When Mark Franklin "Frank" Jackson first entered the healthcareinsurance industry as an IT consultant in the early 1990s, hequickly recognized the enormous potential technology had in helpingbusinesses improve their products and services. "I got into theindustry in 1992 and was amazed the use of technology in the healthinsurance industry lagged the other industries I was familiarwith," he says. "I was excited about the many opportunities tointroduce IT solutions that would improve top-line revenue andefficiencies."

Since then, Jackson has served in several IT roles at varioushealthcare insurance companies, helping them leverage technology toautomate processes, streamline operations, and reduce costs. Today,as senior vice president and CIO of HealthMarkets, Jackson ishelping the company implement tools to support service-orientedarchitecture (SOA) capabilities and Web-based processes.

Headquartered in North Richland Hills, Tex., HealthMarketsprovides health insurance to individuals, families, theself-employed, and small businesses. The company–with more than530,000 policyholders across 44 states–sells customized productsthat require flexible platforms to manage an array ofconfigurations. In addition, the carrier sells products through acaptive sales agency, which requires sales tools that can supportthe one-on-one relationships customers value.

Jackson, who joined HealthMarkets in May 2007 as CIO, manages a$65 million IT budget and oversees 270 employees who work in thecompany's Texas and Norwalk, Conn., offices.

One of Jackson's first priorities when he came on board was tohelp the company move toward an SOA environment. As an initialstep, HealthMarkets implemented Haley Rules' Business RulesManagement System in 2007, which allowed the company to makebusiness rules changes quickly and develop a business rulerepository. Last year, HealthMarkets began implementing an SOAsolution from TIBCO as the next step in its SOA strategy.

"Our approach to implementing TIBCO is opportunistic and focusedon critical business processes such as claims workflow," Jacksoncontends. "The ability to create an abstraction layer of businessrules is facilitating improved cost reductions and reduced cycletimes."

HealthMarkets is implementing TIBCO services as part of itshigh-priority business projects that will provide benefits beyondSOA, according to Jackson.

"Rather than redesigning processes for the sake of SOA, we areleveraging existing business projects to implement services," hesays. "Our highest priority is to continue to develop products andservices that our customers need in the evolving individual healthspace. We will continue to focus on medical management, improvedsales automation, and lowering our administrative costs."

To that end, this year Jackson and his IT team will work onimplementing a Web-based process to help agents reduce applicationcycle times. To further promote ease of business, the company plansto implement agent portal software and tools to supportpersonalized agent Web sites and digital asset management.

Compliance is another area that will be targeted in 2009.HealthMarkets currently uses e-discovery tools to search and savedata related to legal and compliance matters as well as Compliance360 solutions to manage and track compliance issues.

"Because HealthMarkets operates in 44 states, compliance iscrucial," Jackson explains. "Technology is critical in helping usmanage the complexity of supporting numerous regulatoryrequirements."

Additional IT projects include helping HealthMarkets augment itsuse of Web technology to strengthen its brand and implementingsolutions to support improved automation and ease of reporting withagents.

During his 17 years in the industry, Jackson has seen insurancecatch up with other industries in its ability and willingness toadopt and leverage technology to deliver more effective andefficient products. In today's healthcare market, IT continues tooffer companies tremendous benefits.

"The national trends on privacy, cost pressures, andfederal/state regulations have made the adoption of technologyimperative for all companies," Jackson contends. "Those who do itwell will be the winners."