Data and information management

Waterloo, Ont. - Intelligent Mechatronic Systems Inc. (IMS), a of provider of usage-based insurance (UBI) technologies, is launching a year-long iPAID pilot program in North America and the United Kingdom.The pilot will allow the media, advocacy groups and government policy makers to evaluate the effectiveness of UBI programs in improving driver safety, potential insurance savings, and its ability to alleviate traffic congestion and decrease the levels of vehicle-emitted pollutants.

Dublin, Ireland - Insurers will benefit from a trend in wide-spread adoption of electronic capture of patient data, according to Research and Markets, Dublin, Ireland. In a newly released report, Research and Markets says many businesses already routinely capture documents and data for both regulatory and business intelligence purposes. But health care in the clinical setting has resisted this industry-transforming technology for nearly 20 years, citing the lack of user-friendly interfaces for busy health care providers, lack of workflow understanding on the part of vendors, the expense and complexity of implementation and maintenance solutions, and, simply, the lack of a transparent return on investment for providers. Research and Markets addresses this in "How Electronic Data Capture Will Change Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Marketing," an addition to its offerings of market research reports and industry newsletters.

New York - The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) signed an agreement with Firstlogic Inc., an information technology software provider that will supply data quality software on a pro-bono basis.This data quality software, known as IQ8 and IQ Insight, will be used for data analysis on forensic and financial records of United Nations programs in tsunami-affected areas. The software will improve the quality of data analysis.

TRANSAMERICA RECEIVES SIX 'BEST IN CLASS' RANKINGSAs a testament to its relationship with its clients, Los Angeles-based Transamerica Retirement Services received six "Best in Class" ratings from the Chatham Partners' 2005 Client Satisfaction Analysis. Transamerica received "Best in Class" ratings: timeliness of contributions, distributions and loans, accuracy of contributions, overall satisfaction with processing of employee transactions, accuracy of participant statements, clarity of participant statements, and courtesy and professionalism of personnel.

Insurance firms that lack a cohesive vision and strategy across their entire enterprise are failing to take advantage of the bounty of newfound technological options available to them and are limiting their capacity for differentiation and growth.This message, highlighted in the report "Business Architecture: Aligning Process, Content and Data to Enhance Profitability" by TowerGroup, a Needham, Mass.-based research and consulting firm, serves as a clarion call for insurers to embrace enterprisewide initiatives now or else cede an important competitive advantage.

A year ago, faced with stiff pressures to reduce costs and increase production, Penn National Insurance began searching for a robust solution to handle its document management functions for its different business lines."It wouldn't become our enterprise solution overnight, of course," says Timothy Caskey, senior systems analyst for the Harrisburg, Pa.-based insurer. "But ultimately it would become our print engine-the document composition and printing tool for the company."

WEALTH RISK MANAGEMENTThe Chubb Group of Insurance Cos., Warren, N.J., has selected New York-based Risk Control Strategies to support its new Signature Suite offering of luxury personal risk management services. Signature Suite is designed to help identify potential threats and help affluent individuals protect their families and wealth. Risk Control Strategies will provide Chubb's high-net-worth and family office customers with a complimentary personal risk assessment. Risk Control Strategies will also offer Chubb's clients an array of services including cyber crime investigations, identity theft prevention and response, and premise security strategy and implementation.

To remain competitive, insurance companies must successfully respond to merger and acquisition activity, escalating customer demands, and increased regulatory pressures. And all of these factors are expanding the human resources professional's role.HR staff is expected to perform more than traditional reporting and operational duties. In addition to ensuring recruitment of the best employees, HR must also spearhead cost-containment initiatives, provide strategic leadership and, more recently, assist with and oversee regulatory compliance.

Atlanta - The use of credit information in underwriting and rating Florida homeowners and auto insurance policies is now threatened by yesterday's approval of a rule governing insurers' use of credit-based insurance scores, according to the American Insurance Association (AIA)."While the legislature passed a law in 2003, specifically authorizing the use of credit information for insurance underwriting and rating, today's administrative action by the Florida Cabinet may effectively ban insurers' use of credit information," said Cecil L. Pearce, AIA vice president, Southeast Region.

