Digital distribution

In this age of Blackberries and instant messaging, insurance carriers and agents alike are focused on finding high-tech solutions to conduct their businesses. Enter: Single Entry Multiple Carrier Interface-also known as SEMCI.The concept of SEMCI technology sounds simple. Vendors create applications that enable independent insurance agents to access one site, hopefully through their own agency management system, enter data once and then communicate with multiple insurance carriers to obtain real-time quotes.

By converting from paper to e-billing, companies can reap appreciable cost savings, achieve significant efficiencies, hasten incoming payments, gain greater accuracy in accounting and invoicing systems, and reduce labor operations.But only a relatively few carriers have thus far converted to e-billing, also known as Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP).

New York - CIGNA Inc. is expanding its on-line pricing data for consumers, the company reports.

Chicago - The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) and Visa USA have agreed to support participating Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies nationwide that are offering their members co-branded debit cards to pay for healthcare related expenses. The Blue-branded Visa debit card will allow customers to pay for qualified medical expenses by providing them with access to their health plan personal savings accounts. The co-branded cards are part of a larger initiative by Blue Cross and Blue Shield to provide consumers with the information and tools they need to make better decisions healthcare for themselves and their families.

New Orleans - McGlinchey Stafford PLLC, a law firm based in the Gulf Coast region, has developed a weblog for companies with business interests in hurricane-affected areas. The blog, found at www.hurricanelawblog.com, features up-to-date information about post-hurricane legal issues, including insurance, real estate, healthcare, environmental, finance and litigation.The blog, which was created in response to client needs, offers businesses a single location to find information regarding legislation, litigation, and regulatory issues in and affecting Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and Alabama. McGlinchey Stafford's hurricane blog will serve as a central repository for relevant information from both federal and state organizations, legislative bodies and courts.

Pittsburgh - Highmark Inc., an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, is contributing $26.5 million to The Pittsburgh Foundation, which will use the funds for an electronic prescribing (ePrescribing) initiative.The foundation has created the Highmark eHealth Collaborative to encourage the adoption of health information technology used in patient care in order to improve patient safety and quality while increasing cost efficiency.

San Francisco - The results of a newly released consumer survey commissioned by TeaLeaf Technology Inc. and conducted by Harris Interactive indicate that online transaction failures can have a detrimental impact on businesses, forcing customers to abandon transactions.The study, which focused on consumer transaction experiences on shopping, banking, travel and insurance Web sites, found the vast majority of online consumers (89%) say they experience problems when conducting online transactions.

Horsham, Pa. - NextGen Healthcare Information Systems Inc., a subsidiary of Quality Systems Inc. has completed a pilot project with Empire Medicare Services, a fee-for-service Medicare contractor, and the Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) Foundation to facilitate the use of electronic attachments between a health plan and its providers.The pilot program, which was funded for Empire Medicare Services and WEDI by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), tested the use of electronic claims attachments in accordance with HIPAA's transaction code sets, including ANSI 275 and 277.

Indianapolis - The National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), an Indianapolis-based full-service national trade association with more than 1,400 member companies, has unveiled the latest version of its Web site, NAMIC Online, featuring simplified site navigation, streamlined page layouts and realigned presentation of content. The site contains information on public policy and legislation as well as advocacy, including state agendas and resources, and state, federal and association news. Its redesigned information tools assist visitors to find the information they want more quickly and efficiently. Founded in 1895, NAMIC underwrites 43 percent ($196 billion) of the property/casualty insurance premium in the United States. Source: NAMIC

In 16 states and the District of Columbia , independent agents and brokers now can go online and quote complex package operations (commercial property and general liability insurance combined) with the same ease as writing a Safeco businessowners policy (BOP). That's because Seattle-based Safeco has fully automated the sale of commercial insurance packages to more than 800 classes of small- and mid-sized businesses.Accounts such as manufacturers, restaurant chains and auto mechanics can be quoted online in as few as 15 minutes, with the first price being the right price, the company claims.

