Core systems

Baltimore - Carriers considering new agents pay close attention to how much experience, data and information the agent provides in its pitch, says a major provider of commercial insurance, reinsurance and risk management services.

Pittsburgh - Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield will offer members additional information on hospital quality information and treatment options online through its member Web site. As consumer-driven products shift decision-making responsibility to consumers, insurers are providing more information to help members make health care decisions."Highmark continues to provide additional resources to help our members make informed decisions that give them a greater hand in their health," says Kim Bellard, Highmark's vice president of e-marketing and CRM. "Our goal is to give members clear, accurate information about their health care options --choice of providers, costs and treatment options."

Tampa, Fla. - CGI Group Inc. has signed of a seven-year agreement valued at between $45 million and $75 million to provide Universal Insurance of North America, Sarasota, Florida, with policy and accounting business process services (BPS).CGI will process Universal's personal lines (book of business) including homeowners, dwelling-fire, auto, and umbrella in Texas and Florida. CGI will continue to support Universal's business processing needs as they expand their services into new markets.

Simsbury, Conn. - The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. has named Mark Esposito as chief information officer for its individual life division.Esposito, who is also vice president and director of business technology, will lead the division's project management office and technology initiatives. He will be a member of the senior planning group, which helps Executive Vice President Michael Kalen, director of individual life, set direction for the division.

New York - The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences have nominated the Best Insurance Sites in The Tenth Annual Webby Awards. The nominees are:Westfield Insurance: http://www.westfieldinsurance.com

New York - The property/casualty insurance industry will report an increase in its capital base and an overall profitable performance in 2005, enabling it to meet the insurance needs of the growing U.S. economy, according to preliminary financial results compiled by the Insurance Services Office (ISO) and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI). Insurers achieved these results despite catastrophe losses totaling a record $57.7 billion before reinsurance recoveries, according to ISO's Property Claims Services unit."A financially strong, stable and secure insurance industry benefits consumers and communities devastated by disaster," says Dr. Robert Hartwig, senior vice president and chief economist of the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.). "U.S. insurers entered 2005 well capitalized and well prepared for major catastrophic losses, having implemented effective risk management strategies which helped insurers better manage losses and control costs. Additionally, insurers' investments benefited from higher interest rates and--like other American industries--a resurgent economy in 2005. Last year's financial performance is also a testament to the efficiency of the global market for sharing and spreading risk, principally through the use of reinsurance, which is insurance purchased by insurance companies. That being said, the $43.2 billion earned by property/casualty insurers in 2005 translates into a 10.1% return on surplus or net worth, well below the 14.9% return on equity earned by the Fortune 500 group of companies."

San Francisco - GuardianEdge Technologies Inc. has released a white paper examining the information security objectives set forth in the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council's Information Security Booklet (FFIEC Handbook) and how enterprise encryption technology can assist financial institutions in complying with the data protection requirements of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.Nearly 26,000 banks, credit unions and other depository financial institutions must adhere to strict federal guidelines for protecting privacy of and tracking access to customer information, or risk criminal and civil penalties.

Newark, N.J. - Horizon Blue Cross Blue of New Jersey and WebMD Health Corp. have teamed up to provide Horizon BCBSNJ's members a new service called My Health Manager. The new online service is a personalized, interactive health application that provides Horizon BCBSNJ members with tools and health information resources they need to better assess, track, and manage their health."Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey members now have access to reliable health information in the privacy of their own home whenever they need it through My Health Manager," says William J. Marino, president and CEO of Horizon BCBSNJ. "Working with WebMD, we are making health care easier by putting at our members' fingertips a powerful new tool and tremendous health resources."

Washington - At a hearing before the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health, Joseph Smith, senior vice president and chief information officer of Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, urged Congress to adopt a realistic timetable for a major shift in medical coding, moving systems from ICD-9 to ICD-10. Smith testified at the hearing, which focused on health care information technology, on behalf of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA).The bill Smith referenced, HR 4157, the Health Information Technology Promotion Act of 2005, calls for the major conversion of diagnostic and procedural codes that providers and insurers must use by 2009. Systems would change from ICD-9 diagnosis codes, which include 13,000 codes, to ICD-10, which includes over 120,000 possible codes.

Hartford, Conn. - Beginning May 3, Aetna will cover online physician-patient communications for members in California and Florida through RelayHealth, a provider of secure online health care communication services.RelayHealth enables online communication between doctors and patients, including clinically based doctor-patient consultations, appointment requests, the ability to get referrals, lab and test results, and electronic prescriptions and medication refills.

Andover, Mass. - CGI's special investigative unit (SIU) operating within Clarendon National Insurance Co. has concluded a probe that resulted in the arrest of four California residents. Six felony charges have been lodged in connection with a fraudulent auto theft claim that was filed with Clarendon.On March 1, 2006, California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi announced the arrests and added: "These types of false claims cost all of us more in the form of higher insurance premiums. My department will continue to fight this fraud to help ensure a fair, affordable insurance system for all Californians."