Indian Wells, Calif. - "For many financial institutions, a network security breach involving the release of confidential customer information is not a matter of if, but when," cautioned Tracey Vispoli, vice president, Chubb & Son, during the 2006 American Bankers Association Insurance Risk Management Annual Conference. "It's time for financial institutions to further tighten their data security controls and to prepare for the potentially significant financial cost of this risk."Vispoli, the global fidelity manager for Chubb Specialty Insurance, explained that new laws in nearly half the states require companies to disclose security breaches to their customers residing in those states. "Network security breaches expose companies to class-action lawsuits as well as irreversible damage to the corporate brand," she said. "The new state laws add another layer of responsibility and cost by mandating that companies notify customers of actual or suspected security breaches."

Blue Bell, Pa. - As ID fraud, privacy and compliance with security-related regulations continue to shake the mind set of how financial institutions think about securing their business operations, experts at Unisys Corp. foresee the following five trends that will help banks and insurers rebuild eroding customer trust, and maintain a competitive edge in 2006 and beyond:1. Coordinated, "industrialized" fraud attacks will continue to rise causing more government intervention and pushing financial institutions to work together on common standards to fight increasingly sophisticated cyber criminals.

New York - Lexington Insurance Co., a member company of American International Group, Inc. (AIG), has expanded it online training on its Web site at www.lexeplhelp.com for customers carrying employment practices liability (EPL) insurance.Launched in 1999 and formerly called www.eplselect.com, the Web site was developed to provide EPL insureds with free risk management resources and training tools.

Westborough, Mass. - According to a recent national survey, 54% of organizations have experienced cyber attacks, with 21% of the cyber attacks causing more than $100,000 in measurable damages, and 11% causing more than $500,000 in measurable damages.The 1st Annual Enterprise Security Survey, generated through an online survey of security decision makers spanning a wide range of industries, indicates that a vast majority of businesses are reliant on the Internet to conduct business and have experienced some form of cyber attack in the past year. Additionally, the survey demonstrates a trend in the change in security spending habits due to government regulations such as HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley.

Competitive pressures will force insurance companies to get serious about rationalizing the number of operational systems they support, notes a report issued by research and advisory firm Financial Insights, a Framingham, Mass., IDC company. The focus on rationalizing operational systems is one of the top 10 IT initiatives that will have key strategic importance for insurance organizations worldwide in 2006, according to the firm.

Framingham, Mass. - Companies ranging from regionals to multinationals will spend 2006 wringing more efficiency from their data storage infrastructures and holding down costs through information lifecycle management (ILM) rather than improving security, according to the "2006 Storage Budget Survey" released by GlassHouse Technologies, a provider of enterprise storages services.Despite a rash of high-profile security failures in 2005, nearly 100 companies in every size category--with storage budgets from less than $10 million to $150 million and above --ranked improving their storage infrastructure usage as either their first or second concern.

Pittsburgh - A full 90% of carriers have adopted some form of Web Services within their information technology architecture, and 58% of those have adopted the industry-specific ACORD (Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development) XML standards as part of their Web Services initiatives.These are the results of a recent survey of top insurance carriers conducted by SEEC Inc., a provider of business component software for the insurance and financial services industries.

Cleveland - Medical Mutual of Ohio's financial investigations unit reclaimed $5.4 million in fraudulent claims in 2005, the largest amount in company history.Calling it perhaps the costliest of all crimes, the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association (NHCAA) estimates more than $100 million is lost each and every day to health insurance fraud.

New York - In the face of these ever-growing business challenges and public scrutiny, it's time for insurers to take compliance to the next level, said Glenn Pomeroy, vice president of governmental relations and compliance at GE Insurance Solutions. Pomeroy addressed The 2nd Annual Forum on Regulatory Compliance in New York.Pomeroy, a former NAIC president and state insurance commissioner, outlined the components of a traditional compliance program: leadership commitment, employee engagement and a system to detect potential problems, address them and ensure ethical and lawful behavior.

Kansas City, Mo. - The top three reasons consumers filed formal complaints against their insurance companies in 2005 were delays, denials and unsatisfactory settlement offers, according to data collected by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).Following these claims handling issues, consumers complained most about policy cancellations and premiums/insurance rating issues. That complaint pattern has remained relatively consistent during the past four years. A total of 199,639 complaints were filed by consumers in 2005, a 22.5% decrease from 2004.

Framingham, Mass. - A recent survey of 802 consumers carrying health insurance, conducted by IDC's Health Industry Insights, reveals one in three respondents (33%) cite medical information being made accessible on the Internet as a primary reason for feeling less comfortable about sharing information with primary care physicians (PCPs).Nearly half of respondents (47%) who are uncomfortable sharing information with PCPs also indicated "wanting control over who accesses their personal health information" as a reason, while 14% do not trust the health plan to adequately protect personal health information.