Digital Platforms

London - Though still nascent, enterprise risk management (ERM) programs are becoming more established amongst European insurers, a report from Standard and Poor's (S&P) has found. In its report, "Enterprise Risk Management Assessments on Europe's Insurers," S&P surveyed 70 European carriers about their adoption and use of ERM programs.

Boston - A new research report from financial research and consulting firm Celent predicts that online sales of insurance will double by 2011. Titled "Online Insurance Sales and Marketing: What's Happening and What's Next" the report projects that the Web will play a increasingly prominent role in personal insurance purchases.

Edison, N.J. - In the latest of several insurance-specific outsourcing vendor mergers and acquisitions, insurance software provider MajescoMastek has acquired Indianapolis-based Vector Insurance Services LLC (Vector), a technology solutions provider and third-party administrator that focuses on the North American life & annuity insurance industry.

London - Navigating the international regulatory landscape and addressing the challenges of catastrophe exposure reporting are among the subjects that will be broached when ACORD convenes its London Forum in October. ACORD is intending that the forum be a "meeting of the minds" that will unite insurers, reinsurers, solution providers, brokers and cedents from the UK, EU, and US. Dennis Mahoney, Chairman of Aon Global, is slated to deliver the keynote address. The forum will be held at Gibson Hall in London on October 17 and 18.

Waterloo, Ontario - Manulife Financial reports that it is launching the Canadian insurance industry's first new business notification feed that meets new national standards for delivery of information to agencies and their advisors dealing with the company. The feed, once processed, allows agencies and their advisers to view the underwriting status of policies on a daily basis, greatly reducing time spent on inquiries and follow up calls about their clients' applications. The process is the first to meet new guidelines outlined by the Canadian Life Insurance Electronic Data Interchange Standards (CLIEDIS). "This is a significant advance in service to our Managing General Agencies and National Accounts. These organizations are focusing on improved technologies to increase their office and business efficiency so they can spend more time working with clients," said Andy White, AVP, Distribution Systems, Manulife Financial. New Business Notification feeds provided through this new standard contain current advisor, policy and underwriting status of new business pending policies, based on the Canadian Insurance Transaction Standardization (CITS) Pending Case Status Implementation Guide from CLIEDIS. The Canadian Life Insurance Standards Association coordinates development of public standards for the Canadian life insurance industry. A distributor's feed will be available for download to its back office system through a phased launch on Manulife's advisor Web site, says the company. Manulife Financial is no stranger to best practice IT models, as the company has already made commitments in the areas of ITIL and CMMI, and expects their business units and subsidiaries in 19 countries to follow suit. For example, as reported in Insurance Networking News (December 2006), Manulife-Sinochem Life Insurance Co. Ltd., a joint venture of Canada's Manulife Ltd. and China Foreign Economic and Trade Trust & Investment Co., designed a customer-oriented service at the front-end, which requires CRM system support at the back-end. "Their product design is closely connected with the IT system and the IT accommodates the product quite well by playing a supporting role," says Thomas Wong, chief analyst at Beijing-based Analysys International. Source: Manulife Financial, Insurance Networking News

Armonk, New York - IBM has released more details about its SOA roadmap for the insurance industry. At a conference in May, the company said it would provide roadmaps for eight different industries, including insurance. The roadmaps are based on long-term industry outlooks and new IBM Business Blueprints that enable organizations to better align business and IT. The insurance roadmap provides real-time access to policy, claims and related data through multiple modes of communication with IBM's insurance for agent collaboration framework, the company says. IBM also announced the results of a survey of clients that concludes the strategic decisions about (SOA) adoption are shifting away from the realm of IT staffers to business executives. The survey was conducted for IBM by the Link Group and consisted of a sampling of clients at the IBM Impact 2007 event, which drew more than 4,200 technical and business leaders The survey revealed that 67% of the respondents said the key decision makers responsible for moving to an SOA strategy are business leaders including C-level executives and business managers. Additionally, 65% of clients said that business leaders are also primarily responsible for selecting an IT partner to help achieve business goals in an SOA. At the same time, the survey also found that there is an increasing need for training staff so they possess the unique combination of both business and IT skills required for a business to realize the potential of SOA. Source: MarketWire

Lexington, Mass. - FirstBest Systems, a Lexington, Mass.-based developer of underwriting management software has announced the formation of an Underwriting Knowledge Center.

