Data and information management

Experts say global response necessary for biggest firms.

One of the plan's proposals is to adopt real-time analysis of claims and payments data to identify waste, fraud and abuse in health programs.

The Associated Press reported recently that the FBI is investigating a Pennsylvania school district accused of “secretly activating webcams inside students' homes.” The FBI will explore whether Lower Merion School District officials broke any federal wiretap or computer-intrusion laws by activating the webcams in laptops that the school owns and distributes to students.

Daniel Riordan will assume the role of president of Zurich’s (www.zurichna.com) North America Commercial Specialties business unit, effective immediately. Riordan currently serves as head of Zurich's Surety, Credit and Political Risk group and will be in charge of both units until a replacement is named.

President Barack Obama laid out the first detailed legislative proposal for health care reforms to the United States’ $2.5 trillion medical care system this morning with an approach that largely follows the Senate’s version of legislation proposed in December.

The Group of North American Insurance Enterprises (GNAIE) executive director Douglas Barnet took to the podium at the 12th Global Conference of Actuaries to rally for the use of earned rate for discounting life insurance contracts.

Hewlett-Packard ratcheted up the battle for a share of increasing cloud computing revenues this week by launching a new design service aimed at helping organizations accelerate the adoption of cloud-based infrastructures.

Just about everyone dreams of making that big splash, that big score or that big impression that catapults themselves into fame, stardom, renown and/or lots of money. Just ask the thousands who waited for days at each of the audition sites for a chance to sing for 20 seconds in front of the American Idol judges.

Claims officers, more than ever, face rising loss costs, increased levels of litigation and higher rates of fraudulent claims, according to results from Towers Watson’s fourth “Property & Casualty Insurance Claim Officer Survey, The Economic Landscape and Operational Performance Metrics.”

Zurich announced the release of Zurich Pro Plus, an enhanced Errors & Omissions (E&O) coverage to address the needs of a broad range of business professionals, including consultants, and media and information technology customers.

As I write this, near-term predictions are multiplying for improvement in leading indicators; however, the pressure on cost containment remains strong. How should quality play into this cost reduction discussion? That question is likely to evoke strong opinions.

Instead of purchasing new software, more than half of nearly 2,200 IT executives and technology decision-makers from Forrester's Business Data Services survey say they will be spending IT budgets on the operation and maintenance of existing applications in 2010. The fastest-growing small to midsized software markets will be customer relationship management or information and knowledge management, more than 20% of all small- and medium-size businesses (SMB) have concrete plans to implement these in 2010 or later.

A.M. Best http://www.ambest.com, Fitch Ratings http://reports.fitchratings.com, Moody’s Investors Service http://v3.moodys.com/Pages/default.aspx and Standard & Poor’s (S&P) http://www.standardandpoors.com/home/en/us released ratings updates. The following are some of the most recent:

Insurers seeking to improve operational efficiency using predictive analytics will have new solutions from which to choose, and professional assistance in their implementation, thanks to an enhanced partnership between Dublin-based Accenture and Cary, N.C.-based SAS, announced today.

In a recent conversation with a vendor, I was asked if there was any way in which we [Celent] could encourage/support the standardization of request for information documents sent out by insurers. Think ACORD Standards for RFIs! At the heart of her question, was a sense of deep frustration at the evaluation process which inhibits the vendor from highlighting or differentiating themselves. I have some sympathy with this view.

Master Data Management, MDM, is one of those great ideas that everyone agrees on, like maintaining a good diet and getting exercise. But then everyone resists actually doing it. Small wonder my friend Dave Linthicum once said the biggest job in MDM was “Managing Dumb Meatheads.”

Christopher Swift, previously vice chairman and CFO at American Life Insurance Co. (ALICO), an operating company of American International Group (AIG) with $89 billion in assets and operations in 54 countries, will join The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. as EVP and CFO. Effective March 1, Swift, a 27-year insurance industry veteran, will replace Lizabeth Zlatkus, who will assume the chief risk officer role at The Hartford.

The Risk and Insurance Management Society Inc. (RIMS) says pay-disclosure rules created by the New York Insurance Department are insufficient to protect consumers and urged the department to reopen a period of public comment on the proposal.

Much has changed in the use of standards and technology during the past four years, and the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development, (ACORD), Pearl River, N.Y., intends to confirm how those changes are affecting efficiencies in the insurance industry.

At a time when drivers and their habits—especially in regard to cell phone usage—are under a microscope, The Allstate Foundation released information regarding the behavior and attitude of teenage drivers.