Boston - As the congressional battle to extend the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) gets into full swing before the law's December 31, 2005, expiration, a new Web site launched by Liberty Mutual is designed to helps commercial insurance policyholders take an active role in securing an extension for this critical federal insurance backstop.Risk managers can use the site to encourage their federal legislators to support TRIA's extension, they can distribute the site's link to help their company's senior management push for the extension, and they can use the site to involve employees at all levels.

From pumping your own gas to checking your luggage and getting a boarding pass at the airport, self-service is becoming the name of the game in our economy.For the insurance industry, which has long had a reputation for providing personalized service-from the agent through the claims adjuster-transitioning to the self-service world can require an adjustment in thinking.

Okemos, Mich. - A new self-service tool that uses advanced technology to tap into and analyze extensive claims information has been launched to help Delta Dental customers administer their dental benefits."We developed the new tool to help benefit professionals save time by accessing their dental benefits information when they need it," says Thomas J. Fleszar, president and chief executive officer of the Delta Dental Plans of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.

Seattle - PEMCO Insurance, provider of auto, home, boat, life, and umbrella insurance to Washington state residents, has launched a teen drivers Web site designed to educate parents, teachers, and teens about the dangers young drivers face. The Web site can be found at http://www.pemco.com/teen_driver/index.asp."Teens have the highest car-crash death rate of any age group," says PEMCO spokesperson Jon Osterberg. "The main reason is, they're inexperienced drivers, and only experience can sharpen their skills. PEMCO wants to help teens grow into experienced, safe drivers."

John Hancock Financial Network, a subsidiary of John Hancock Life Insurance Co., Boston, Mass., has signed a three-year renewal agreement with Financial Profiles, a Carlsbad, Calif., provider of financial advice software, consulting, training and support services, to use its industry standards planning software.

Hartford, Conn. - The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. has unveiled a new home page to its agency portal. The new home page of The Hartford's Electronic Business Center (EBC) was designed based on agent feedback requesting a cleaner, user-friendly page that will quickly and efficiently support agency workflows.

Chapel Hill - Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) has made its eInfoNOW tool available to all local and national self-insured employer groups. eInfoNOW(SM) is an online reporting tool that enables employer groups to track claims utilization data and to perform data analysis.Having this capability enables BCBSNC and the employer to tailor insurance plans to meet the specific health needs of each employer group, according to John Friesen, BCBSNC's vice president and chief actuary of Actuarial and Underwriting.

Ipswich, Mass. - In a report that analyzed 47 health care, life and health, and property & casualty insurer Web sites, the insurance industry slipped slightly in its Customer Respect Index (CRI), according to The Customer Respect Group, Inc., an Ipswich, Mass., research and consulting firm that focuses on how corporations treat their online customers. The findings, from its Fourth Quarter 2005 Online Customer Respect Study of Insurance firms, represent the fifth such study conducted on insurers.

Hartford, Conn. - On Oct. 22, The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. will unveil Select Customized Pricing, a predictive underwriting model designed to bring agents a highly refined policy price at the beginning of the submission process for its Spectrum business owners' policy, commercial auto, and workers' compensation insurance."We've turned a multi-step process into a single step for agents by pulling in several unique business characteristics upfront and using the results to differentiate one business customer from another," says Jim Ruel, senior vice president of Small Commercial business at The Hartford.

San Francisco, Calif. - Esurance, a California-based direct-to-consumer auto insurance company and subsidiary of White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd., says it's the first such company to enhance its Web site with the addition of PayPal as a payment option. The move is seen as a larger corporate objective to enhance the online policyholder's experience. The Esurance Web site provides customers with the ability to obtain instant quotes, view comparison quotes, buy an Esurance policy, and print their proof of insurance card. Esurance also offers policyholders the ability to make policy changes and file claims instantly online.