Las Vegas - A feature on its Web sites that links directly to a physician's office has garnered an award for BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. The feature, called STATchat, took top honors in the "Best Use of Technology" category during the 3rd Annual Call Center Excellence Awards held recently in Las Vegas. STATchat allows a physician's office staff to call BlueCross over the Internet and gives them priority for customer service. Physician office staff members simply click on the STATchat icon to call for assistance without dialing any numbers by using an inexpensive headset with microphone. STATchat links the staff member with a BlueCross provider services agent, ahead of calls from physician offices using traditional phone lines. Both the awards and the conference are organized by the International Quality & Productivity Center (IQPC). Experts and practitioners in the call center field judged this year's award entries. "Providers who utilize our STATchat feature receive the help they need with little or no wait time," said David Boucher, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina's assistant vice president of health care services. "This allows our providers to better focus on their vital role of caring for their patients." Headquartered in Columbia, S.C., BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Source: PR Newswire

Oakland, Calif. - Web-based options are playing a larger role in doctor-patient interaction, notes Kaiser Permanente. The Oakland, Calif., health insurer released a study that was published in the American Journal of Managed Care and describes how secure e-mail changes the way patients choose to access medical care. "Patient access to electronic health record with secure messaging: impact on primary care utilization" examines the use of secure e-mail between Kaiser Permanente members and physicians. According to the study: Patients with online access to an electronic health record (EHR) are choosing to use secure e-mail, thereby decreasing the number of primary care office visits and telephone contact rates. The study noted that the use of secure e-mail linked to an EHR decreased annual adult primary care outpatient visit rates by 7 to 10% and led to 14% fewer phone contacts than those not using online services. "The access to personal health management tools, including secure email is helping our members get care how and when they want it," states Yvonne Zhou, PhD, one of the authors of the study. "It is valuable to have been able to document an evolving trend that shows consumers are choosing to replace office visits and phone calls with electronic communication with their doctors." More than 1.4 million Kaiser Permanente members are registered to use the company's secure online services. Since launching secure e-mail services, more than 2.7 million e-mail messages have been sent to providers. Source: PR Newswire

Zurich, Switzerland - In the latest in a series of insurance-related executive announcements, Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich) announced the appointment of Christian Orator to the position of Global Chief Claims Officer. He will assume his new role as of August 1, 2007. Orator, 44, and a Swiss and Austrian citizen, will succeed Jane Tutoki who was appointed Chief Claims Officer for Zurich North America Commercial. In his new position, Orator will be responsible for leading a global network of claims professionals and driving continuous improvement in the group's claims capabilities and customer service. He will be report to John Amore, CEO General Insurance, and will be located in Zurich. Orator currently heads special initiatives within the office of the Group Chief Administrative Office. He has extensive experience in the strategic planning, underwriting and claims fields having held numerous executive and operational positions in Austria, the US, Germany and at Corporate Center since joining Zurich in 1989. These roles include serving as a member of the German Executive Board, responsible for commercial lines and broker distribution. He holds a Ph.D. and master's degree in law from the University of Vienna as well as a master's degree in comparative law from Dickinson School of Law in the United States. Source: Zurich Financial Services Group

Los Angeles – At a time when acquisitions are plentiful in the insurance industry (see "More Acquisitions For the Insurance Industry") Los Angeles-based Farmers Insurance Group of Companies announced the completion of its acquisition of non-standard auto insurer, Davie, Fla.-based Bristol West Holdings Inc.Bristol West began providing private passenger auto insurance to Florida residents in 1973. Since that time, it grew to be a provider of liability and physical damage insurance at competitive prices. Bristol West operates in 26 states.

Alexandria, Va.-Agents are taking a more active role in the agent/carrier relationship. Agents want to do more than simply view or access forms on a portal; they want to enter data and communicate with multiple carriers and vendors for quoting, policy issue and inquiry-and they want to enter the data once.

CIGNA HealthCare, Hartford, Conn., announced yesterday that it will begin providing online precertification this fall to more than 365,000 physicians in its national network.

Jersey City, N.J. - The U.S. property/casualty insurance industry's net income after taxes dipped to $15.8 billion in first-quarter 2007 from $16.7 billion in first-quarter 2006 and $17.7 billion in first-quarter 2005. Reflecting the declines in net income, the property/casualty industry's annualized rate of return on average policyholders' surplus (statutory net worth) dropped to 12.9% in first-quarter 2007 from 15.5% in first-quarter 2006 and 17.9% in first-quarter 2005, according to Jersey City, N.J.-based ISO Properties Inc. and Des Plaines, Ill.-based Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI).

