Data security

Schaumburg, Ill. - Expanding on its seminal 2002 study report, "A Comparative Analysis of Claims-based Methods of Health Risk Assessment for Commercial Populations," the Society of Actuaries (SOA) has appointed Milliman USA to produce an updated version of the study.The 2002 report, which evaluated the state of the art in predictive modeling software for health care claims at that time, provided an unbiased forum for comparing the technology and methodologies then available in the market. With the passage of three years and the continuous refinement of these methodologies and software, the SOA strongly felt a fresh look at the tools would provide immediate practical benefits to the health care community.

Des Moines - Many auto insurance companies ask customers to estimate their annual mileage when applying for a new policy, but these up-front estimates generally have a minimal influence on the overall premium. And, these companies don't ask for updated mileage readings over time.But what if an insurance company asked policyholders to report exact mileage readings over time and, by doing so, they could control how much they pay for car insurance by controlling the number of miles they drive?

Cleveland - Axentis, a provider of governance, risk and compliance (GRC) management solutions that is included in a Gartner research report titled, "Adoption of Software-as-a-Service Is Happening Outside of CRM," has made the report available on its Web site at www.axentis.com.The resport analyzes the emergence of the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model and its widespread adoption in new industries including compliance management, which Gartner states is currently the second largest market for SaaS solutions.

Los Angeles - Farmers Insurance Exchange has begun serving civil summons and complaints upon Redding, Calif. auto glass company Onsight Auto Glass and its owner, accusing them of taking part in a scheme designed to defraud Farmers and its policyholders. The civil complaint, which is similar to prior successful lawsuits against auto glass businesses and body shops who submitted false insurance claims, seeks not only damages for the fraud allegedly committed, but seeks injunctive relief, where the courts are asked to order a halt to these deceptive practices.Outlining a highly unusual and aggressive billing scam, the lawsuit details how the alleged perpetrator deliberately over-billed Farmers for services on 455 occasions. As alleged in the civil complaint, the defendant created a sham office in a remote area, so it could manipulate its billing. In fact, the only things located where the shop is claimed to exist were abandoned mines and a shack. There was no electricity, no running water and certainly no auto glass business. Under national guidelines, automobile glass claims are paid at a premium if the shop is located in less densely populated areas. As explained in the complaint, defendant created documentation that the shop was located in a remote area, so it could charge Farmers significantly more.

Kansas City, Mo. - While increased frequency of hurricanes is nothing new in historical terms, the enormous growth in coastal population and development is dramatically increasing the potential for insured losses, according to a new paper from GE Insurance Solutions."Demographic trends in Florida and other coastal locations as well as the likelihood of increased frequency and severity of storms should remind the (insurance) industry of the growing exposures it will continue to face. The cost of hurricanes will rise--sooner or later surpassing even those of Hurricane Katrina," says the paper titled "Coastal Warning: The Rising Costs of Hurricane Frequency and Severity."

Chicago - Danish insurance company ALKA is fighting customer fraud and enhancing customer services with PredictiveClaims, an application developed by SPSS Inc. ALKA recently purchased and implemented the software in an effort to improve claims handling efficiency while reducing the cost of fraudulent claims.ALKA is one of the five leading insurance companies in Denmark. To differentiate itself in a highly competitive market, the company aimed to optimize its expensive claims handling processes and offer better service to customers. ALKA sought to enable "fast-track claim handling" while still sifting out the fraudulent cases from its high claim volumes. Industry experts estimate that on average 10% of all claims are fraudulent, whereas usually only 0.5% to 1% of fraud is actually being detected.

Okemos, Mich. - The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) and Sircon Corp. have been working to establish a relationship that would provide additional benefits to PIA members. The result is a partnership that provides online services delivered by Sircon's Compliance Express platform at a special rate for PIA members.With PIA joining the Sircon Partner Referral Program, PIA members can now go to a special co-branded Web site designed specifically for PIA, and take advantage a PIA member discount for online services such as:

Skokie, Ill. - A survey of more than 100 senior IT and data security professionals at Fortune 1,000 and other major companies across the United States found that 28% percent had little or no confidence that they had detected all significant security breaches in the past year. In addition, 26% rated their current IT environment as more vulnerable than it had been a year before. The survey was released by Forsythe Solutions Group.Respondents cited regulatory pressure as the major catalyst for updating their technology, processes and staff. Legislative guidelines and industry standards demand increased control of and additional funding for security programs. Those experiencing increased vulnerability overwhelmingly attributed this to organizational change, such as mergers or acquisitions, the implementation of new applications or outsourcing.

