Digital Platforms

The Hartford Financial Services Group has made it easier for agents to obtain a personal lines standard auto quote in minutes -- even as their customers wait for the answers. A major proponent of single entry multiple carrier interface (SEMCI) for personal lines business, The Hartford is one of the first carriers to implement this technology breakthrough that allows agents to connect directly with their carriers through AMS-Rackley's new SETWrite rating platform to obtain an accurate rate.

Corporation's Human Resources & Investor Solutions (HR&IS) business today announced that it has developed a fully integrated Health Savings Account (HSA) solution that will be offered both through alliance relationships with insurance companies and health care plan providers, and to its corporate customers nationwide.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., Hartford, Conn., and AMS Services Inc. have teamed up to enable agents to submit applications for the four key middle market lines of business--property, general liability, auto and workers' compensation--directly to The Hartford from their AMS agency management system."As one of the industry's leading agency management vendors whose system is used by many of our top agents, we're pleased to align with AMS in the use of ACORD XML standards to make it easier for middle market agents to do business with The Hartford," says Gary Thompson, senior vice president of The Hartford's Middle Market and Specialty Practices unit.

Preferred Medical Claim Solutions (PMCS), Scottsdale, Ariz., and Genelco Software Solutions, a division of Greenville, S.C.-based Liberty Insurance Services Corporation (LIS), have formed a strategic partnership that will provide Genelco Group+ users access to the Preferred Data Interchange (PDI) offered through PMCS. Genelco Software Solutions provides administration software and services to life and health insurers."A number of Genelco Group+ users wanted the claim funding and repricing that PMCS provides," says Mike Molinar, vice-president of Genelco Software Solutions. "Knowing that this will save our clients money, we thought it very important to provide a seamless way for them to take advantage of the PMCS network."

Hartford, CT --2004-2003 mergers and acquisitions in the insurance industry reached the highest level since 1998 in dollar terms, even while the total number of transactions continued its long decline since the same year, according to a study by Conning Research & Consulting, Inc.

San Diego, CA--WorldGroup has introduced InsureWorx First Report of Injury (FROI), the latest InsureWorx On Demand Solution (ODS). The new FROI capabilities offer exceptional efficiency and customer service to the First Report of Injury process, enabling efficient and timely intervention - critically important to controlling overall costs of workplace injury claims. The company launched the solution at RIMS Annual Conference & Exhibition.

SAN DIEGO, CA---Assurex Global, the world's largest privately held risk management, commercial insurance and employee benefits broker group, is launching new software to enhance communication and information-sharing among its independent broker partners and commercial clients around the world. The software was introduced here at the Risk and Insurance Management Society's annual conference.

ChoicePoint, Alpharetta, Ga., has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of Superior Information Services LLC and Charles Jones LLC, Trenton, N.J., for a combined total purchase price of $89 million in cash. The acquisitions are scheduled to close on or before May 1, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval.Superior Information is a provider of public records information for bankruptcies, civil judgments, and federal and state tax liens in the Northeast U.S. and works closely with Charles Jones in sharing data and services. Charles Jones is a leading supplier of title and property lien searches in New Jersey and has provided a variety of public record data services to title insurance companies and real estate markets since 1911. Superior Information and Charles Jones have a combined total of 300 employees.

Specialty Risk Services (SRS), The Hartford Financial Services Group's third party claim administrator, has added SRS COMPWORKS to its arsenal of resources to help clients obtain optimal return-to-work results in workers' compensation. SRS COMPWORKS is a consortium of client tools and national and regional vendors brought together to address the most challenging return-to- work situations and help workers' compensation claims close faster and at a lower cost. "We developed SRS COMPWORKS to handle the small minority of situations that tend to account for the majority of workers' compensation claim dollars and for which the usual rules don't apply," says Nancy Brennan, vice president of Specialty Risk Services. "Using claim and case management best practices developed by SRS, as well as enhanced medical-only practices and online disability tools, SRS is able to obtain industry-leading outcomes for its clients.