Brussels – Under a new measure that may be proposed as early as July 10, insurers within the European Union that conduct business across various borders may be supervised by regulators representing larger groups. EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy is expected to propose Solvency II, a law designed to help regulate how insurers set aside money to cover risk and provide increased policyholder protection while creating a more competitive insurance marketplace. But Peter Skinner, who is expected to steer the measure through parliamentary channels, said lawmakers were already considering a "plan B" if no deal is reached on the supervisory aspects of Solvency II. Conflicting news reports state that the Solvency II deadline may be moved to 2010. Currently, multinationals such as Allianz, Generali, Aviva and Axa, account for 85% of total premiums in Europe, and represent 14 of the bloc's 27 member countries. The fear, say analysts, is that if a new measure is passed, national watchdogs could be given a limited role as supervisors in London, Frankfurt and Paris, home to many of the big groups, take charge. Lawmakers say that the assembly and EU states have joint say on Solvency II. A 28th regime would likely be a voluntary scheme outside existing legislation in the 27 EU member states. Skinner reportedly wants home regulators to be responsible for approving an insurer, with local watchdogs keeping a day-to-day eye on how much capital groups have locally to cover domestic risk. Sources: Reuters, The Insurance Insider

Cedar Rapids, Iowa - A recent online survey on P&C insurance technology reveals that leading carriers have become adept at dealing with customers and business partners online. However, virtually all carriers recognize that there is room for improvement and that they must continuously improve their underlying technology to better serve their customers and enhance their competitive position. The results from a survey conducted by Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based technology provider Fiserv Inc. indicates critical business needs and the projects and technologies insurance carriers have underway to address them.Seventy-five percent of respondents agreed that one of their next three large-scale projects would involve their core system for maintaining insurance coverage information. Access to complete and immediate information allows the carrier to respond more effectively and efficiently. Sixty-seven percent said an agency interface or comparative rating system would be on their list of projects planned. Billing and claims projects to make things smoother for the customer tied at 42%.

BANKS SHOULD SET SIGHTS ON RELATIONSTo entice customers to buy more financial products and services, financial services companies need to focus on improving their relationship strategies, according to Gartner Inc., a research firm headquartered in Stamford, Conn.

ISTREAM TO INCLUDE NEW FUNCTIONALITYWhitehill Technologies Inc., Moncton, New Brunswick, announced new functionality in the IStream document automation suite, including IStream Publisher and IStream Document Manager. The IStream suite is designed to enable business users to create 'model documents' that control the language, layout and look of complex files, such as policies and contracts. IStream can be used to create and control virtually any kind of insurance document, from contracts to welcome kits to group booklets. New functionality includes add-ins for Microsoft Word and Adobe Reader, letting users create complex documents in a familiar, easy-to-use, interactive environment. As data or standard wordings change, users can automatically update their documents to reflect those changes. Leveraging industry-standard applications gives insurers the power to create and update documents easily as part of their normal processes.

Insurance carriers need product development flexibility and "speed to market" to maintain competitive advantage. To help accomplish those goals, INN asked Doug Roller, CEO of Bolivar, Mo.-headquartered Duck Creek Technologies Inc., to describe his "product in a day" concept.INN: How would you define "product in a day?"

The founders of Boston-based Homesite Insurance Group came together nearly a decade ago to create a progressive homeowners insurance company. In the quest to make their dream real, they got some help from software that links risk to geography.Today, Homesite sells in 43 states, and its underwriters evaluate the risk associated with each potential policyholder's address, says one of the founders, Manuel Rios, who now serves as Homesite vice president and chief underwriter. They do it with GeoStan geocoding technology from Group 1 Software Inc., a Pitney Bowes Co. in Lanham, Md.

XL GLOBAL TO USE INTERCEPT TO MANAGE PROCESSESStamford, Conn.-based XL Global Services Inc., a part of the XL Capital Ltd. group of companies, will use Intercept Studio, a flagship product from Baltimore-based AVIcode, to manage business processes worldwide.

Converting a book of business to a new system can be viewed by some as the riskiest part of a new system implementation. However, with proper time and resources, conversions need not be feared. They are all part of the system migration, which is to enable the company to improve its ROI and competitiveness. Each company needs to assess the cost, time and benefits, and if sufficient resources and time are allocated, success is manageable.In single-phase conversions, all data is converted at one time with two options. Sufficient history levels (number of years) are converted that enables the discontinuance of the existing system. And the latest versions of data are converted to allow the new system to be used for all future transactions. The existing system is retained for a period of time for inquiry purposes into past transactions.

