayed service requests, unanswered complaints, and limited visibility into work projects. Customer expectations for real-time service and responsiveness have grown exponentially in the last few years – they will leave an insurer with poor customer service in a heartbeat.

Do We Need Case Management Software?

It’s a valid question. Undoubtedly, adding software and investing in an enterprise content management solution (ECM) with integrated case management functionality is a critical decision.

  • How does your organization currently process cases?  Are there inefficiencies, error-prone manual steps, or siloed information?
  • Are current processes enabling your knowledge workers to deliver the best possible service to your clients while remaining flexible and efficient?
  • Can your employees solve problems effectively with a complete view of all the information they need to complete their work?

Your answers to these questions will suggest whether a software upgrade is what you need. 

The Benefits of Case Management

A robust case management system (CMS) coordinates the collection and sharing of information among relevant users. The benefits include faster decision-making, better customer relationships, quicker claims processing from early assessment to investigation through settlement, easier processing tasks for employees when they have a complete view of the information they need, when and where they need it.

As an insurer begins the claim process, carriers are undertaking multiple tasks including collecting, collating, filing and reviewing supporting documentation to assess the claimant’s coverage, validating statements and negotiating payment of claims. Most legacy systems (and even some modern ones) lack the capability to effectively track and manage claims. They may store claim data, particularly final decisions, but most of the business decisions and actions around a claim happen outside the core system.  

An ECM with a solution for coordinating cases gives claims examiners easy access to information, schedules tasks, highlights and processes notifications and adds time-based reminders to increase efficiency. It’s critical that such a process is integrated with financial systems to manage payment schedules, provides control over the release of funds, and streamlines track and audit claims-related activities to reduce compliance risks. 

Here are some of the strategic benefits of an integrated case management solution:

  • Increases productivity. An automated solution for managing cases reduces the need to search for information across multiple data sources – it gives a complete view of information all in one place.  No more toggling between systems or managing multiple spreadsheets – staff remain within the same intuitive interface, logging activities, adding notes and updates, delegating tasks, and scheduling events.
  • Improves visibility and control. Reporting dashboards and activity audit trails increase transparency, support compliance and help organizations identify opportunities for improvement.
  • Ensure smooth handoffs and effective collaboration. With critical information and supporting content instantly accessible to all authorized employees throughout the case, organizations gain effective collaboration – whether that’s while completing a project, resolving an issue or providing exceptional customer service.

A modern enterprise solution ensures tasks are completed in a timely manner with reminders, timers, notifications, and other communications. It also drives value with fast deployment and quick returns with a full audit trail for reporting and compliance with operational policies.

By managing data relationships, documents and processes on a single platform integrated with your core systems, an enterprise technology solution empowers employees to effectively manage cases and make better business decisions. A platform that scales to support business needs across individuals, teams and departments drives value and elevates productivity enterprise-wide.

Next Up

Our next blog in this series will highlight content management.

But for now: what kind of case management challenges are you currently facing?

ImageSoft can guide you through the selection of enterprise solutions for insurers to achieve the efficiencies and cost savings you need. Our industry-leading solutions for insurance offer automated workflows, improved speed and efficiency, reduced costs and proper compliance. ImageSoft is ready to help your company reap the benefits from integrated enterprise content management. 

Look for more information about our solutions for life and property and casualty insurance, plus workers’ comp.

Follow ImageSoft’s Insurance Solutions LinkedIn Showcase page for more details about ECM. 

7 Reasons Why ECM Is the Answer for Insurers – Part 2

by podcastadmin, posted in Blog Posts, Insurance

We’re diving deep into the question of why insurers should consider enterprise content management or ECM. Mostly the answer is because existing legacy systems are outdated and inefficient, are vulnerable to security breaches and because a modern ECM system streamlines insurance processes while saving costs. Even modern core systems sometimes lack the business process and document management functions needed for today’s sophisticated operations.

We’ve got a whole bunch of other reasons, just ask us, but you get the picture.

In this blog series, we’re looking at how enterprise content management brings modern technology to the insurance industry to streamline:

  • Content capture
  • Business process management (BPM) or workflow engine
  • Case management
  • Content management
  • Integration with existing systems
  • Enterprise file sync and share (EFSS)
  • Mobile access

Part 2: Business Process Management (BPM)

Instead of trying to get by with outdated scan-store-retrieve systems that have outlived their usefulness, leaders in the insurance industry are embracing new solutions that fundamentally change the way they do business. Business process management (BPM) tools are delivering the optimal streamlined operations.

