Accenture Launches Claims Solution

By Ara C. Trembly

NU Online News Service, Feb. 27, 2:25 PMEST?Accenture, a management and technology servicesorganization, has announced the launch of Claims Components Release2.0, a claims software product that supports multiple languages andmultiple-currency financial transactions involved in the claimsprocess.

According to New York-based Accenture (NYSE: ACN), the expandedproduct is now available to property-casualty insurers in NorthAmerica, the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

It includes new technical features, including claims profilingand a partner integration framework "to help insurers integratewith vendors," the company said.

Accenture said the claims profiling component uses advancedmodeling techniques to streamline the claims handling process byidentifying claims with similar attributes and matching them to anappropriate "profile."

The profiling process involves a "pattern matcher" that allowsusers to set up the system to scan for certain patterns in claims,said Mike Jackowski, head of product development in Accenture'sclaims solution group.

As claims come in, they are automatically matched to thosepatterns. Based on the areas of matching, specific tasks can beassigned to adjusters working on a particular claim. They can theninvestigate certain aspects of that claim that might otherwise havebeen ignored, he explained.

"A claim can change its profile as you learn more about it,"noted David Hollander, managing partner of the claims solutiongroup. Claims Components 2.0 constantly re-evaluates the claim inlight of such new information. "Classic work flow systems forclaims are not ideal for this," he said.

The partner integration framework is "an XML engine that lets usmove data between us and other claims applications involved in theclaims process," said Mr. Jackowski. He added that this could bedone, "potentially, without a human being involved."

Accenture said the Claims Components were built by Accenture ona Microsoft-based technical architecture known as ICBA.M (InternetComponent-based Architecture for Microsoft). This delivers acost-effective scalable solution, said Mr. Jackowski.

Mr. Hollander said the software "supports all lines ofbusiness?worker's compensation, auto, property and liability."

Claims Components can be implemented by a carrier within nine to12 months, said Accenture, which maintained that this would saveinsurers 12 to 24 months in development time needed to develop suchsystems themselves. "They can also add things that are unique totheir environment," Mr. Jackowski noted.

The typical cost of implementing the system would be "millionsof dollars," said Mr. Hollander, noting that it involves retrainingof a carrier's claims personnel and significant changes in theclaims handling process.

"The benefits are staggering," Mr. Hollander claimed. He cited a"systemic 15 percent overpayment of claims" in the industry, whichhe said could be "significantly" reduced by having the Accenturesystems in place.

Accenture said it has licensed its Claims Components software toseven "leading" property-casualty insurers, and that "more than7,000 claim handlers are now using the solution at theirdesktops."