Insurance

Chicago - Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans has created a database of claims information (with no personal identifiers) from 79 million lives. Called Blue Health Intelligence (BHI), this resource is designed to help to improve health care quality through sharing critical health information initially with employers, and in the future, with consumers and providers.The secure, HIPAA-compliant database is significantly larger than existing healthcare databases, which may strengthen the movement to greater health care transparency by ultimately providing unmatched detail about health care trends and best practices.

Brookfield, Wis. - A wave of insurers will update their core processing systems in 2006 and early 2007, according to the results of an online survey on property and casualty insurance technology. The survey, conducted by Fiserv Insurance Solutions, a unit of Fiserv Inc., a Brookfield, Wis. software and services provider, revealed that interest in improving processing capabilities and offering better customer service underlies the emphasis on overall business process management and data accessibility.

Newark, N.J. - An arrangement between The Prudential Insurance Co. of America and the National Eldercare Referral Systems, Inc., will make the process of finding a long-term care provider easier by offering an array of valuable local and national long-term care information, quality ratings, and discounts, the companies report.

Armonk, N.Y. - In its third acquisition in less than 15 months specifically tied to its service oriented architecture (SOA) strategy, IBM, Armonk, N.Y., today announced it acquired Webify Solutions, an Austin, Texas-based privately held provider of industry-specific software and services for building service oriented architectures (SOA).

Boosting productivity and cutting costs in insurance contact centers is a bit like walking and chewing gum at the same time. It's not so difficult. But boosting productivity, cutting costs and improving customer service is much more challenging.Companies that are achieving the hat trick are moving their contact center operations to the next level and standing out from the more pedestrian crowd.

WHITEHILL ACQUIRES INSYSTEMSMoncton, New Brunswick-based Whitehill Technologies Inc. purchased InSystems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Register, Dayton, Ohio, Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The combined company's critical mass will be nearly 1,000 customers strong, including several hundred insurance companies and more than half of the world's largest law firms, according to Paul McSpurren, president and CEO of Whitehill Technologies. Current InSystems customers should expect business to continue without interruption, according to the companies.

August - the heart of hurricane season.The hurricanes during August 2005 changed the insurance industry. In fact, with experts predicting a number of storms in 2006, carriers are taking action-developing tools and programs-to help their customers through natural disasters, especially hurricanes.

What could a college campus possibly have in common with a health insurer's operation centers? Very little, but a telecommunication technology common throughout college campuses has improved one health insurer's business.Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania (BCNEPA), a health insurance provider with its headquarters, an operation center and a technology center in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., recently saw growth in its employee base; so much so, that its 20-MB-per-second, point-to-point corporate network link was not handling the workload between headquarters and the operation center.

Today's consumer is king. With the ability to find an alternative solution for virtually any purchase in a few clicks on the Internet, consumers clearly have the upper hand. They are demanding more personalized products and services that meet their specific needs, and the ability to conduct business through any channel they choose-in person, online or by phone-without sacrificing service.As a consumer, these requirements are perfectly logical. As a business, they aren't that easy to fulfill in an environment where sales processes differ from channel to channel, and where customer data is historical, generally fragmented, and not always relevant.

Telecom giant Sprint used National Cell Phone Courtesy Month (July) to re-release its 2004 "Wireless Courtesy Report," which pretty much confirms what we already know: We are annoyed with rude cell phone users, yet we don't think we are among them.Based on a nationwide survey of 723 adult wireless subscribers, the Sprint 2004 study's major finding was: Although Americans felt people were less courteous than five years earlier, they themselves were not at fault. Additionally, 80% of Americans think wireless callers have become less courteous, but 97% don't think they're part of the problem.

24-HOUR ACCESS TO FINANCIAL FITNESSNew York-based Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America launched a proprietary Web-based system designed to help financial representatives enable their clients to instantly gauge their financial health and simplify their personal and business finances. The system enables financial reps and their clients to coordinate accounts from a menu of more than 3,000 financial institutions, access copies of important legal and financial documents from anywhere in the world, and get a comprehensive, up-to-date snapshot of their financial well-being.

