Insurers just lately have begun to make use of ramped up data sifting capacity that can greatly improve their claims performance, the president of a technology consulting firm, advised a research group recently.

The report in a whitepaper to the Society of Insurance Research (SIR) was made by Alex Sun, president of Mitchell international in Dallas, according to an announcement from his firm.

Mr. Sun's findings, titled “The Tip of the Information Iceberg,” delivered at the SIR conference in May, explained how the strategic use of data analytics can improve the claims performance of insurers.

Claims organizations are only now beginning to embrace data analytics as a critical factor in driving business improvements and transforming the claims process, according to Mr. Sun.

His white paper explained how collecting and assessing performance data allows insurers to achieve insights that can drive improvements throughout the claims process.

By analyzing key processes, physical damage and casualty severity data points, the opportunity now exists to leverage analytical insights to improve operational performance across all critical claims performance drivers, according to Mr. Sun.

“Analyzing the massive amounts of data collected during the claims process can produce insights that lead to substantial operational improvements,” said Mr. Sun.

“With the adoption of many claims automation technologies today, from estimating systems to workflow solutions, there is now the ability to systematically capture data on critical activities in the claims process.

“This data can now be leveraged to better understand how an individual carrier performs against both internal and industrywide best practice benchmarks and drive significant performance improvements,” he explained.

Ed Budd, SIR executive director, was quoted by Mitchell as saying, “Most organizations are in the early stages of implementing data analytics, such as capturing data and basic reporting. As Mr. Sun demonstrated…”

Mr. Budd noted that the SIR Conference “is about bringing new trends and technology to the forefront and the free exchange of ideas to address industry issues.” He added, “In order to achieve enhanced performance, carriers will need a structured process for applying the insights derived from rigorous data analytics.”

According to Mr. Budd, the paper by Mr. Sun “was well received by conference attendees and sparked interesting discussions about the future of data analytics.”

Examples of future claims analytics, according to Mr. Sun, include Common Data Presentment, so that claims adjusters can receive both relevant medical and auto physical damage reports.

This dual capability is expected to drive better decision-making about the relatedness of injuries and present a more holistic picture of claim circumstances, he advised.

In addition, Mr. Sun said, fraud identification and straight-through processing “will benefit from data analytics in the future, allowing for better decisions to be made earlier in the claims process, saving time and money.”

According to Mitchell, the firm has the ability to observe and evaluate the various and ongoing processes aimed at improving claims settlement practices–and has collaborated with a diversity of experienced claims professionals it deals with as a provider of information solutions and technology for auto property and casualty claims.

Mr. Sun's whitepaper is online at www.mitchell.com.

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