RESULTS
MODERN CLAIMS
SYSTEMS DELIVER
BOTTOM-LINE
Modern-day claims systems are delivering tremendous
value as insurance carriers transform a traditionally paper-based workflow into an electronic one. Improved operational
efficiency is the primary result carriers have experienced
in recent years. Now analytics, business intelligence (BI),
and business process management (BPM)—made possible
through the electronic environment—are becoming
commonplace, driving informed decisions that positively
impact savvy carriers’ bottom-line financial results.
Stephen Applebaum, a senior analyst with Boston-based
Aite Group who covers property & casualty insurance,
describes today’s business climate as the perfect storm
of pressure points on the insurance industry. From the
economy in general and unemployment to shrinkage of
prospective new policyholders in the market and new
technology that’s lowering the bar for competitors, insurers
are facing challenges like never before.
“It just couldn’t be worse,” he says. “I can’t think of a positive
factor influencing this P&C market. That goes for auto
and property and personal lines and commercial lines. It’s
across the board.”
Because claims spends approximately 80 percent of all the
money being spent by the insurance industry, it tends to
attract all the pressure, Applebaum notes. That money, he
says, is being spent where new technology is available to
solve problems that couldn’t be solved yesterday.
