The insurance industry's response to fast-changing regulatory and corporate governance business demands is characterized by a primary reliance on manual processes and ad-hoc measures, according to survey results from the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development and ILOG, a software manufacturer based in Mountain View, Calif.

Although specially appointed compliance officers generally have been assigned to manage the impact of regulatory demands, the industry is failing to fully embrace the value of information technology when addressing regulatory requirements, such as HIPAA, and corporate governance demands, such as those driven by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the study found.

"This survey reveals that there is a clearly defined line between companies who are embracing IT to address compliance regulations head on and those who are not," said Kate Ciravolo, vice president and counsel, government affairs, for ACORD. "While we're pleased that the industry is taking the first step by appointing compliance officers to manage the process, those companies that fail to leverage this opportunity to automate core business processes and standardize across their enterprises are likely to fall victim to increasingly complex federal and state regulations."