Business process management tools make up the workflow engine that manages complex insurance processes in a simplified way. Think of it as the internal combustion engine that is designed specifically for you that makes everything else run smoothly.

Because all insurers have unique processes and workflows, it’s essential that BPM technology is scalable and flexible to meet unique individual requirements. But to be truly useful, you need to be able to rapidly deploy your business automation solution. A two-year development cycle for a workflow automation process might find itself outdated at launch since the industry itself, legislation, marketing and product development do not stand still. Low-code solutions have the moving advantage of not only being faster to deploy but can typically be modified quicker and easier to keep up with changing conditions. Process automation optimizes your business processes by adding in much-needed visibility and transparency to further refine and lower the burden of compliance.

The best technology solutions include these business process management tools:

  • Workflow automation: You set the rules and actions, we’ll automate your business processes, presenting the right content to the right person, where it is needed. Work is shared efficiently among workers, with no one spending too much time doing low-value tasks such as searching for documents, waiting for or manually transferring files, losing critical documents, or duplicating work. By automating workflow, your business is well balanced among staff, without the issue of some staff overburdened while others are idled. More than one staff person can work on a file at a time.
  • Dynamic approval processes: Business process management tools simplify document approval processes with customized rules for evaluating documents and dynamically assigning approvers. Your business rules define decision-making steps and expedite the approval process. For example, Claims Managers assign authority levels and approval requirements so that the internal controls automatically route claims to adjusters with the appropriate authority.
  • Electronic forms: Expedite your processes and improve accuracy with required fields, data validation, instant calculations, and ways to customize all forms, even official ones, to fit your unique requirements with little to no coding. BPM tools validate the entries on electronic forms and make them accessible to all who need them. Completed forms trigger the next step in the process.
  • Dashboards and Activity Monitors: Point-and-click dashboard configuration and monitors give users instant visibility into business processes, from real-time status reports to task ownership. Identify opportunities for improvement and quickly respond to changes in process performance.
  • Automated Notifications: Let users know immediately when an action is required and expedite triggered email notifications. Streamline the entire notification process.
  • Reporting: Gain extensive reporting capabilities, detailed audit trails and visibility into your processes to provide consistency and avoid compliance risks.

Next Up

Our next blog in this series will highlight how ECM brings efficiency with case management.

How could an automated workflow improve your business processes?

ImageSoft can guide you through the selection of enterprise content management for insurers to achieve the efficiencies and cost savings you need. Our industry-leading solutions for insurance offer automated workflows, improved speed and efficiency, reduced costs and proper compliance. ImageSoft is ready to help your company reap the benefits from integrated enterprise content management. 

Look for more information about our solutions for life and property and casualty insurance, plus workers’ comp.

Follow ImageSoft’s Insurance Solutions LinkedIn Showcase page for more details about ECM. 

7 Reasons Why ECM Is the Answer for Insurers – Part 1

by podcastadmin, posted in Blog Posts, Insurance

Insurers may be asking, why should we consider Enterprise Content Management (ECM) when we already have an (albeit old and patched and inefficient and unsecured and siloed, and, and, and) imaging system or a document management system (from the 90s)? We’ll answer that question in our 7-part series: 7 Reasons Why ECM is the Answer for Insurers.

The insurance industry is facing rapid-fire changes as technology continues to automate repeatable and manual processes. Robotic Process Automation is taking hold in the marketplace as we see chat bots taking on underwriting tasks, providing web services, conducting lookups – it amounts to “no-touch” claims processing. The legacy systems from 20 years ago or more cannot match up with today’s customer and employee expectations. Security issues in legacy systems make insurers vulnerable to attacks that can cost millions. Compliance issues abound as insurers strive to meet stringent data security rules. Insuretechs are bringing well-received disruption by shaking up processes and shaking out time-consuming, manual processes.

Enterprise content management brings modern technology to the insurance industry to streamline:

  • Content capture 
  • Business process management (BPM) or workflow engine
  • Case management
  • Content management
  • Integration with existing systems
  • Enterprise file sync and share (EFSS)
  • Mobile access

Part 1: Streamline Content Capture Activities

I don’t know about you but there is so much stuff out there I want to watch and listen to and share and learn about: new podcasts, original programming on services like Netflix and Hulu, funny and educational YouTube videos, news and analysis from my favorite commentators and late night hosts, not to mention all of the Star Wars, Marvel and DC Comics movies – so many choices, so little time.