Data standardization within the reinsurance industry comes a step closer as London-based ri3k announces a special release of its reinsurance hub. Called InSynch, it enables users to create LMP-compliant slips, and has ACORD certification for contract placement messages covering all treaty types and classes.The LMP Office has approved the ri3k contract structure, which will be used for June renewals onward for tradable electronic slips on ri3k’s system. In accordance with the LMP slip requirements, ri3k has introduced mandatory field names, separated into the correct LMP categories. These categories are risk details, subscription agreement, information and fiscal/regulatory.

Prudential Financial Inc., Newark, N.J., has launched a new online disability claim submission application for employees of group disability clients. The new functionality also lets employees handle many aspects of their claims using a highly secure and confidential online process."Continuing to provide our clients and their employees with the secure tools they need to effectively manage disability issues is of paramount importance to us," says Al Hemond, vice president of disability risk management for Prudential's group insurance business. "Online employee claim submission supports our strategy of providing claims management services that are responsive to the varying needs of claimants."

SunGard Sherwood Systems, an operating unit of SunGard today announced that Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company, one of the largest property and casualty insurers in Canada, has licensed SunGard's FrontTier solution to replace its existing legacy policy, billing, workflow and claims systems.

Reactivity, a Belmont, Calif.-based XML Web services firm, and Grand Central Communications, a San Francisco-based provider of Integration On Demand, have formed a technology and joint marketing partnership to simplify the deployment of privacy-enhanced enterprise integration. Combining the strengths of Reactivity's XML Firewall and Grand Central's Business Services Network, the two companies will offer a rapid and scalable integration solution with the security enterprises need to ensure they are in compliance with government-regulated privacy and security regulations and their own privacy policies.

COLUMBIA, S.C.-- BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina will promote two executives to top positions over BlueCross' major group division and Companion HealthCare when a key senior officer retires in June.

Prudential Financial Inc., Newark, N.J., has introduced an automatic, online licensing application for brokers seeking appointment to sell the company’s insurance and annuity products. The electronic data collection tool, called Online Confidential Data Sheet (CDS), was developed by Indianapolis-based BISYS Education and Licensing Services for Prudential. The Online CDS streamlines the traditional, paper-based appointment process and greatly improves brokers’ speed to market."Prudential’s new electronic application is on the cutting edge in several respects," says George Hanley, senior vice president, chief compliance officer. "The Online CDS makes Prudential easier for brokers to do business with, while taking the company to the next generation of appointment processing and online records management. All are important advantages in today’s environment."

IVANS Inc., Old Greenwich, Conn., has added new features to Transformation Station, which make it easier for carriers and agents to communicate in real-time. The features include the ability to send and receive attachments, receive alerts regarding activities such as claim actions or cancellations, streamline endorsement processing and conduct Web site navigation and sign-on. Transformation Station is an Internet-managed data exchange using Web services and ACORD XML to enable real-time transactions between insurance carriers and independent agents and brokers."The Web services based, real-time model allows us to provide our agency, company and vendor partners with new, innovative types of transactions that will have a positive impact on agency-carrier workflows," says Janice Sheffield, divisional vice president for IVANS. Transformation Station is currently growing at a rate of 28% per month in transactions, and growing to the level of what it took 10 years for batch transactions to reach.

Philadelphia-based Aetna has selected The Training Camp to provide IT training for Aetna staff scholars as part of an employee scholarship program."We want to ensure our network performs at its best, while we maintain maximum security for our customers and their data," says David Wetmore, distributed Support manager at Aetna. "We chose The Training Camp because the instructors were experts in their field, but understood our business as well as the particular IT needs within the health industry. Our staff will gain the knowledge and skills to install, configure, support, and troubleshoot Windows-based networks, with the focus on security that we need."

