Digital distribution

Atlanta--Jacada Ltd., a provider of solutions that accelerate business improvement, today announced Jacada Fusion, a first-to-market solution that delivers The Perfect Interaction between people, process, and information.

NEWARK, Calif.-- Risk Management Solutions (RMS), the world's leading provider of products and services for the management of catastrophe risk, today announced that it has released a new data formatting tool called the RMS Data Wizard. The tool is designed to help clean up and convert data about insured locations into a common format for use by insurance buyers, agents, brokers, insurers, and reinsurers.

NEW YORK--AIG Technologies, Inc. (AIGT), a member company of American International Group, Inc. (AIG), today announced the launch of WINS Now, a Web-based insurance processing system designed to streamline policy administration and increase speed to market for Managing General Agents (MGA) and small property-casualty companies, including start-up and virtual insurers.

ProMutual Group, A Boston-based provider of medical malpractice insurance in the Northeast, has introduced a new Web site for policyholders. All policyholders will be receiving a letter within the next week announcing the site and providing each of them with their own individual username and password.This site is designed to be a source of medical malpractice and company information. A key feature of the site is the ability to link to online continuing medical education (CME) programs developed by ProMutual Group and offered in conjunction with the Massachusetts Medical Society. ProMutual Group-insured physicians can receive CME credit by taking an online test at the same discounted rate offered to Massachusetts Medical Society members.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.-- MassMutual Retirement Services unveiled new aged-based asset allocation options that allow defined contribution (401k) plan participants to select an automatically-adjusting investment strategy based on their anticipated retirement date.

The Agents Council for Technology (ACT), which is affiliated with Alexandria, Va.-based Independent Agents & Brokers of America, has published Guidelines for Effective Agent-Carrier Technology Agreements, a report that can help independent agents and brokers as well as carriers identify issues to address in technology agreements.These agency-carrier technology agreements supplement agency agreements by detailing electronic interaction expectations between agents and their insurance company partners.

COLUMBIA, S.C.-- Following health insurance scams that have hit South Carolina recently, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina has added new tools for consumers to use to report fraud.

Standard Insurance Co., a subsidiary of StanCorp Financial Group Inc., Portland, Ore., has launched enhancements to its AdminEASE plan administration tools to enable its clients to manage more aspects of their insurance plans online.Employers can now initiate claims and analyze claims experience as well as check the status of insurance applications that require medical underwriting. The AdminEASE plan administration tools are available to The Standard's group disability, life and dental insurance customers at no additional charge.

COLUMBIA, S.C.-- Insurance Services Office Inc. (ISO) has launched the new Microsoft .Net-ready version of its ISO Claims Outcome Advisor (COA) personal injury claims management solution. COA Release 3.1 offers major new features, including the Treatment Protocols function and enhancements to the COA Medical Library and Settlement Analyzer tool. This will enable claims handlers, managers and third parties across the entire enterprise to manage information about personal injury claims via a secure Web browser, thereby speeding up claims resolution, improving accuracy and ensuring best practices.

FARMINGTON, Conn.--Insurix, Inc., a provider of Web-based insurance sales and administration platforms, announced today that Harvard Pilgrim Health Care has successfully completed the launch of "Easy Online Renewal" for brokers. The Insurix-based system allows Harvard Pilgrim sales account executives, underwriters and third party brokers to instantly access and manage small-group renewals from inception through renewal presentation to case acceptance. With the Insurix platform, users can monitor and act upon all key events in the renewal process, resulting in improved retention rates and better customer service.

COLUMBUS, Ohio-- Ringing cell phones are a welcome sound to Nationwide, so long as the company's longtime jingle is playing. Nationwide is one of the first companies in the U.S. to offer an advertising jingle as a ring tone. Trendwatchers have dubbed the phenomena "jingle casting."

Rapidly submitting a timely First Notice of Loss (FNOL) report for a commercial auto or property insurance claim leads to faster settlements and satisfied claimants. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Hartford, Conn., now enables its independent insurance agents to electronically initiate the claim process for their clients.The Hartford, which boasts a strong record of deploying advanced technology for improved agency interaction, is now enabling independent agents to electronically submit a commercial auto or property FNOL, with attachments, from their Applied agency management system. It does this using IVANS Transformation Station, a managed data exchange using Web services and ACORD XML for real-time transactions between agency and carrier systems.

Blue Cross of California, Thousand Oaks, Calif., has expanded its physicians technology initiative to include 1,040 safety net physicians in California. Traditionally, safety net physicians provide care to the uninsured, poor and low-income patients, including those enrolled in the Medi-Cal and Healthy Families insurance programs.With an additional $2 million in funding, this technology initiative will help these physicians improve patient care, achieve greater efficiency and improve administrative functions. These new technologies are intended to provide greater access to information and data exchange via the Internet or wireless handheld devices.

For years, life insurance providers and their agents have relied on obtuse, text-heavy sales presentations to their individual customers. Too often, though, poor sales presentation tools fail to enlighten individuals concerning the magnitude of a life purchase.

WASHINGTON-- Millions of Americans buying health insurance on their own have a wide variety of products from which to choose, and most select plans very similar to the coverage available to working people in employer-sponsored groups.

Skilled drivers have fewer accidents. That's the logic behind a unique auto insurance program devised by Hibernian General Insurance, a Dublin, Ireland-based motor, home, farm and commercial insurance company that claims 26% of the Irish market.Launched in 2001, the program is called Ignition, and it targets inexperienced drivers with clean driving records who drive small cars. Those drivers who meet these criteria can receive auto premium discounts from Hibernian of 20% to 40% for successfully completing a one-day, advanced-driver training course, which is run by the U.K.-based Institute of Advanced Motorists.

It's no secret that for insurers, aligning technology staffs and business units into a full partnership has been challenging. Frederick Matteson, the newly appointed chief information officer for Novato, Calif.-based Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., isn't able to fully grasp the automation-related woes that have bedeviled insurers. That's because Matteson has deftly been able to avoid them himself.Having spent a number of years as an executive in the brokerage industry, Matteson championed the concept of total alignment between IT and business long before it became commonplace. A proponent of disciplined strategic scenario planning, Matteson has a keen sense of determining early on whether to expand or reduce a corporatewide initiative, including those centered on information technology.

In a legal battle stemming from actions Allstate Insurance Co. took in 1999 to launch its groundbreaking multi-channel sales strategy, a federal judge has absolved the company of age discrimination. But Allstate is not off the hook yet.The judge's ruling also has cleared the way for terminated Allstate agents to sue the Northbrook, Ill.-based carrier under class-action status for other charges, including breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duties and violation of other federal laws, including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

The number of career agents-the largest distribution channel for life insurance-dropped significantly in a decade, down from 238,000 in 1990 to 178,000 in 2000. In addition, by 2010, 13.2% of the U.S. population will be 65 or older.These demographics present life insurers with product, distribution and operational challenges as fewer agents are available to sell new-sometimes complex-products to consumers who are planning for their retirement years.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island needed to get a handle on lengthy call center calls, but not at the expense of reducing customer service. The Blues plan found a solution that accomplished these and other management goals.Time is a critical element of virtually every business process, but it is particularly crucial for customer service. When Providence-based Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI) decided to improve its call center operations, it established several goals, one of which was to reduce the average handling time per call by 20%.