Boston, Mass. – Insurers around the country are making changes to their technology areas with the naming of new executives. Three such examples are Liberty Mutual Group, The Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America and NYMagic.James McGlennon has been appointed vice president and CIO for Liberty Mutual Agency Markets, a strategic business unit of Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group that consists of property/casualty and specialty insurance carriers that distribute their products and services primarily through independent agents and brokers.

Waltham, Mass. - Failure to properly terminate a policy tops the list of reasons property/casualty insurers are found to be out of compliance during market conduct exams, according to research from Waltham, Mass.-based Wolters Kluwer Financial Services' Insurance Compliance Solutions group. On the life/health side, failure to acknowledge, pay or deny claims within specified time frames is the most common market conduct compliance criticism for life/health.

Ipswich, Mass. - When it comes to the larger issues of Web site usability, communication and trust, Progressive and GEICO lead the way, according to consumers answering a survey for the Customer Respect Group (CRG), an international research and consulting firm that focuses on how corporations treat their online customers. This marks the fourth study in a row in which Progressive is ranked at the top. The Ipswich, Mass., firm released findings from its second quarter 2007 Online Customer Respect Study of the Automobile Insurance Industry. The study evaluated the Web sites of a representative sample of auto insurance companies. Using a common set of criteria, it analyzed corporate performance from an online customer's perspective. A directly comparable customer respect index (CRI) is provided for each company. The CRI is a qualitative and quantitative in-depth analysis and independent measure of a customer's experience when interacting via the Internet, reports CRG. Comprising six sub-indices that factor into three meta-concepts identified by customers as their critical concerns when using Web sites, the CRI includes: * Site Usability - How usable is the site to a wide range of users? This includes simplicity (ease of use) and attitude (accessibility). * Communication - How willing is the company to engage in a one-on-one communication to answer specific questions? This includes responsiveness (quality of e-mail replies - both speed and helpfulness -- response tone and other communication methods). * Trust - Can this site be trusted with your personal data? This includes transparency (clarity and comprehensiveness of privacy policies), Principles (respect for data privacy, cookie explanations) and privacy (respect for data privacy, clarity and comprehensiveness of privacy policies). The average rating for the industry was 5.4 on the 10-point CRI scale. This score represents an improvement since the last report, notes CRG, primarily in the area of privacy policy transparency and responsiveness to e-mails. As a result, auto insurers have moved up to the mid-range of all industries from the bottom quartile previously. The industry provides better and more concise information about policies and practices. GEICO and Progressive tied to lead the table, marking the fourth study in a row in which Progressive came out on top. GEICO showed improvement from its fourth place spot in the previous evaluation. American Family showed the most improvement overall from the previous study.

San Francisco - Mergers and acquisitions have become the norm in the insurance industry, and two recent acquisitions prove this. More than a month after Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group announced its acquisition of Fairfield, Ohio-based Ohio Casualty Corp. for $44 per share in cash, Wells Fargo Insurance Services Inc., a subsidiary of San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co., announces it will acquire Universal Insurance Services Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich. The acquisition is expected to close July 1, 2007, according to Wells Fargo.