New networks and streaming services are coming online all the time: Chip and Joanna Gaines of Fixer Upper fame are going to have their own network soon, Apple’s new streaming service is about to launch, and the new Disney streaming service is coming later this year – juggling my family, work and viewing schedule is enough of a Herculean balancing act.

It’s similar for insurers – they must manage, coordinate, file and secure a growing number of categories of inputs of incoming documents, files, cases, applications, videos, emails, photos, and communication records. The capture of content often siloed in legacy document management systems becomes a nightmare because systems don’t talk to each other, there’s no central platform integrating and coordinating each system, and the automated workflow solution is MIA.

Here’s where enterprise content management comes in.

Enterprise content management solutions streamline the content capture of inbound documents and information for insurance carriers, saving time, resources and revenue. They reduce the time between receive and process.  Whether the content comes in from the mail room, MFP, email, fax, desktop, data stream, import processors or legacy systems, an ECM solution improves the content capture process.

World class content capture technologies help insurers serve existing customers faster and more efficiently while helping secure new customers. It all adds up to a better revenue picture.

The ECM content capture process is scalable and easily configurable. It offers encryption, compliance and records management. For example, ECM streamlines capture for:

  • New business applications 
  • Agent submissions
  • ACORD forms 
  • Claims
  • FNOL and more

ECM solutions are available on premise or in the Cloud and offer applications for iOS, Android and Windows to extend your solutions to the field for Claim Field Adjusters, Loss Control Representatives, Legal Counsel, Sales Representatives and more.

Next Up

Our next blog in this series will highlight how ECM brings efficiency with its business process management (BPM) or workflow engine.

What kind of content capture challenges are you facing?

ImageSoft can guide you through the selection of enterprise content management for insurers to achieve the efficiencies and cost savings you need. Our industry-leading solutions for insurance offer automated workflows, improved speed and efficiency, reduced costs and proper compliance. ImageSoft is ready to help your company reap the benefits from integrated enterprise content management. 

Look for more information about our solutions for life and property and casualty insurance, plus workers’ comp.

Follow ImageSoft’s Insurance Solutions LinkedIn Showcase page for more details about ECM. 

Jeopardy Abbreviations for Insurers

by ImageSoft, posted in Blog Posts, Insurance

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the Jeopardy game show, let’s play the category of Abbreviations for Insurers.

185_jeopardy

Me: Let’s start with Abbreviations for Insurers for $200, Alex.

Alex: The answer is: ECM

Me: What is Enterprise Content Management?

Insurers were among the early adopters of imaging and related software, but today many of those solutions are out of date, no longer supported or so customized and patched up that it takes too many steps to even get them to work. Workarounds abound. They leave data in siloes, can’t communicate with other programs and are vulnerable to security issues. Growth and innovation are stunted.

An ECM solution with workflow for insurers automates all manual systems and integrates with your current imaging and policy administration software. It brings efficiency, transparency, and cost savings with data security. Managing your workflow, the ECM digitally identifies, routes, maintains and manages all documents and data points. From scanned documents, application files, Web content, and multimedia content, to emails and industry standard ACORD XML files, an ECM solution integrates document, workflow, business process and record management with a single application that also integrates with existing policy administration and claims processing systems.

Me: Next I’ll take Abbreviations for Insurers for $400, Alex.

Alex: The answer is: CMS

Me: What is Case Management or Content Management System?

Insurers deal with millions of data points about customers in a variety of forms and formats. If these data points are siloed in outdated legacy solutions that don’t communicate with each other, insurers are only seeing a fraction of the customer information they need to open a policy or process a claim.

A comprehensive case management system is a platform that streamlines capture, case management, document management, secure file sharing, customer communication management, and workflow that integrates with your modern core system and business applications.

A CMS delivers document management of all types, including scanned paper documents, faxes, print streams, application files, electronic forms, web content, multimedia files, customer communications and emails.

It gives insurers the options to easily configure and integrate an unlimited number of content-enabled applications and solutions to manage content, processes, communications and cases across your entire enterprise with the modern core systems that run your business.

With a CMS, claims administrators or examiners manage all aspects of a claim, from early assessment to investigation to settlement. Insurers can collect, review and maintain the supporting documentation to assess the claimant’s coverage, validate statements and negotiate payment of claims. One integrated platform promotes access to all necessary information, task assignments and schedules, notifications and time-based reminders – bringing efficiency and lowering costs.