Late spring 2005, the world learned that a crime ring that included call center employees of an Indian outsourcing company stole more than $300,000 from Citibank customers by tricking callers into giving up their PIN numbers.The news sent shockwaves through the industry, as India was the premier destination for business process outsourcing in the world.

It's often said that insurers suffer from the "not-invented-here" syndrome, but the fact is: At least in North America, insurers are most likely to look for a vendor solution before embarking on a custom build.In Celent's most recent insurance CIO/CTO survey, more than half of the respondents said they preferred to buy rather than build whenever possible. However, a high level of frustration remains among insurers with availability of appropriate vendor solutions-and identifying and selecting an appropriate vendor partner is still a time-consuming and challenging process.

On the first anniversary of the California Uninsured Help Line in May, Phil Lebherz, founder and initial financier of the free call line looked at national studies and became convinced the uninsured numbers could be cut in half in all states if people knew about the public programs available to them. As a result, he plans to make the help line operable in all 50 states by this fall. This initiative can take the pressure off insurers, he claims, who receive much of the blame for the rising number of uninsured in the United States.INN: What is the California Uninsured Help Line? How does it work?

If the life reinsurance market suffers in its ability to embrace technology, the good news is that it's got a lot to gain by doing so. From a technology perspective, "building the deal," i.e., processing myriad communications between cedants, reinsurers and retrocessionaires, involves layer upon layer of data input and information exchange, integration and ultimate transaction processing.From a business perspective, the drivers-competitive advantage, regulatory reporting, cost reduction and shareholder and broker demands, among others-are as pressing as ever.

Odessa, Del. - Information on search engine marketing, integrated marketing and competitive information on insurance company marketing trends is included in the "Insurance Direct Marketing: The Special Report on the Companies, the Practices, the Standards & the Benchmarks" report, released last week.

Washington, D.C. - The House is considering a bill calling for a bipartisan commission to help guide the federal government in its national disaster response management. If H.R. 5891, the Catastrophic Disaster Risk and Insurance Commission Act, is enacted, a 17-member panel (membership comprised of at least one independent agent) would be empowered to recommend to the lawmakers disaster management policies cost mitigation, and fraud reduction.

Waterloo, Ont. - California State Automobile Association (CSAA) plans to launch a pilot program this summer using telematics technology to improve driving safety. Using the DriveSync GPS vehicle tracking system from Intelligent Mechatronic Systems Inc. (IMS), CSSA intends to increase the value of AAA membership for itself and other AAA partners, including AAA Arizona, AAA Oklahoma and AAA MountainWest. Rapid vehicle location for roadside assistance and driver safety improvement are some of the areas that will be researched.DriveSync is a GPS vehicle tracking system that tracks vehicle location including the route, mileage and speeds of each trip. As a turnkey solution, IMS manages all aspects of driving data collection, storage, consolidation and reporting using fraud-prevention technology and military grade data encryption to ensure customer confidentiality. The system produces turn-by-turn trip logs, color-coded route maps and driving statistic reports, which can enable drivers to see a clear picture of their driving behavior and habits.

Worcestor, Mass. - The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc., a regional property/casualty company, is enhancing its billing capabilities, in an effort to deliver on its promise to make doing business with the company easy. Now, The Hanover is enabling agents to accept payments for new home and auto policies via electronic check, credit card and debit card at point of sale.Through the new enhancements, The Hanover's independent agent partners can accept electronic down payments for personal lines home and auto insurance or a full payment on a new policy during new business transactions. No transaction fees will be charged for this service. In fact, policyholders who pay for The Hanover's popular, multi-variate product, Connections Auto, in full via electronic payment will be eligible for a discount.

Detroit - Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, will extend an e-prescribing partnership with the nation's three largest U.S. automakers, General Motors, Ford Motor Company and DaimlerChrysler Corp., the companies announced today. The Southeast Michigan e-Prescribing Initiative (SEMI), which is designed to reduce medication errors and decrease prescription drug costs through the use of e-prescribing technology, will be in effect for an additional year.