Chicago - The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), Chicago, has established physician and employer advisory groups to further enhance the market development of its Blue Health Intelligence (BHI) initiative, the nation's premier healthcare database comprised of de-identified claims information from up to 80 million lives. "The addition of these groups will help BHI maintain its leadership in healthcare informatics," said BCBSA President and CEO Scott Serota. "We look forward to working with this esteemed group of employers and physicians. Their hard work will result in a database that will enhance the quality of information available to consumers, providers and employers." Launched in 2006, BHI will provide sharper insight into healthcare trends, delivery and best clinical practices, and information about the efficacy of treatments and new medical technologies. BHI compiles, analyzes and organizes data, which can then be used as benchmarks to conduct comparative analyses across a range of healthcare components. The first sets of benchmark data were released to participating Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies in December 2006. "The advisory groups will provide high-level strategic counsel and recommendations that will help us provide insight into important health issues," said Bob Greczyn, Jr., president and chief executive officer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, and co-chair of the BHI board. The employer and physician advisory groups will be responsible for contributing research-based insights into issues critical to the public's health. In addition, they will monitor new market initiatives in the areas of healthcare costs and quality data, and track healthcare literature and trends in practice and technology. With this knowledge, these advisory groups will help identify opportunities for BHI to form new healthcare solutions in quality and transparency for employers, providers and consumers. "This input from the groups will guide BHI as it continues to establish itself as the most comprehensive collection of healthcare information in the industry," added Alice F. Rosenblatt, executive vice president, integration and information management officer and chief actuary, WellPoint Inc., and co- chair of the BHI board. The groups will meet separately with the first meetings convening this summer. Members will serve one, two-year term. The following is a roster of BHI's employer and physician advisory groups. BHI Employer Advisory GroupMember / Title / Company-- Delia Vetter, Senior Director of Benefits, Employee Services & Programs, EMC Corporation-- Bill Greer, Vice President, Benefits, Kellogg Company-- Mike Stoll, Vice President, Benefits, The Kroger Co.-- Greg Heaslip, Vice President, Benefits, Pepsico-- Bob Ihrie, Vice President, Compensation and Benefits, Lowe's Cos. Inc.-- Steve Lampkin, Vice President, Benefits Department, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.-- Mark Cullen, M.D., Professor of Medicine & Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine; Senior Medical Director, ALCOA-- Jeanne Denz, Director, Global Benefits, General Mills-- Martin Storey, Director of Benefits, Michelin North America-- Tom Jecklin, Manager, Healthcare Benefits, State Farm-- William Strahan, Vice President, Compensation and Benefits, Comcast-- Daniel Green, Deputy Associate Director, Center for Employee and Family Support Policy, Office of Personnel Management-- Anna Fallieras, Program Leader, Health Care Initiatives, GE Company-- Pascale Thomas, Director, Benefits, Corporate Human Resources, Verizon Communications Inc. BHI Physician Advisory GroupName / Employer / Contact, Title / Company-- H. Frank Farmer, Jr., M.D., Chairman and Practicing Physician, Florida Board of Medicine-- David Blumenthal, M.D., MPP, Samuel O. Thier Professor of Medicine and Health Policy, Harvard Medical School; Director, Institute for Health Policy, Massachusetts General Hospital/Partners HealthCare System-- Thomas Henry Lee, Jr., M.D., Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Network President, Partners HealthCare System-- Joel Bender, M.D., Ph.D., Corporate Director of Health Services, General Motors Corp.-- James R. Claflin, M.D., Specialist, Oklahoma Allergy and Asthma Clinic-- Kelly Kelleher, M.D., MPH, Professor, Ohio State University; Vice President for Health Services Research, Children's Research Institute, Columbus, Ohio-- David Filipi, M.D., MBA, Vice President, Medical Affairs for Methodist Physicians Clinic, Methodist Physicians Clinic, Omaha, Neb.-- William L. Roper, M.D., MPH, Dean, School of Medicine and CEO, UNC Health Care System, University of North Carolina-- Alan M. Garber, M.D., Ph.D., Henry J. Kaiser Jr. Professor; Director, Center for Health Policy; Director, Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, Stanford University; Staff Physician, Department of Veterans Affairs-- Jonathan B. Perlin, M.D., Ph.D., MSHA, FACP, Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President for Quality, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA)-- Frederick L. Brancati, M.D., MHS, Professor of Medicine & Epidemiology; Director, Division of General Internal Medicine, Johns Hopkins University-- Mark Cullen, M.D., Professor of Medicine & Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine; Senior Medical Director, ALCOA-- Allan Korn, M.D., Senior Vice President and CMO, Office of Clinical Affairs, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association Source: Blue Cross Blue Shield

Washington - On-the-go consumers prefer to handle an increasing number of transactions themselves through self-service devices, and are more likely to do business with companies that make it easier to for them to do so, according to a new study conducted by BuzzBack Market Research for Dayton, Ohio-based NCR Corp. One exception though, according to the study, is insurance customers.

