It's well recognized that the insurance industry — and claims, in particular — can expect to encounter a myriad of issues related to the retirement of baby boomers. While a shortage of qualified claim professionals is predicted to occur in the near future, the biggest concern of late seems to be the knowledge evaporation that will occur when experienced professionals retire, taking with them years of real-life scenarios and issues that they are uniquely qualified to handle.

Crawford & Company has shown an interest in dealing with these emerging issues, beginning with the launch of its Knowledge Management Center On Demand (KMC) in January 2009. Essentially, KMC On Demand provides opportunities for claim professionals to learn only what is needed — and to do so from their own computers. This type of learning has two main benefits: It's more efficient in terms of cost and time, and it appeals to a younger generation who is at ease with — and in many cases prefers — web-based researching and learning.

This week, Crawford took another step towards stopping the brain drain with their announcement that they will be integrating a feature into KMC On Demand that allows the best information in an enterprise to be shared company-wide.