DriveCam Video Systems, a San Diego-based developer of fleet safety technology, has published a white paper titled, "Bringing Down the Cost of Vehicle Crashes: The Impact of the DriveCam Driving Feedback System on Insurance Costs for Commercial Fleets." Intended for insurance executives, risk managers and fleet operators, the white paper analyzes the costs and examines the root causes of motor vehicle crashes, especially as they pertain to commercial fleets.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motor vehicle collisions cost the U.S. more than $230 billion each year. For fleets, the costs include both insured and uninsured expenses. In examining these costs, the paper describes the relationship between losses and insurance rates, the effect on worker's compensation costs, and preventative actions taken by fleets. It also includes two case studies involving fleets that use the DriveCam Driving Feedback System to reduce collisions.

Enterprises that purchase Sarbanes-Oxley targeted solutions in 2004 will retire or replace those systems by the end of 2005, according to Gartner Inc., Stamford, Conn."Enterprises that choose one-off solutions for each regulatory challenge that they face will spend 10 times more on compliance projects than their counterparts that take a proactive approach," says French Caldwell, research vice president at Gartner. "Although there are times when adopting a 'quick-and-dirty' solution may be necessary to meet deadlines, enterprises should avoid committing too much time, effort or data to such systems."

S2, a new service offering from CBC National Inc., Saddle River, N.J., and ARI (Automotive Resources International), Mt. Laurel, N.J., was launched as part of a strategic partnership between the two subrogation recovery and salvage/remarketing industry players. According to the companies, the new venture was built on the premise that no company should let money slip through its fingers.Responding to the needs of the insurance industry, the rental car industry, and a variety of other self-insured and government entities, S2 provides clients with aggressive subrogation resale services that are designed to positively impact their bottom line.

SIMSBURY, Conn. -- The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. today announced that Internet-based self- service reporting is now available nationwide to its group life and disability insurance customers, providing them immediate online access to standard reports that help them monitor and manage their group benefits plans.

ATLANTA-- Digital Insurance Inc. announced it has signed agreements with five additional employee benefits brokers to enhance the level of day-to-day service and product sales for a portion of their small group benefits business.

Hotel clients of Fireman's Fund Insurance Co, Novato, Calif., can now buy an extended package of online employee safety training that satisfies all OSHA requirements for hospitality industry employees, such as housekeepers, clerks, and bellhops.This service, which includes courses, testing and tracking, is offered by WebFire Training, an e-learning company endorsed by the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute. Fireman's Fund negotiated a month of complementary service for hotel clients of its iCustomer Series coverage when they subscribe to a year's safety training for their employees regardless of the customer's property size or employee turnover rate.

Selective Insurance Group Inc., Branchville, N.J., has completed the rollout of its integrated Web-based commercial lines system. "Web-based CLAS" offers policy quote, issue, endorsement and renewal processing for commercial lines products over the Web, directly from independent agencies."Web-based CLAS provides independent agencies with the speed, convenience and cost-effective power of straight-through processing," says Jeff Kamrowski, Selective senior vice president of business services. "In addition, the system automatically reviews business transactions to ensure consistency with our underwriting guidelines."

IVANS Inc., a Greenwich, Conn.-based provider of networking services for the insurance and healthcare industries is offering a new wireless fidelity solution (Wi-Fi) for insurance carriers that can significantly speed their ability to remotely process claims and improve customer service. The new Wi-Fi service is offered through IVANS business partner, AT&T.As the demand for Wi-Fi technology increases, so does the need for low-cost flexible solutions. According to data provided by The Yankee Group, a communications and networking research and consulting firm based in Boston, 14% of U.S. companies plan to implement the technology within the next twelve months, and another 14% plan to follow suit in the next two years. A recent IVANS study of large and mid-sized insurance carriers indicates that only 27.9% are currently using Wi-Fi technology to allow remote access to their systems by employees, highlighting the growth potential for Wi-Fi technology.