Needham, Mass. - For firms of all sizes and models, annuity processing has not seen much innovation, until recently. But even today, significant challenges remain to the straight-through processing (STP) of annuity applications and distribution of annuities, notes a report issued today by TowerGroup, a Needham, Mass., research firm. The emergence of several solutions aimed at streamlining and untangling the complexities of annuity processing and efforts by industry groups to create standards for annuity processing may be exactly what is needed to improve efficiency in both distributing and processing annuities, notes the report's authors, research director, brokerage and wealth Matthew Bienfang, and senior research associate Matthew Macauley. TowerGroup predicts that the distribution of annuities will follow much the same path as the mutual fund industry and its products. As with many products, competition will drive efficiency, and given the increase in scrutiny by both consumers and regulators, it is clear that the industry could use some assistance. Financial services firms simply cannot afford to summon the regulatory specter again, the firm claims. The move toward automation of annuity processing in the financial services industry is being driven by cost considerations, efficiency issues, and compliance but also, and more important, by demand for annuities. Variable annuities can be extremely complex products because of the number of riders, guarantees, taxes, and income features and have therefore traditionally been sold by an agent. According to the TowerGroup study, the majority of annuities are sold by a mix of agent types, such as independents, captives and financial planners. However, brokers also represent a large portion of the annuity sales model. With the exception of the unique affinity sales model of TIAA-CREF and its relationship with educators, direct sales of annuities make up next to nothing because of the aforementioned complexities and options open to the consumer. The complexity of these products adds to challenges inherent in the annuity sale, i.e., processing time both at the point of sale and in the middle and back offices of the distributors. For a broker in a traditional firm, processing an annuity application takes 45 minutes or more. If the application is deemed to be not in good order (NIGO), the processing time in the middle office increases by hours if not days, quadrupling the cost. The introduction of technology in annuity processing can have dramatic results, improving the processing time, decreasing the cost, reducing the instances of NIGO, and lessening the regulatory risk associated with the distribution of annuity products. As an example, one leading distributor of annuity products implemented several technologies that have not only reduced the processing time from 45 minutes to under 10 minutes but also enabled the firm to operate with greater distribution control and supervisory oversight, thus reducing regulatory risk. TowerGroup reports that companies that focus on simplifying products and providing income beyond simple annuitization are succeeding, and predict that, because independent agents continue to be the fastest-growing channel for distribution of variable annuities, agents and advisors will require access to tools that allow for product comparison and configuration to better serve their customers. Finally, automation and the integration of product information are key drivers in reducing the risk of annuity distributors, say the report authors. Source: TowerGroup.

London - Guy Carpenter & Company LLC, a New York-based global risk and reinsurance specialist and part of the Marsh & McLennan Companies, will mandate the use of electronic claims file (ECF) for in-scope claims for all Lloyd's markets from Jan. 1, 2008. This decision follows the successful implementation of Guy Carpenter's ECF initiatives and underscores the firm's commitment to further market reform, according to the company.

Thousand Oaks, Calif. - Blue Cross of California (BCC) introduces an enhanced Dental Blue Cost Estimator, an online tool designed to enable BCC's Dental Blue members to estimate their out-of-pocket expenses for common procedures such as cleanings, fillings and periodontal treatment. Members can access the Dental Blue Cost Estimator, through the recently launched Treatment Cost Advisor tool, to view estimated out-of-pocket costs by zip code.

Los Angeles - Farmers Insurance Group of Companies opened its second ServicePoint operation. The new call center is based in Austin, Texas and is dedicated to providing service and care to Farmers agents and their customers. The other center is in Olathe, Kansas.

Dublin, Ireland - The lack of a structured prioritization model for allocating risk and fraud budget resources is hindering many financial institutions in their fraud mitigation efforts, according to Research and Markets, which has announced the addition of new Javelin Strategy report "Risk & Fraud Budgeting Model: Prioritizing the 2008 Budget for Effective Fraud Mitigation" to their offering.

Washington, D.C. - The Department of Justice and FBI announced the results of an ongoing cyber crime initiative called "Operation Bot Roast," which has identified more than one million victim computer IP addresses.

Washington, D.C. - The federal government is seeking proposals to conduct trial implementations of the national health information network (NHIN).The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology in the Department of Health and Human Services has published a request for proposals for health data exchanges of various types. The exchanges will cooperate to ensure they can implement an interoperable “network of networks” over the Internet.

New York - The U.S. Government has granted SeaPass Solutions Inc. a broadly worded patent for the SeaPass Gateway Solution for "Interface Development Environment and Interface for Connecting Systems Having Different Data Structures," according to Eric Gewirtzman, CEO of New York-based SeaPass.

Boston - Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) and Atlanta-based health care information technology company MDdatacor Inc. will begin work on a pilot project utilizing health information technology to collect and analyze patient medical records to provide the treating physicians with reports that identify patients whose current treatment does not achieve published clinical guidelines.