Me: Moving down the board, I’ll take Abbreviations for Insurers for $600, Alex

Alex: You’ve picked the daily double. The answer is RPA.

Me: I’ll make it a true daily double, Alex! (I’ve always wanted to say that). What is robotic process automation?

It goes by several different names, but RPA for robotic process automation is the main one. We’ve also heard the terms jet issue and automatic underwriting bandied about. It all comes down to the same idea: automating repeatable, rule-based processes, such as underwriting tasks, web services, and lookups – much of it in the name of giving consumers what they’re asking for, an online “Amazon-like” experience with insurance. Consumers are looking for mobile and 24/7 access with quick responses online.

Insurance workflows such as new business and underwriting, claims registration and processing and the creation of business and process analytics lend themselves to automation.

Software developers are working to automate these insurance tasks to address the demand for RPA in the marketplace. For example, they are adding chat bots that handle a variety of underwriting tasks. It amounts to “no touch” claims processing. They are identifying manual processes that can easily be automated to optimize processes, increase collaboration and reduce costs.

Many insurers are using automation to create efficiencies in the industry including smartphone apps, consumer activity wearables, claim acceleration tools, individual consumer risk development systems, online policy handling apps, automated compliance processing and more.

ImageSoft insurance solutions offer automation and operational efficiency to insurers and modernized content and process management. This includes digitizing existing processes and introducing AI to further streamline operations and reduce costs. We are leveraging front- and back-end technology to give customers a transparent and more personalized response. These technology advances capitalize on the wealth of data collected through tech devices and big data sources. The goal is to securely and efficiently manage cases, content and processes.

Alex: And there’s the buzzer. We won’t get to the rest of the categories today.

ImageSoft can guide you through the abbreviations for insurers to achieve the efficiencies and cost savings you need with industry-leading solutions for insurance. Gain automated workflows, improved speed and efficiency, reduced costs and proper compliance. ImageSoft is ready to help your company reap the benefits from all of the abbreviations.

Look for more information about our solutions for life and property and casualty insurance, plus workers’ comp.

Follow ImageSoft’s Insurance Solutions LinkedIn Showcase page to understand all the abbreviations.

Big Name Break-Ups

by podcastadmin, posted in Blog Posts, Insurance

Have you seen the new movie Stan & Ollie? Trailers and previews hint at betrayal and disharmony behind the beloved façade of the iconic comedy duo. It’s the same story with other big-name celebrity duos hit hard by public breakups: Lewis and Martin, Sonny and Cher, Simon and Garfunkel, McCartney and Lennon, Mario Impemba and Rod Allen (that’s for our Detroit Tigers fans) and even Cheech and Chong – amazing chemistry when performing together but personal animosity behind the curtain.

These duos went through major public break-ups that, in most cases, resulted in big-time, successful solo careers.

Is it time for a big-name break-up with your legacy system?

Perhaps it was an innovative system when installed (how many years ago?) but now it needs too many patches, doesn’t integrate with the forms and applications of modern documents and delivery modes, and requires too many workarounds (even some manual processes) to deliver on its decades-old promises. Sound familiar? A break-up is in your future.

Legacy Systems Have Outlived Their Usefulness

Insurance carriers are hampered by outdated legacy enterprise content management systems. Approximately 70 percent of insurers’ corporate business systems are legacy applications, most in place for decades, with many in use since Sonny and Cher were on the charts (that’s 60 years ago!) These legacy systems have significant security issues, lock up data in inaccessible siloes, prevent collaboration, limit innovation and growth and don’t offer digital user or employee experiences. Moreover, they don’t allow for the efficiencies found in robotic process automation and similar automated methods that save time and money.

Legacy systems bottle up communication with end users, from agents and brokers, and to the insured. They don’t provide a full view of the customer that a customer service rep would need. When information is difficult to find, share, use and secure, time and resources are wasted, and potential opportunities are missed.

With InsureTech innovators leading the industry with agility, efficiency and effectiveness by embracing digital transformation, established companies need to follow their example and invest in the digital transformation that will separate the winners from the losers. According to Gartner, insurers who increase their investments in digital modernization strategies are 63 percent more profitable on average than their industry peers who keep their IT budgets constant or reduce them. Read more in Disrupt or Be Disrupted.