Results International Systems (RIS) will provide an end-to-end, Web-enabled policy processing system Partners Mutual Insurance Co.'s personal and commercial lines of business. The RIS solution will deliver a policy processing system with integration to claims, billing, rating and form printing. RIS will provide the hardware, software, systems personnel, systems security, back-up and disaster recovery.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.-- Vitria, a leading provider of business process integration solutions, today announced that Premera Blue Cross, a Blue Cross Blue Shield Association independent licensee for Washington state and Alaska, has selected Vitria's Healthcare Solutions as the integration infrastructure to simplify, streamline and automate its transaction management processes.

As part of its effort to simplify and facilitate the insurance placement process for agents serving the small business sector, Zurich is offering online access to a wide range of policy documents through its eZSB Web site at www.ezsb.com.Key forms, such as declarations pages, schedules, forms listings, signature pages and automobile identification cards, can now be obtained and printed on demand. Documents are available within minutes of issuing the policy online.

Seattle-based Safeco Corp. has launched Safeco Now for property/casualty insurance--an online sales platform that integrates personal and small-commercial insurance product. Safeco Now is a streamlined Web site for independent agents and brokers that gives them access to 90% of their daily online work tools with just one click.The highlight of the system, according to Safeco, is the single-platform sales tool that enables distributors to quote and bind--in just minutes--seven major lines of P&C and surety business: personal auto, homeowners, business owners policy (BOP), commercial auto (fleet and non-fleet), workers' compensation, business umbrella, and surety (notary; license and permit bonds; court bonds; public official bonds).

AMSTERDAM and MILAN--Accenture has signed an agreement to acquire Nomos Sistema, a leading provider of life insurance administration and product management software systems in Italy. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Toronto, Canada--DWL, a provider of Enterprise Business Services software, today announced that Empire Financial Group has launched phase two of groupweb - an initiative to achieve proven cost reduction with web-based self-servicing capabilities for group business. Following on the success of Empire's initial implementation of DWL InsuranceT for Group Life and Health, which provides a password protected site for electronic plan administration, phase two of the project now adds full update and enrollment capability in real-time, using version 3.0 of DWL Insurance for Group Life & Health.

Increasingly, life and health insurers are underwriting man-made catastrophic risks involving deaths and disabilities resulting from terrorists making use of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, according to the latest LOMA study on risk exposure for the insurance industry. "The New World of Risk describes these risk exposures in detail and the efforts being made by the U.S. government and other institutions to control them," says Stephen W. Forbes, Ph.D., FLMI, senior vice president of research at Atlanta-based LOMA, and report author.The report also reviews catastrophic loss exposures involving technological networks, a continually expanding universe of legal liability, and global risks that affect all insurance companies and U.S. businesses. "Fortunately, there are actions available in both the public and private sectors that can significantly reduce these catastrophic risks," says Forbes. "The insurance industry has an important role to play in encouraging the implementation of the many well-thought-out methods that are available to improve the risk environment."

TORONTO, April 6, 2004 - SOLCORP, a leading provider of software solutions to the life insurance and financial industries and a subsidiary of EDS, announced today that it is co-sponsoring a global insurance survey in conjunction with partner companies Whitehill Technologies and DSPA Software.

Miami, FL-- SunGard Insurance Systems, an operating group of SunGard, announced today the SunGard VIP sales illustration system has been awarded the Designed for Windows XP logo certification. This certification is a result of a long-standing technology affiliation between SunGard Insurance Systems and Microsoft, further strengthening the Microsoft Gold Certified Partner relationship recognized for many years. SunGard VIP clients running on Windows XP can realize benefits such as greater application stability and efficiency; as well as, the assurance that the SunGard VIP system will be fully functional in later versions of Windows.

WebMD Corp., Elmwood, N.J., has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Dakota Imaging, Inc., a privately held provider of automated healthcare claims processing technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) services.Dakota's scalable software and BPO services provide automation for mailroom, document processing, scanning, data capture, data scrubbing, automated workflow and online secure document management. Dakota's solutions can reduce costs associated with manual processing of healthcare documents and increase auto-adjudication and auto-payment of medical claims through advanced data scrubbing.