Novato, Calif. - Joseph Beneducci tendered his resignation today as chief executive officer at Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., Novato, Calif.

San Francisco - The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) today adopted amendments to the Viatical Settlements Model Act during the Association's Summer National Meeting in San Francisco.

New York - More than three-quarters (77%) of the 100 insurance executives representing the property and casualty and life sectors, along with key market participants who attended Standard & Poor's Ratings Services' 23rd annual insurance conference favored an optional charter for insurance regulation."It is not surprising that the conference participants selected optional federal charter with the emphasis on optional," says Standard & Poor's Insurance Practice Leader Grace Osborne. "The insurance market is becoming increasingly global in scope, and the U.S. insurance industry does not have a single voice to advocate U.S. interests with the foreign regulators and various accounting regimes."

Minneapolis - Unitrin Direct a Chicago supplier of direct-to-consumer automobile insurance and its business partner, State College, Pa.-based Optical Image Technology, Inc., have received the Insurance Accounting and Systems Association's (IASA) 2007 Tech Award, the companies announced. This award was presented during the IASA 2007 Educational Conference and Business Show this week.Ian Zimmerman, Unitrin Direct’s director of underwriting, and OIT’s vice president of sales and marketing, James Thumma, were on hand to accept the award during IASA’s annual business luncheon. Unitrin Direct was looking to support its overall goal of becoming a leading direct auto insurer by scaling processes and optimizing support functions. The joint project between OIT and Unitrin Direct was to implement an enterprise-wide digital organization of their corporate information and to re-engineer their business processes by using workflow to horizontally align disparate silos of information stored within a variety of departments. Unitrin Direct is now equipped to push documents through automated workflows for approvals, signatures, customized letters, and calls as well as implement business processes that will automatically direct actions that need to take place. In addition, multiple technologies and departments such as underwriting, claims, and customer service were connected in order to process more work faster, with fewer human resources. Unitrin implemented Optical Image's DocFinity Workflow product to connect the company's policy administration system, and third-party applications, including their automated call system and capture, indexing, and barcode reading along with other DocFinity components such as an electronic repository. The technology, which includes over 24 separate automated workflows, is expected to continue to enhance Unitrin Direct’s position in a highly competitive insurance market as well as put them in a strong position for future growth, said the companies. Source: Optical Image Technology Inc.

Boston - AIR Worldwide Corp., (AIR) released Version 9.0 of its U.S. Hurricane Model, which includes enhanced methodology for estimating business interruption (BI) losses, which accounts for both building and business characteristics when estimating total BI downtime and includes indirect losses from sources other than physical damage to the insured building. The release also includes enhancements to the model’s demand surge function, the vulnerability of residential contents and pool enclosures, and incorporates research by AIR meteorologists and climate scientists into the link between elevated sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) and U.S. landfall activity. “In the aftermath of the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, AIR undertook an intensive research and development effort to improve the way catastrophe models estimate business interruption losses,” according to Dr. Jayanta Guin, senior vice president of research and modeling at AIR Worldwide. The software also estimates indirect business interruption losses—those stemming from sources other than physical damage to the insured building—such as utility service interruption, actions taken by civil authorities, dependent building damage, and extended period coverage. The new model has been validated using detailed claims data from 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. Boston-based AIR is also providing an update to Version 9.0 of the U.S. Hurricane Model’s near-term catalog, which incorporates an additional 12 months—and several man-years—of research by AIR meteorologists and climate scientists into the link between elevated SSTs and U.S. landfall activity. Rather than relying on highly uncertain point forecasts of sea-surface temperatures, the Version 9.0 near-term catalog is instead conditioned on the assumption that currently elevated SSTs are likely to remain elevated for the next five years. As a result, the inclusion of one additional hurricane season will not significantly change estimates of near term risk. However, uncertainty in near-term estimates of landfall frequency remain significant, so AIR is once again releasing the near-term catalog as a supplement to, rather than a replacement for the standard catalog, which is based on more than 100 years of historical data. Analysis of claims data from recent hurricane seasons has revealed that contents vulnerability for single-family homes has decreased significantly in recent years. The updated model accounts for this trend. The model has also been enhanced to explicitly account for the impact of hurricane winds on pool enclosures, structures that—according to AIR’s latest research—show a higher vulnerability to wind damage than previously estimated. Finally, the impact of demand surge—the increase in material, services, and labor costs due to increased demand following a catastrophic event—was fine-tuned and validated using high resolution construction cost time series data for the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes taken from XactAnalysis, a reporting tool created by ISO subsidiary Xactware. Research at AIR shows higher levels of demand surge for time element, including BI. A state-of-the-art model alone is not sufficient for generating accurate BI loss estimates, notes the company. AIR’s analyses also revealed significant issues with the accuracy and completeness of insurers’ business interruption exposure data. For many companies, large numbers of locations have very low BI exposure values. In most cases, business interruption limits, which reflect part-year business income exposure, have been set equal to annual BI exposure. AIR also found evidence that companies are using general “rules of thumb” to determine the BI limit, rather than the use of BI worksheets for each location in multi-location policies. Finally, the number of locations that may sustai damage in a catastrophe is often underestimated. Together, these issues regarding the quality of BI exposure data lead to significant underestimation of modeled BI losses by many companies. “Modeled loss estimates are only as accurate as the exposure data input into the catastrophe model,” continued Dr. Guin. “Insurers must continue to put an emphasis on improving the quality and completeness of their BI exposure data to improve the accuracy of the catastrophe risk information used by company management.” Source: AIR Worldwide Corp.

