 By Mark Kirpalani, Managing Director, Capital Capture
To enable significant growth and reduce claim lifecycles, insurance companies need to optimise workflows through the use of automated business processes, says Capital Capture managing director, Mark Kirpalani
Optimising business processes by moving to a paperless working environment is not a new concept, even in the insurance sector. In fact, the benefits of electronic document capture are widely recognised. The process can cut the time and cost of claims handling whilst improving customer service – all factors vital to business growth.
For many, document capture has been considered too expensive and difficult to implement. However, times are changing and outsourcing document capture is gaining acceptance as it continues to successfully automate business processes. It delivers work to the appropriate business line faster and more accurately than previous manual processes, whilst eliminating upfront Capex and infrastructure changes through the utilisation of an outsourced capture network, team and equipment.
Why outsource document capture?
The current economic climate means that many businesses are finding it difficult to sign off large scale investment projects due to budget restrictions. As a result, more insurance companies are choosing to outsource document capture which eliminates the need to purchase specialised scanning equipment, IT hardware or software and in turn, dramatically reduces implementation costs.
All elements of an outsourced document capture service, from the IT infrastructure to the hardware will be provided by the same expert supplier. Subsequently, the outsourced service can be implemented faster and more effectively than a conventional in-house document capture system and deliver a quicker return on investment.
Management costs are reduced with on-going support and software upgrades covered by the service provider. Insurance companies do not need to spend valuable time maintaining the system and even if the service needs to be scaled up or down to match business demands, it can be altered easily and cost effectively via the provider.
Experience shows, that it is neither cost nor time effective for an insurance company to hire or re-deploy and train internal staff purely to support the document capture process. Outsourcing the service fully leverages a supplier’s expert employees who are highly efficient at managing the system. As a result, insurance staff are free to concentrate on key business tasks, thereby improving their personal productivity.
There are several document capture services that an insurance company can use and choosing the right offering is critical to the success of any project. Any experienced provider will advise on the most appropriate service and the choice may vary from an on-site managed service, off-site managed service to an in-house solution. However, outsourcing document capture has a range of business benefits that can’t be overlooked.
Reduce claims lifecycle and cost
Once in place, a document capture solution can make an insurance company significantly more competitive. Information is the lifeblood of any insurance company and the faster critical data such as a claims form can be transferred to the claims handler, the shorter the claims lifecycle and the more cost effective the business can be. The London Market is so convinced of the benefits of document capture that it is insisting upon the transition towards electronic processing through the introduction of the new Claims Transformation Programme.
Storing and capturing claims documents and emails as soon as they enter the business enables an electronic copy of the data to be delivered instantly to the correct work stream – a far quicker process than waiting for a hard copy to arrive.
When using paper-based processes, the manual filing and retrieval of documents uses labour and resources. By automating the process employees can store, retrieve and share new claims files and add on-going updates more effectively, so more time can be dedicated to performing core business tasks.
Improve customer service
Fast customer response times are vital to customer retention in a competitive market. In fact, the quicker a claims handler shows that they are working on the claim the better. Even if, subsequently it takes a long time to settle a claim, a customer feels like their case is being dealt with effectively and that it has not been forgotten.
Working with accurate information that can be stored and accessed instantly, means claim handlers can focus on providing a consistent service across the organisation as workers have all the correct information to hand.
Better business processes
Paper-based claims handling is slow and laborious, making it difficult to share information and complete tasks in a timely manner. Using a document capture solution enables an insurer to move to business wide e-enablement, whilst providing an environment for secure data, disaster recovery and legal admissibility contributions. A common shared platform can be created where insurance companies can share electronic documents. This improves collaboration across the organisation, resulting in better decision-making and improved core services.
By storing and archiving all data in one centralised place it becomes easier for a full audit trail to be kept for each document, helping insurance companies comply with compliance regulations.
Capturing electronic document copies of long-term claims eliminates the need to store hardcopies. It cuts the cost and need for commercial storage space (yet another expense), while ensuring documents are more secure, eliminating the possibility of human error in the sorting process.
Business-wide benefits
The associated benefits of using an outsourced solution typically include improved customer service, reduced business costs, compliance and greater efficiency – all achievable without impacting an insurance company’s current infrastructure and internal resources. Designed for individual insurers as unique models, outsourced services allow for easy scalability and being held on an external network, they minimise infrastructure costs and disruption. Critically, insurance companies can realise a reduction in the claims lifecycle, which is the most important factor when considering how best a document capture solution will facilitate quantifiable business growth.
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