Washington, D.C. - United States Senators John Sununu (R-N.H.) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) have introduced the "National Insurance Act of 2006," legislation that would allow life and property/casualty insurers to choose federal rather than state charters under an "optional federal charter" regulatory system.Sununu and Johnson, both members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, introduced the legislation on Wednesday, April 5. The measure has been referred to the Banking Committee where hearings are expected later this spring.

El Segundo, Calif. - In response to interest, Computer Sciences Corp.'s board of directors has decided to explore strategic alternatives to enhance shareholder value, including a potential sale of the company.The company has retained Goldman, Sachs & Co. as its financial advisor in this process. CSC cautions that there can be no assurance the exploration of strategic alternatives will result in a transaction, and the company does not intend to disclose developments regarding its exploration unless and until the Board of Directors has approved a specific transaction.

Santa Clara, Calif. - Itemfield, a provider of complex data transformation software, has formed a relationship with Adobe Systems Inc. to work together to develop a solution designed specifically for the insurance industry.The combination of Adobe's intelligent forms that support the ACORD XML data standard with the process-specific business rules and complex data transformation capabilities from Itemfield can help insurers increase efficiency by accelerating the processing of transactional data in electronic forms, such as quotations and new business submissions, according to the two companies.

Seattle - Safeco has named William Jenks chief information officer, effective April 17, 2006.Jenks most recently served as executive vice president and chief information officer of worldwide operations at Publicis Groupe, one of the world's largest advertising and media companies. At Publicis, Jenks led the consolidation of separate technology platforms following a major corporate acquisition. He also realigned the company's technical resources to support top-line business objectives and improve the efficiency of its global workforce.

New York - Lexington Insurance Co., a member company of American International Group, Inc. (AIG), has launced a new online site, www.lexaehelp.com, to provide relevant information to professionals carrying architects and engineers (A&E) liability insurance. The new Web site was created to provide insureds with access to ongoing education modules, contractual information and legal information resources."Because of the specialized liability concerns of architects and engineers, we created www.lexaehelp.com to give our A&E insureds resources specific to their field--including online classes that satisfy state requirements--to assist in mitigating risks and liabilities," says Kevin Kelley, CEO, Lexington Insurance Co.

Las Vegas - Recognizing the growing role of enterprise systems in assisting companies to meet the increasing challenges of corporate compliance and risk management, SAP AG is acquiring Virsa Systems Inc., a privately-held supplier of cross-enterprise compliance solutions. The announcement was made at Simplify, the 2006 Virsa Customer Conference, being held in Las Vegas.Founded in 1996, Virsa has more than 300 enterprise customers, many of which are global 1000 companies, across all major vertical market segments. SAP stated that the transaction with Virsa is continuing evidence of its strategy to use "fill-in" acquisitions to add to its broad solution offering by gaining specific technologies and capabilities that meet the needs of its customers, within industries or across industries, while maintaining its successful organic growth track record. Terms of the all-cash transaction were not disclosed.

RESEARCH RATES AUTO INSURANCE WEB SITESNew research released by Change Sciences Group Inc., a White Plaines, N.Y.-based online financial services benchmarking firm, shows that a handful of auto insurance Web sites are working hard to demystify rates, discounts and claims in an effort to win consumer trust and new business. The research, covering 24 sites, identifies a number of trends relevant to carriers and consumers alike, from allowing consumers to compare their rates with other carriers to presenting some information about the things that affect a person's rate. Sites still have a long way to go when it comes to online execution: Only 40% of sites allow a consumer to follow through on a quote and buy the policy online, and 65% of the sites that do allow consumers to buy online don't make the process as easy as it could be. The top 10 sites, according to Change Sciences are:

E-Z DATA LEVERAGES LATEST WINDOWS TECHNOLOGYClient Data System 6, the newest version of the E-Z Data Inc.'s Windows-based solution for practice and relationship management, addresses specific requests from E-Z Data's current corporate customers, and leverages the latest in Windows technology. Version 6 was designed to provide users with more benefits including control over icon size and desktop look and feel, easier query processing and superior performance, refreshed reports, improved integration with Microsoft Office Outlook for an easier, more intuitive calendar, password requirements and expiration, secure contact fields, database encryption, and private form letters for greater security, a complete HIPAA compliance system that helps prevent HIPAA-protected individuals from receiving unprotected mailings.

POLICY PROCESSINGThe Cumberland Insurance Group, a Bridgeton, N.J., multi-line carrier, has placed Mount Arlington, N.J.-based AGO Insurance Software Inc.'s Commercial Multi-Peril Policy System in its production environment. The Windows program will be used to streamline the policy cycle process for CMI.