Hartford, Conn. - The Industrial Hygiene Laboratory of St. Paul Travelers has added a state-of-the-art instrument that helps customers address OSHA's proposed lowering of the Permissible Exposure Limit (PEL) for hexavalent chromium (CrVI). St. Paul Travelers purchased this instrument to help its customers better protect their employees and reduce workers compensation losses.Hexavalent chromium (CrVI) is a human carcinogen for which OSHA has proposed a 50x reduction in the PEL from the current standard. The new Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS) has enabled the Industrial Hygiene Laboratory to develop a method for the analysis of CrVI below OSHA's proposed PEL.

San Diego - CareGroup Healthcare System has gone live at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) with an application that delivers automatic healthcare information updates every 15 minutes to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta. The bio-surveillance system, which feeds the CDC with information key to early identification of disease trends, is built on the CACHE post-relational database. InterSystems Corp., a health care database provider, spotlighted the bio-surveillance implementation at the HIMSS 2006 conference in San Diego, Calif.BIDMC is one of 10 U.S. hospitals that were approached by the CDC to provide medical data on an ongoing, around-the-clock basis. The initiative is part of a mandate by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael Leavitt, who chairs the American Health Information Community (AHIC), a group charged with advising the federal government on standards for electronic health records (EHRs). Bio-surveillance and public health monitoring are among the first focus areas for AHIC and Leavitt has stated that he wants a system for streaming emergency department (ED) data to public health authorities in place by the end of 2006.

Washington, D.C. - Health insurance plans' cutting-edge information technology (IT) strategies are adding value to health care for employers, health care practitioners and most importantly, consumers, industry leaders said today on Capitol Hill.Participants in the briefing stressed that health insurance plans are using IT not only to process claims more efficiently, but also to promote evidence-based care, add value to health care services and empower consumers through access to better information and decision tools.

Boston - As some insurance companies have learned the hard way, a market conduct exam uncovering noncompliance violations has the potential to cost millions of dollars in fines and lost business. To help insurers steer clear of costly noncompliance risks, CCH Insurance Services, a part of Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, has identified the top 10 reasons property/casualty insurers are found to be out of compliance during a market conduct exam.CCH's research has shown that the most common market conduct compliance criticisms are:

San Jose, Calif. - Business Objects S.A., a provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Firstlogic Inc., a La Crosse, Wis.-based global provider of enterprise data quality solutions and services.

Kansas City, Mo. - Vision may be the most important element required to underwrite liability risk, says Ajay Gupta, marketing leader of GE Insurance Solutions, a provider of reinsurance and commercial insurance and risk management services. Gupta says insurers tend to look backward at historical loss experience but not forward to factors that may impact future losses.Gupta's article, "Crisis or Opportunity: The Liability Dilemma", appears on GE Insurance Solutions' Web site at: www.geinsurancesolutions.com/erccorporate/theinstitute/pc/0601_cris.htm.

Yonkers N.Y., - An investigation in the March 2006 issue of Consumer Reports magazine contends that a national system of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) being developed by the federal government, states, HMOs, and PPOs to link the medical records of every American has potential for abuse. Consumer Reports claims that while such electronic medical records systems could save lives and billions of dollars in health-care spending, it may also jeopardize the security of personal health care information.The advantages of EHRs are many, according to Consumer Reports, include: more precise patient care from doctors, greater participation by patients, and an early-warning system for medical disasters such as the appearance of avian flu are among the hoped-for achievements for an electronic medical records network.

Needham, Mass. - In the next five years, analysts predict more than 77 million individuals in the U.S. will be of traditional retirement age, and this segment of the population is predicted to be the dominant demographic for a period of 20 years or more. TowerGroup, a Needham, Mass., research firm, expects that this explosion in the retired market will ultimately redefine the U.S. financial services industry, accelerating industry consolidation across banking, securities and investments, and insurance.

Chicago - It was a year with more storms in the Atlantic than any other on record, and it was also the costliest hurricane season ever. Impact Forecasting, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aon Corp., studies some of the possible reasons for the activity, including shifts in the frequency of storms and the impact of El Nino, behind a year that produced more Category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin than any other.The report, "Atlantic Ocean Basin Hurricane Frequency Shift," is available at http://www.aon.com/.

Orlando, Fla. - Greenguard Environmental Institute (GEI) has released a mold risk reduction program that certifies the design, construction and ongoing operations of newly constructed multifamily and commercial properties. Greenguard Mold Protection Program is designed to ensure that buildings use industries' best practices for safeguarding against the damage and resulting losses caused by mold.The program fills a void for lenders, insurers and building owners that has grown increasingly serious over the last several years. As large court judgments for mold continue to cloud the construction and financing of new buildings, more are turning to mold prevention measures as a way to manage their financial risk.

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.

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.