New York - The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America introduced a debit card and Web tools as part of its FlexPlan Flexible Spending Account program, which enables clients to access and manage FSA accounts easily.Guardian's FlexPlan offers employees point of service access to money they set aside in their FSA, minimizing steps of substantiating claims with receipts and waiting for FSA reimbursements via mail. Clients can pay for co-payments, deductibles, prescriptions, eyeglasses and other eligible healthcare expenses with just one swipe of a Benny Pre-paid MasterCard card.

Chicago - Insurance Networking News magazine, a SourceMedia publication, released the results of its 2007 INNovators Award, a special designation intended to advance the spread of business technology acumen in the insurance industry.Nominees for the 2007 INNovators program included insurance carriers, agencies and brokerages. Their "innovation" was required to have been in production long enough to have returned demonstrable, tangible results.

U.S. CONSUMERS WANT CONTROL OF E-HEALTH RECORDSAmericans show a strong interest in controlling their own electronic medical records, according to a national survey released at a health IT conference.

ARCOT SYSTEMS AND ADOBE WORK ON DIGITAL SIGNINGSunnyvale, Calif.-based Arcot Systems Inc. has collaborated with San Jose, Calif.-based Adobe Systems Inc. to create a new option for digital signing in Adobe Acrobat software and Adobe Reader software using "Roaming Digital IDs."

PURE CHOOSES ONESHIELD FOR POLICY ADMIN SYSTEMPrivilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE), a startup with headquarters in Plantation, Fla., has selected software from Westborough, Mass.-based OneShield Inc. to support administration of new insurance products. PURE deployed OneShield's Dragon platform to manage the end-to-end policy administration of PURE High Net Worth Insurance personal lines product offerings.

Ithaca, N.Y. - Contrary to what many people think, the large majority of call centers serving United States' customers – service centers in remote locations that handle telephone and web-based inquiries – are operated in the U.S., not in India and other overseas locations. This is one of the findings revealed in "The Global Call Center Report: International Perspectives on Management and Employment."Some of the study's key findings:

New York - In an effort to involve its members in government affairs and lobbying initiatives, the New York-based Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc. (RIMS) launched the RIMS Legislative Action Center on its Web site at www.RIMS.org/LegislativeAction."RIMS has made it easy for risk professionals to become more active in government affairs," says Terry Fleming, member of RIMS Board of Directors and director of the division of risk management for Montgomery County, Md. "RIMS is recognized in government as the voice of risk management, but we need members to become more supportive. RIMS Legislative Action Center will provide the risk management industry with the tools necessary to reach out to members of Congress and make their voice heard."

Washington - Life insurance costs could be reduced by billions of dollars annually under an optional federal chartering system, according to a new study, comprised of research from Steven Pottier, associate professor of insurance at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business.

Tokyo - Most Japanese insurance companies are now pursuing new customer and product strategies due to regulatory reforms that are opening the banking sector as a distribution channel for insurance products, according to an Accenture survey of senior executives at one-third of the insurance companies operating in Japan.

Zurich, Switzerland – Swiss Re entered into an agreement that gives it the right to sell the new business operations of Tomorrow, the recently re-branded GE Life to LV= (formerly known as Liverpool Victoria). Subject to the exercise of the appropriate option, and satisfaction of various regulatory and other conditions, the sale is expected to be completed in December 2007.