The insurance industry's response to fast-changing regulatory and corporate governance demands is characterized by a primary reliance on manual processes and ad-hoc measures, according to survey conducted by ILOG, a Mountain View, Calif.-based business rules software vendor, and Pearl River, N.Y.-based ACORD.Although specially appointed compliance officers generally have been assigned to manage the impact of regulatory demands, the survey reveals the industry is failing to fully embrace the high business value of information technology when addressing regulatory requirements such as HIPAA and corporate governance demands driven by mandates such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Insurity Inc., a ChoicePoint company, today announced that Georgia Casualty & Surety, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Atlantic American, has selected Insurity's Commercial Intellisys property/casualty policy processing services and software. A complete Web-based rating, intelligent underwriting and electronic issuance platform is being deployed across 11 states for workers' compensation, commercial business auto, general liability, commercial package and umbrella policies.

An Internet-only health plan for individuals and families, called Net Saver, has been introduced by Health Net Life Insurance Company, a Woodland Hills, Calif.-based health insurer.With Net Saver, there are no paper-based application or enrollment materials. Once a secure, encrypted online application is completed by an applicant, it is downloaded by the consumer for record keeping and submitted at the same time to Health Net for processing. Net Saver's online processes help to speed the application submission process. It's not uncommon for applications to be submitted in the middle of the night by Internet-based brokers such as EHealthInsurance.com, according to Health Net Life Insurance Co.

One-third (34%) of workers believe they may outlive their retirement savings. Among individuals who make less than $25,000, 54% believe they run the risk of outliving their retirement savings. This, according to the 14th annual national Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) released today by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), American Savings Education Council (ASEC), and Mathew Greenwald & Associates.Men are slightly more confident than women (65% versus 61%) when it comes to believing they will not outlive their retirement savings, and married people are more confident than non-married individuals (66% versus 58%). When it comes to long-term care (LTC) in retirement, 51% of workers are confident that they will have enough money to pay for LTC expenses.

OLDSMAR, Fla. -- eAutoclaims today announced that it has secured a two-year contract with Michigan Millers Mutual Insurance Company. eAutoclaims will provide its national network of body shops and independent appraisers (IA) to process Michigan Millers' automobile and commercial heavy equipment physical damage claims.

New York, NY--Atlantic Mutual announced that it closed the sale today of its subsidiary, Atlantic Specialty Insurance Company, and the renewal rights to select commercial insurance business, including the unearned premiums on the acquired book, to OneBeacon Insurance Company, after receiving regulatory approval. The overall gross written premium for this book of business totals over $400 million.

Maine Mutual Group Insurance Co,, a regional provider with operations in Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire, has joined a growing number of companies that are partnering with Trusted Choice, the national branding initiative created to educate consumers about the benefits of using independent insurance agents and brokers.consumer branding initiative. Trusted Choice was created by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA), Alexandria, Va., and its company partners to highlight the benefits independent agencies and brokerage firms offer consumers–choice of companies, customization of policies and consumer advocacy. Just two years after its inception, more than 3,500 independent insurance agencies and brokerages throughout the country are participating in the branding program.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. --Humana Inc. announced today that its subsidiary, Humana Insurance Company, has completed its acquisition of Ochsner Health Plan of Louisiana from the Ochsner Clinic Foundation. Ochsner Health Plan is one of the largest health benefits plans in the New Orleans market and the third largest in the state of Louisiana with approximately 152,000 Commercial medical members, primarily in large group accounts, and approximately 31,000 members in the MedicareAdvantage program. Ochsner Health Plan is licensed in all 64 of Louisiana's parishes.

