The Power of Streamlined IT Investment: Simplifying Claims Technology Implementation

This is the fourth article in a seven-part series that highlights how technology and solution integration can result in improved claim outcomes. Click to read the first, second and third articles in the series. In the past decade or so, the world has undergone tremendous technological transformation. For example, in 2008, only 139 million smartphones were sold, compared to 1.56 billion in 2018, according to Statista. In that same year, Uber didn’t exist yet and both Netflix’s streaming service and the iPhone were only a year old. Flash forward a little more than 10 years later, and most of us can’t imagine the world without these and other technologies that we have come to rely on. Technology and digitization are expected to grow and evolve at a rapid pace. This year, Gartner predicts that spending on information technology will reach nearly $4 trillion, a 3.2 percent increase from 2018. Due to the quick rate of change, businesses need to be prepared to keep up with new innovations and technologies, both in order to stay relevant in a competitive market and to make sure they are providing the best possible products and services to their clients.

Specifically, in the insurance industry, adding new property & casualty insurance software or services into a claims workflow can help claims organizations to achieve their goals for improving operational efficiency and overall outcomes, but can also be a challenge to purchase and implement. For many claims organizations, this process can be time consuming, difficult to manage and can draw critical internal resources away from performing their core duties that are imperative to the ongoing success of a company. As the industry continues to evolve, it’s more important than ever that claims organizations overcome the common barriers to implementing new technologies.

Common Challenges

Many claims organizations face similar challenges when it comes to claims technology, including implementation time and costs, internal resource allocation and relationship management.

Implementation Time

Claims technology implementations are complex, since most organizations have significant amounts of data and many requirements, including customized business rules and workflows. Additionally, most software solutions need to be customized to each organization’s specific needs and goals. Because of these factors, it can take a long time to implement a brand new software platform from a partner that they have not previously worked with.

Internal Resource Allocation

Claims technology implementation can drain vital internal IT resources that are needed to support daily operations. Long implementation times can mean that there are fewer resources available to support other projects that are company priorities, or vice versa.

Implementation Costs

Implementing a whole new system and building new claim data feeds can be costly. When you factor in the IT and other resources needed to support the project, the costs can be a barrier to implementing a new system or switching from a current partner that isn’t meeting the organization’s needs.

Relationship Management

Working with multiple partners to provide a variety of claims technology systems requires a lot of work to manage all of those relationships and make sure that the organization is getting the results it needs.

Reducing Barriers to Implementation Claims Technology

One of the easiest ways to reduce barriers to implementation is to go through a single solution provider for as many technologies and services as viable for the organization. Though choosing a single partner for multiple solutions can feel like “putting all of your eggs in one basket,” claims organizations can mitigate those concerns by carefully selecting a trusted and proven partner. Going with a single partner can provide a variety of benefits that typically outweigh the risks and concerns. For example, adding on services and solutions through a current partner can save implementation time. The discovery phase of the implementation should be significantly shortened when working with a current partner, since they should already understand the organization’s unique needs, goals and workflows. Choosing to use the same partner for new solutions also typically eliminates the need to build a new claims feed to transport the client’s data into the partner’s systems, which is a time-consuming process.  Additionally, using one trusted partner also provides a consistent implementation process that a claims organization is familiar with, making it easier to manage. Reducing or eliminating these phases of the process and following a similar process for each implementation can shorten the time period needed to get set up and therefore, usually means that fewer IT resources are needed. Based on these factors, implementing with a current partner is also typically more cost-effective, since it requires less time from both the partner and internal resources to get set up on the new systems.

Keeping Up With Technological Change

As the industry continues to evolve and technology plays a bigger role each year, claims organizations need to be prepared to lower the barriers to trying new solutions and innovations in order to address the tremendous pressures they feel to improve operations and keep costs down while providing great experiences to their clients. By choosing to use a single trusted partner for multiple claims technologies and services, organizations can start to overcome these challenges and lower the barriers to trying new solutions.