Replacing a Legacy System: Customer Success Story

A large property/casualty insurer, hampered by information stored in several legacy systems and an imaging system that couldn’t unite them, optimized its claims and underwriting processes, increasing efficiency and reducing costs by more than $1.5 million per year. Migrating from its legacy document imaging system, the insurer now enables more than 1,500 employees, authorized agents and agency support staff in nearly 200 locations to quickly access information stored in multiple formats — whether received through email, electronic feed or directly scanned into the document management solution.  

Workflows keep processes moving by automatically forwarding documents and information, notifying stakeholders of material they need to see or actions they need to take. In one improvement, new policies and policy change submissions that used to take two days are handled in 20 minutes and made available across the enterprise. Benefits were realized in multiple areas:

  • Automated electronic claims filing increased speed and accuracy
  • No-cost electronic file sharing eliminated $465,000 in storage, mailing, shipping and courier costs
  • Electronic archival of claims photos empowered staff with instant access to any file type;
  • Integration with Outlook minimized the need for employees to access multiple systems, reducing time spent on each call

Breaking Up Isn’t So Hard to Do

While insurers have been managing information digitally for decades as early adopters of enterprise content management solutions, they have been slow to advance their core processing solutions. These outdated, functionally limited and siloed systems and applications make information impossible to share and act on.

Insurers need solutions that accelerate their digital strategies by managing documents, cases and processes that legacy core systems just can’t handle. By implementing a single platform to capture, clarify, share and secure information, insurers can deliver better and more timely services while saving resources. In this way, insurers can streamline processes, lower costs, increase security and deliver the customer experience required by today’s consumers.

With ImageSoft’s ECM solutions for insurance, we’ll automate your workflows, improve your speed and efficiency, reduce costs and address compliance requirements. We’ll make the break-up with your legacy system a walk in the park.

Ready to break up with your legacy system? Check out ImageSoft’s solutions for insurance.

Follow ImageSoft’s Insurance Solutions LinkedIn Showcase page and plan your break-up today.

February’s Resolutions for Insurers

by podcastadmin, posted in Blog Posts, Insurance

The LifeHack website posted a blog recently called Why You Should Start Your New Year in February. It resonates for many reasons. For parents, the New Year starts in September when the kids go back to school. For some companies, the fiscal year starts in October or June, so January is more of the same. The post-holiday letdown makes January resolutions doomed to fail.

179_febresolutionInstead of January New Year resolutions, the idea is to hit the ground running with those resolutions in February.

For insurers, February is the month to resolve to improve customer communication management and automation.

Customer Communication Management for Insurers

Your February resolution to improve customer communication management will drive better customer relations. Insurers thrive when they have a complete view of their customers and manage customer information and communication with automated, integrated systems.

Today’s insurer needs more customer contact beyond point of renewal and claims filing, and to be nimble enough to manage that contact in a strategic way.

Better customer communication management comes from automating key systems and streamlining information management. It delivers on three major goals:

  • Drives customer intelligence – With better enterprise document management tools, insurers gain insights about their customers, see patterns and predict the choices they will make. This makes insurers more engaged service providers, tailoring offerings to the customer to fit their choices. Personalized interaction also builds trust. Having access to the critical content needed to understand and predict a policy holder’s needs provides that personalized interaction.

    Agents and customer service reps need ready access to the data to solve customer issues, predict their needs, retain and upsell the customer by delivering relevant and personalized customer experiences.

  • Enables predictive analytics – By connecting systems and information, insurers can create predictive analytics by extracting information from existing data to discover patterns, future outcomes and trends. They can gain actionable insights to make data-driven decisions throughout the insurance lifecycle. It adds understanding of how customers might react to promotions, for example, and can help improve claim performance and underwriting results. At the same time, it can detect fraud or payment abuse.

    When customer information is disconnected in system siloes or not managed in a document management solution, predictive analytics are impossible.

  • Prescribes customer alignment – Insurers want to be able to segment customers by contribution, allowing for efficient resource allocation and business process alignment. Having a complete view of the customer means they can be grouped with like-minded customers to create personalized communication by group or segment. It means knowing your customer and growing revenues and margins from high contribution customers while lowering costs from low or negative margin customers.

Make February’s Resolution Digital Transformation  

If your customer data is siloed, your technology systems don’t talk to each other, or you still have paper-based systems, you won’t manage critical content effectively to have good customer relations and provide strategic customer support. How you make decisions, manage processes, and provide customer service depends on the systems and technology connecting the information.

