Portland, Maine – 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 — 46 % — indicated lower productivity levels or dissatisfaction with their current claims management technology.
The full report is available at
Source: ClaimVantage
