Study: Carriers Dissatisfied with Disability Claims Technology
Results of a study measuring insurance industry challenges
as well as how technology can assist disability carriers in
successfully managing claims operations indicate that carriers
are dissatisfied with their current claims management technology.
The study was conducted by JHA, a subsidiary of General Re
Life Corporation (a Berkshire Hathaway company) a disability
reinsurance, consulting and research firm located in Portland,
Maine, and was sponsored by ClaimVantage, a Portland claims
management and payment software firm.
JHA interviewed 27 claims contacts, representing 23 different
disability carriers and third-party administrators. The research
covered topics including the functionality of current claims
management systems, whether a legacy or vendor system is in
place and which product lines are managed on those systems.
System training and quality controls were also assessed.
Overall, study results indicate that companies across the
industry face similar challenges managing their claims processes
largely due to rapid advancements in technology. Some of the
major issues identified involve claims payment solutions, customized
or over-engineered systems and image-enabled systems. Seventy
percent of the respondents have semi-automated payment capabilities,
while the remaining are fully automated on legacy systems with
up to 20 years of in-house development built-in. Nearly 80%
of the respondents indicated that their systems are difficult
to maintain because they are highly customized vendor systems
or over-engineered legacy systems. Paperless environments are
rated high on carriers' wish lists, with only 41% using image-enabled
systems. Of those, only 50% are individual disability carriers.
Of the respondents, nearly half indicated lower productivity
levels or dissatisfaction with their current claims management
technology.
|