Better and faster communication with customers, coupled with innovations to meet customer needs, are the focus of the digital transformation required for insurer success in the 21st century.

Digital transformation is about building strong customer relationships by implementing innovative technology, embracing a digital workflow and becoming a paperless office. Consumers want products and services that resonate with their personal needs, delivered in a way that includes a sincere relationship with their carrier.

By leveraging digital processes, alternate providers and InsurTech disrupters are having an impact on customer information management:

  • Insurance premiums are becoming more personalized with tech-enabled insight from wearables, mobile and other data gathering devices. Digitally intelligent insurers can build insight through relationships that exist across data sets.
  • Lifestyle apps and digital engagement are affecting relationships between the insurer and the insured. If an insured is engaging with the insurer and its lifestyle apps, insurers benefit from greater insight and more informed risk assessments.
  • Claims settlement is becoming faster, automated and a self-service process. Manual claims processes mean insurers spend too much of a customer’s premium on the claims process. InsurTech disruptors are putting the process in the customer’s hands with an automated review of claims, and decisions and payout approvals all automated.

Achieving That February Resolution

Your February resolution should be to connect with the right-fit partner to improve customer information management and digital transformation. The goal is to connect systems and achieve a complete customer view. The appropriate enterprise content management solution (ECM) should centralize all types and formats of critical content and integrate with your core line-of-business systems, giving users access to relevant data directly from familiar system interfaces, such as Guidewire or Duck Creek.

Resolve to pick a solution and partner that:

  • Centralizes all content, going beyond a simple document repository by adding enterprise-class secure document management functionality that seamlessly integrates with your existing core system.
  • Automates all supporting processes and identifies gaps.
  • Consolidates disconnected data, including all related tasks, activities, conversations and other data managed outside of your core systems (e.g., via email inboxes, spreadsheets, manual paper-based databases and legacy applications).

The goal is connected, easily accessible, tracked and secure customer data.

Resolve to embrace digital transformation that improves customer experience – this is a strategic differentiator for insurers. Leveraging innovation to deliver a personalized customer experience gives insurers a competitive edge.

ImageSoft Guides Digital Resolutions

ImageSoft can help you implement your digital resolutions with industry-leading ECM solutions for insurance. Gain automated workflows, improved speed and efficiency, reduced costs and proper compliance. ImageSoft is ready to help your company reap the benefits that an integrated ECM solution can provide.

Look for more information about our solutions for life and property and casualty insurance, plus workers’ comp.

Follow ImageSoft’s Insurance Solutions LinkedIn Showcase page, and receive all the truths you need.

For Insurance Companies, These 5 Truths are Self-Evident

by podcastadmin, posted in Blog Posts, Insurance

With President’s Day coming up, we’re stealing Thomas Jefferson’s words from the Declaration of Independence about self-evident truths.

176_thomasjeffersonThe truth is, insurance companies must upgrade their systems to take advantage of technology advances to eliminate paper once and for all. Customers are looking for an “Amazon-like” experience as manual, or outdated, processes are inefficient and costly. Moreover, they shut out insurance companies from winning new business.

So, thanks, Mr. Jefferson, for the lead-in. Here are our five self-evident insurance truths.

Insurance Truth #1: Digital document management is a must.

Companies must automate their document management, for several reasons: customers want information access and control. New business opportunities demand an enterprise content management solution that is flexible and can streamline all document handling. A single enterprise platform for managing content, processes and cases will result in additional opportunities for insurance companies.

Using technology to redesign insurance propositions for customers is fundamental to an insurer’s survival, profitability and ability to thrive in a competitive marketplace. Imagesoft knows that adopting technology to increase efficiency while staying compliant is the key to success.

Insurance Truth # 2: Documents come in varying formats.

Insurance companies deal with various formats of documents, photographs, claims reports, quotes, etc., and need a software solution that can handle these document formats. Paper-driven processes mean too many expensive copies, rising storage and copying fees, a lack of confidence in the integrity or timeliness of content changes, filing compromises and document misplacement. Enterprise content management is the answer.

The right-fit integrated ECM solution efficiently manages scanned documents, faxes, print streams, application files, electronic forms, Web content, multimedia files, emails and industry standard files such as ACCORD XML. Moreover, it eliminates the costs and vulnerabilities of manual and legacy, patched-together systems.

