Mitchell Survey Finds Cost Containment is the Driving Factor for Adopting Advanced Technologies in Workers' Compensation
SAN DIEGO—Mitchell, a leading supplier of technology, connectivity and information solutions to the Property & Casualty (P&C) claims and Collision Repair industries, today announced the results of a survey of about 100 workers' compensation professionals in the U.S. The survey showed which technologies they believe will have the greatest impact on the industry in the future, and which operational areas will improve the most with the use of those technologies. Click here to read the full report.
Half of the responding workers' compensation professionals believe that cost containment is the driving factor for adopting advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), predictive analytics, telemedicine, wearables, mobile technology and chatbots. Many respondents believe that telemedicine will have the biggest impact on the industry within the next five years (32%), followed closely by artificial intelligence (30%) and predictive analytics (20%).
Cost containment was also the main reason reported for adopting advanced technologies in a similar survey conducted by Mitchell in 2017; however, in that survey, respondents foresaw telemedicine as more significant, with 45% naming it as having the largest impact, followed by artificial intelligence at 19%.
Almost all of the 2020 respondents said they have either already adopted (20%) or are at least somewhat likely to adopt (74%) these new advanced technologies within their organization within the next five years. Of the 20% of respondents currently using these technologies, the majority are using predictive analytics, followed by telemedicine and mobile.
These findings confirm that the adoption of advanced technologies is at the forefront of the evolution of workers' compensation claims management. The rising importance of AI indicates the growing awareness that smart technology can automate many of the manual processes that are typical in workers' compensation claims processes, making data actionable and improving the quality and immediacy of decisions, said Shahin Hatamian, senior vice president of product management at Mitchell. This survey was conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic, however, we still anticipate that these trends will continue and be even more important over time, especially the use of telemedicine to safely triage and treat injured workers.
Additionally, 33% of respondents said they are currently using claims analytics to make business improvements, and 36% said they are either currently implementing or planning to implement claims analytics in the next five years. Participants also reported that, out of a list of common challenges, the most pressing issues their organizations face today are workflow efficiency (28%), followed by cost containment (19%) and the changing workforce/employee turnover (15%).
Analytics is a capability that many companies are currently using and will continue to adopt to improve workflow efficiency, lower costs and help injured employees get back to work faster, said Hatamian. As analytics improve and decisions are automated, employees can re-focus their time from absorbing and interpreting mountains of data to problem-solving for injured workers.
Mitchell surveyed nearly 100 workers' compensation professionals at a range of companies, including insurance carriers, third-party administrators, public entities, brokers, and managed care and risk management companies.
For further collision repair and property casualty industry updates and perspectives, follow Mitchell on Twitter @Mitchell_Intl, @MitchellClaims, @MitchellRepair, @MitchellPBM and LinkedIn.
*It is noted that this survey was undertaken before the COVID-19 pandemic; however, it is anticipated that the trends will continue as reported with an additional emphasis on telemedicine which has proven to be so important for treating injured workers during this time.
About Mitchell International
Headquartered in San Diego, California, Mitchell International, Inc. delivers smart technology solutions that simplify and accelerate claims handling and repair processes, driving more accurate, consistent and cost-effective resolutions. Mitchell integrates deep industry expertise into its workflow solutions, providing unparalleled access to data, advanced analytics and decision support tools. Mitchell's comprehensive solution portfolio and robust SaaS infrastructure connect its customers in ways that enable tens of millions of electronic transactions to be processed each month for more than 300 insurance companies, over 30,000 collision repair facilities and countless other Property & Casualty industry supply partners across the Americas and Europe. For more information, please visit mitchell.com.