Insurance companies are often seen as the bad guy. However, what they do is protect people from negative outcomes that can badly affect them. Additionally, they provide various types of protection for companies so that they can take on extra risk on behalf of clients, customers, suppliers or their employees and not worry about it.
To keep an insurance business running well, it’s necessary to focus on better efficiency and increased effectiveness. This article provides some suggestions for how to do that.
Medical Record Access
Getting reliable access to medical records for insurance people is not always easy. Also, sometimes the record is hard to access and difficult to decipher. Occasionally, medical records are mislaid too, which is the real problem when a policyholder has filed a claim and there’s some medical overlap where records must be checked.
Using a records storage company with HIPAA compliance allows insurers to be more effective. The records retrieval company can locate both digital and APS medical records to make them accessible online. They’re also searchable using OCR technology to locate key information in complex documents faster (or confirm its absence too).
Ensure Product Range Isn’t Causing Problems
Insurers often go into markets where they feel they can dominate or do well in them. This leads an insurer to offer home coverage, auto insurance, pet insurance, travel insurance, business equipment coverage, Key Person insurance, and much more.
Being able to manage these very different types of policies well, offer only appropriate terms and administer these claims correctly is more challenging. It increases the number of variables and potential areas where things can go badly wrong. It also requires specialists in each area to get the best outcome and not make mistakes.
Ensure that the company hasn’t entered insurance markets that it has no business being involved there. Figure out if the company has the potential to grab a significant market share sufficient to make it worth trying to compete or not. If that’s not the case, then exit insurance types where it’s not profitable to continue to offer them.
Examine Workflows Carefully
Insurers have established workflows for regular processes and procedures. These are often seen as inviolable, which isn’t a good idea. It can hold the business back from being more efficient.
Workflows should naturally evolve to reflect the times, strip out unnecessary steps and where necessary, include additional ones that are now required and perhaps previously missed. Audit the processes carefully so that nothing gets missed.
Also, note that the more minute each work procedure is broken down, the easier it will be to find quicker or inexpensive ways to get the same thing done in less time. This might require some new software or a complete rethink to get the desired results.
For leaders and managers in the insurance business to be effective, they must not see it as a commodity business. Whilst it may be viewed somewhat like that from a customer’s perspective, there’s much to differentiate one insurer from another from an operational standpoint. It’s these differences that often separate the successful ones from the subpar performers.