Insurance Truth # 3: Document management needs to be available across devices and be completely mobile, with Cloud compatibility.

Efficient customer service demands a mobile presence with the advantages of Cloud compatibility. Customers are becoming more adept at online transactions and expect online interactions with enterprises of all kinds – they demand a responsive experience that is available 24/7.

Insurers need the right tools to provide a consolidated view of information and documents with critical tasks identified, due dates assigned, and priorities identified. With an integrated enterprise content management solution available across device types, insurers can quickly access customized views, for example, by priority, policy type or due date. Increased visibility results in better customer service from the very beginning of the relationship.

Insurance Truth # 4: Modern enterprise content management systems help insurance companies deal with security issues.

As one of the most regulated industries, insurance companies must be compliant with industry regulations while protecting confidential customer data. Legacy systems and paper-based procedures are vulnerable to security breaches while automated enterprise content management systems add layers of protection to secure data.

Insurance Truth # 5: Insurance companies live or die by communication.

Today that communication is happening by text, email, fax, Skype, and even real phone calls. When it isn’t clear if a document has been updated, or the most recent version is on someone else’s desk, it’s time for improved communication via automated document and content management.

Insurance companies thrive when there is a single platform for document collaboration with access rights, commenting options, handling and timing rules, audit trails and time stamps, and more versioning and editing options. In this way, agents, brokers, the insured and all other related employees can move documents quickly and efficiently.

ImageSoft’s Truths for Insurance Companies

Industry leading ECM solutions for insurance include automated workflows, improved speed and efficiency, reduced costs and proper compliance. ImageSoft is ready to help your company reap the benefits that an integrated ECM solution can provide.

Look for more information about our solutions for life and property and casualty insurance, plus workers’ comp.

Which truths are you grappling with?

Follow ImageSoft’s Insurance Solutions LinkedIn Showcase page, and receive all the truths you need.

For Insurance CIOs, It’s the Nightmare Before and After Christmas

by podcastadmin, posted in Blog Posts, Insurance

173_nightmaresWe help insurance CIOs everyday with the one nightmare issue that disturbs their sleep most often: is this the month my legacy, Band-Aid-patched, workaround-filled so-called content management “solution” crashes for the last time and my IT group can’t resurrect it?

Many CIOs are spending precious resources just to keep the lights on with their outdated document systems, knowing they are missing out on the digital transformation that would bring in more customers.

The nightmare scenarios for insurance CIOs are numerous.

  • Manual and legacy systems house data in silos, with no integration, and no centrally based way to manage information and documents. Staff resources are spent on locating paper documents or searching through poorly patched systems, some designed BEFORE the internet. Outdated, pieced-together and slow, these systems deliver only a partial view of the data needed to open a new policy, process a claim or pay a commission.
  • Insurers must coordinate mountains of content – certificates of insurance, endorsements, claims photos, medical records, proof of identification, emails, spreadsheets and videos. Add in the internally generated content, such as print output for policies, correspondence, renewals, declination letters, claim settlement packages, litigation packages and more, and the amount of data for insurers to deal with is only going to multiply in the future.
  • Legacy systems do not take advantage of the time and resource savings afforded by process automation, which streamlines manual methods. The disruptive “insuretech” advances bring efficiency to agencies suffering with outdated processes that don’t deliver on decades-old promises.
  • Paper-based systems and legacy solutions are breeding grounds for human errors and mishaps – from missing audit trail recording to misplaced customer information to documents misfiled or mishandled – liabilities abound.
  • Security threats and breaches are ever-present and most legacy systems were never built to withstand the current level of cyber-threats extant in all industries. Vulnerabilities in outdated solutions come with price tags in the thousands and millions.
  • Compliance issues in insurance have grown recently with GDPR and other state, national and global regulations. In Deloitte’s recent 2019 Insurance Regulatory Outlook, the analysts suggest that “No matter how ’modern’ a company’s existing compliance systems and processes might be, there is always room to improve.”

Helping Insurance CIOs Sleep Better

ImageSoft offers insurance CIOs enterprise content management systems for insurance agencies to centrally manage information, advance claims faster and provide better customer service. Our integrated ECM solution efficiently manages scanned documents, faxes, print streams, application files, electronic forms, Web content, multi-media files, emails and industry-standard files. Combining integrated document, workflow, business process and record management into one application, the solution streamlines processes and integrates with existing policy administration and claims processing systems from leading providers like Guidewire, DuckCreek, CSC, LifePro, Ingenium and StoneRiver.

