Digital distribution

Boston - Financial institutions that make online retirement tools readily available can increase consumer retirement account participation and action. That's the conclusion of a study conducted by Compete, Inc., a market research firm, with MSN and Media Contacts.The study, titled " Consumer Adoption of Online Retirement Planning Tools," was initiated to understand how consumers use online retirement tools at leading financial sites to develop and execute their wealth accumulation strategy. It revealed that every month an average of 180,000 consumers use online retirement tools, and consumers who are aware of the availability of online retirement tools and use them, are more likely to take action, according to Mike Bailey, managing director, financial services practice, Compete Inc. "Retirement sites need to seize this opportunity to leverage tools that develop relationships with consumers who will evolve into active customers with higher value accounts."

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."

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

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."

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.

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.

In a sign of the major benefits to be won by insurance firms that accentuate Web-based and electronic solutions, the Blue Bell, Pa.-based insurer PMA Insurance Group received superlative ratings in customer service in a recent survey conducted by an independent researcher.In the survey, J.P. Murphy and Co., a Malvern, Pa.-based marketing and opinion research firm, asked approximately 500 of PMA's active clients about the quality of customer service that the insurer offered in areas including claims processing, risk assessment, risk management and cost control.

New York and Emeryville, Calif. - After the completion of a successful 18-month pilot, Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield and RelayHealth Corp. are expanding the RelayHealth webVisit service to all members of Empire's HMO plan.Beginning July 1, 2006 more than 400,000 HMO members will have access to RelayHealth's Web-enabled doctor visits. As part of the expansion agreement, Empire will also make RelayHealth available to all of its national Administrative Services Only (ASO) accounts as a new benefit.

New York City - The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has launched a comprehensive public education program to assist consumers with information about insurance issues.Under the banner of "Insure U," the campaign has two objectives: to help consumers get smart about insurance as their needs change at different life stages, and to educate them about how to avoid being scammed by fake insurance companies. The program includes an online education site and public service announcements in English and Spanish.

Okemos, Mich. - Sircon Corp. and Efficient Forms LLC, Littleton, Colo., have formed an exclusive partnership designed to build on each other's products and customer bases to create an online platform for agent hiring, contracting and licensing for insurance agents, carriers and regulators. The partnership is a step toward creating a single online community where insurance carriers and their distribution partners can collaborate through an integrated, coordinated network, according to the two companies."This combination provides online capabilities that can transform processes between insurance carriers and their distributors," says Gary Gummig, vice president of business development at Sircon. "By integrating online services that will automate transactions and workflow, and virtually eliminate paperwork, this creates opportunity for unprecedented process breakthroughs."

Warren, N.J. - Property/casualty insurance and risk management increasingly play a role in financial planning, according to a survey by the Chubb Group of Insurance Companies.Fifty-seven percent of the 102 financial planners surveyed indicated that they evaluate their clients' asset protection through property/casualty insurance. An even higher number, 72%, said they determine if their clients have an appropriate level of liability insurance.

Edison, N.J. - More than 90% of insurance agents want 24/7, Web-based access to the information technology (IT) systems of U.S. insurance carriers, according to a survey of independent producers conducted by research firm Celent LLC.Technology tools that improve efficiency, communication and customer service also are highly desired by insurance producers, said the majority of the 215 producers surveyed by Celent for MajescoMastek, a software solutions provider to the insurance industry.

Hartford, Conn. -ING, a global financial services leader, has begun offering its defined contribution clients many of the regulatory documents related to their retirement plan accounts in electronic form. Clients can choose to receive account statements and disclosure documents such as prospectuses, prospectus supplements and annual and semi-annual reports via ING's secure site."ING is committed to making it easier for customers to manage their financial information," says Jim Pedrick, senior vice president, worksite and institutional marketing, ING. "Many of our customers have told us they prefer not to get as much paper mail from us. It's a question of volume, and many also have an environmental concern. By offering e-delivery, our customers can now choose to receive regulatory documents from us electronically."

Hartford, Conn. - Aetna has enhanced its suite of consumer tools and information designed to enable members to more easily track and manage their health care expenses. Aetna members now can download their claims information to their personal computer via Aetna Navigator, Aetna's password-protected member Web site, enabling them to manage the information in a data file or spreadsheet. The option to keep claims information in a personal file is particularly relevant at tax time, when consumers often need to create a record of their medical expenses for tax deduction purposes."While Aetna members have long had the opportunity to view their claims activity on our Web site, this enhancement allows them to electronically 'grab' the information, save it in a file or spreadsheet, and sort it to best suit their individual needs," says Christine B. Skelly, head of health-related financial solutions for Aetna.

Geneva, Ill. - Professional liability insurer Insight Insurance Services Inc. has launched an upgraded and redesigned Web site with improved functionality designed to enable independent insurance agents to interact easily and quickly with company and better serve their clients.The new site, at www.insightinsurance.com, includes more tools and features to deliver downloadable forms and applications and facilitate paperless policies. The Web site is structured for easy navigation to Insight's three specific areas of professional liability expertise: architects and engineers, accounting professionals and insurance agents.

Columbia, S.C. - BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina won a bronze World Wide Web Health Award for its online precertification, a feature on the company's Web sites that allows hospitals and physicians a quicker, simpler way to obtain authorizations.The World Wide Web Health Awards recognize the best health-related Web sites for consumers and professionals. The Health Information Resource Center (HIRC), a national clearinghouse for consumer health information programs and materials, organizes the program.

Washington - The National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA), a Washington, D.C.-based national association that represents member insurance agents and their employees who sell and service all kinds of insurance, but specialize in coverage of automobiles, homes and businesses, has reaffirmed its opposition to any proposals that call for a so-called "optional" federal charter for insurers.

Brookfield, Wis. - Fiserv Inc. has acquired certain assets of CT Insurance Services and CCH Wall Street, two product lines of Wolters Kluwer Financial Services. The acquisitions, which include Xchange, Securities Registration and Producer Licensing software from CT Insurance Services and the Financial Training product line from CCH Wall Street, will add online application capabilities for insurance licensing and securities registration, along with NASD exam preparation courses to Fiserv's suite of products. Terms of the asset purchase were not disclosed.CT Insurance Services is a provider of enterprisewide systems for insurance licensing and securities registration. The Web-based systems from CT Insurance Services capture data at the origination point, enabling the filer to prepare and submit licensing and registration filings electronically. The Financial Training solutions from CCH Wall Street provide NASD Exam Preparation, including an interactive virtual learning environment, and innovative in-person and self-study solutions.

Denver - InsureMe, an insurance marketing company delivering leads to agents, has unveiled the InsureMe Agent Blog, which is designed to provide industry information to insurance professionals.A Web log, or "blog," is a self-published journal, made accessible to the public via the Internet. Unlike corporate Web sites, blogs are generally less formal and more interactive; the author posts an article and readers can respond with comments and questions.