They say sharing is good, but try telling that to insurance executives overseeing individual business units. Actuaries, underwriters, sales and marketing executives and claims adjusters have long regarded their departmental knowledge as sacrosanct, with the thought of sharing that information akin to giving up one's first-born.Perhaps out of necessity, this cloistered approach to knowledge-sharing might be loosening its territorial grip. Keeping departmental knowledge close to the vest might protect a business's so-called secrets, but reciprocally this approach also prevents a business from tapping into the knowledge that resides within other corporate units, industry experts relate.

If insurance carriers want their online shoppers to become online buyers, they need to give their customers more respect.That's a warning derived from recent analysis of 70 insurance Web sites that gave the insurance industry an average online Customer Service Index of 6.8 out of 10. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that although 93% of insurers post online privacy policies, 35% of them share customer data without the customer's permission.

The credit-based insurance scoring controversy continues with the latest volley coming from the Maryland Insurance Administration (MIA). In January, MIA released a report indicating that the data it had collected in 2003 was insufficient to conclusively determine if credit scoring has an adverse impact on low-income or minority populations.Last month, Insurance Networking News reported that a recent study conducted by the Missouri Department of Insurance found that minorities and low-income populations are harmed by insurers use of credit-based insurance scores (see March 2004, page 8).

The personalized attributes of Web portals have generated appeal among a growing number of insurers. But while Web portals possess a great deal of upside, the return on investment (ROI) prospects that portals-as well as extranets - can deliver to an insurance organization are still difficult to quantify.Despite this uncertainty, the perceived benefits continue to propel portal adoption. A study conducted by Stamford, Conn.-based research and consulting firm Gartner Inc. found that 75% of property/casualty insurers and 83% of life/health insurers have developed distributor portals or extranets.

There was a time when Atlanta-based Ebix Inc. and Darien, Ill.-based Quotesmith.com could have been mistaken for one another, but not anymore. In two strategic acquisitions forged in February, Ebix Inc. continues its quest to emphasize its business process outsourcing strengths. This became apparent when Ebix said it was acquiring LifeLink Corp., a provider of life insurance sales software applications.Based in Park City, Utah, LifeLink designs products in partnership with independent brokerage clients to create multi-carrier sales proposals.

The Contracts Update section includes announcements of contracts insurance information technology companies have signed with customers in recent weeks. Contract news can be faxed to Insurance Networking magazine at (312) 913-1366 or by electronic mail to Stephen.Dwyer thomsonmedia.com Computer Sciences Corp.

When economic times are tough, executives turn their focus to increasing revenues and reducing costs. It's easy to say, but executing this simple idea can prove much more difficult, especially in the insurance industry.The events of Sept. 11, 2001 and the recession have brought the healthy profits the insurance industry saw in the 1990s crashing down into the depths of financial hardship.

BOSTON-- The family with a car each for dad, mom, the college sophomore and the high-school senior. The tenant in apartment 2B who's never had a ticket or an accident in 20 years of driving. The distracted shopper who backed into another vehicle in the supermarket parking lot. With OneChoice Auto, OneBeacon Insurance is delivering comprehensive protection to fit the needs and lifestyles of a broad range of Maine drivers. "We've expanded our approach to auto insurance significantly," said Dan Bridge, Vice President of Personal Lines New England for OneBeacon, "and we're now able to offer insurance solutions to most drivers and for most vehicles in the state. The key is to meet customers' needs at a price that's competitive in the marketplace yet appropriate to the skill levels and driving histories of individual operators."

INDIANAPOLIS--Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield continues to make managing health care benefits easier for its members through its award-winning Web sites. MyAnthem, Anthem's new personalized member Web site available at anthem.com , provides members an individually tailored online experience that offers quicker, easier and more efficient access to self-service tools and member-specific health information. "Members come to anthem.com for four reasons: to view their membership information, to choose or change health care providers, to learn about health and wellness, and to shop for health-related products and services at discounted prices," said Mary Scanlon, Anthem's vice president of eBusiness. "We simply designed MyAnthem for our members based on the way they use anthem.com -- all in an effort to make managing their health care easier than ever."