To accelerate digital transformation (and experience fewer sleepless nights), CIOs can rely on ImageSoft to implement a solution that integrates with modern core systems and business applications while it extends legacy systems. Our solution helps insurers manage the content, cases and processes in all areas – new business, underwriting, policy services, claims, compliance, and shared services – that core systems can’t. It has comprehensive enterprise content management capabilities such as data capture, document management, secure file sharing, and workflow and customer communication management. Look for more information about our solutions for life and property and casualty insurance, plus workers’ comp.

No More Nightmares for Insurance CIOs

By integrating your core systems with our information management solution, insurance CIOs can rest easy knowing they have optimized the full potential of their technology investment. Our solution helps insurance agencies:

  • Process claims faster and make more informed underwriting decisions.
  • Improve document management capabilities.
  • Keep agents and brokers up to speed with a secure self-service portal where they can submit applications and access relevant documentation.
  • Improve security and compliance by tracking revision histories, managing retention periods and controlling access to all critical documents, all with audit trail options.
  • Tap expert advice from our team members with decades of experience helping insurers succeed.

Insurance CIOs – We Want to Hear From You

What’s keeping you up at night? What are your challenges in content management?

Want to stay updated on the latest in insurance technology and trends?

Follow ImageSoft’s Insurance Solutions LinkedIn Showcase page, and receive all the info you need to know.

 

Not Your Father’s Claims Investigation: ESRI and OnBase are the Perfect Storm for Insurance Agencies

by podcastadmin, posted in Blog Posts, Insurance

While most organizations start to wind down for the year, there’s one industry whose floodgates are just about to open: insurance agencies.

170_winteryroadsMid-westerners and east-coasters love to hate the slew of snow, ice and freezing temperatures that winter blows in, but I’ll bet my holiday shopping money that insurance agencies hate it more. Slick roads, blustery winds, bursting pipes, slip-and-fall accidents, and all the perfect conditions for a season of hazard means insurance agencies are bracing themselves for a cyclone of claims.

When the Crystal Ball is a Snow Globe

As every seasoned insurance adjustor knows, investigating one claim could sometimes put even Sherlock Holmes to the test. Various people work together to collect pictures, video, conduct fact checks, and write reports, all while being challenged to keep that data updated, together, and in the right hands at the right time. Granted, this process is arguably as old as insurance itself and insurance agencies have stamped it as adequate to get the job done. But, as the UN’s report on climate change tells us, wicked weather trends aren’t calming down, which means insurance agencies need to light a fire under the efficiency of their claims processing. And not just for the winter ahead!

Gearing Up for the Cold and its Claims 

Fight the cold of claims season by equipping your insurance agents with one, claims-processing powerhouse: OnBase, integrated with ESRI.

We already know it’s a perfect fit, but let’s try it on for size anyways.

Several homes in a new suburb have been damaged by disastrous winter storms. At their computer, the insurance adjustor selects and right clicks on several listed claims, and simply clicks “map.” From there, the list of data for that entire community of homes is geographically represented and plotted on an interactive map – also known as geocoding. The adjustor can now pair that map with relevant external information, such as weather data, to see which claims are undeniable, and which might need further investigation. The adjustor can zoom in and out, color-code the plotted points, and change the map from areal imagery to a more in-depth street view. Want a closer look at one specific claim? Simply click its plotted point and all relevant the case data, including photos, video, reports and more, will be pulled from OnBase and populated on your screen.

Believing is seeing, but if you really need to see it to believe it, here’s a two-minute demo.

A ONE-derland – for Winter and Beyond

With OnBase supporting all your enterprise content management (ECM) needs and geo-enabled documents, it’s easy to integrate ESRI’s interactive mapping functionality and pool all your claim data into one, comprehensive view. And with OnBase’s automated workflow, it’s never been easier to route and share case data – such as modified maps saved as images – with colleagues, clients and other authorized users. And here’s a PDF to prove it.

We Want to Hear From You!

We have an obvious knack for talking, but our listening skills aren’t too shabby. Reply to the question below and we promise to read and respond!

Are you currently leveraging ESRI technology? If not, what’s your challenge? If so, tell us why you love it!

Want to stay updated on the latest in insurance technology and trends?

Follow ImageSoft’s Insurance Solutions Showcase page, and receive all the info you need to know by scrolling through your newsfeed.