Gregg Bieri is manager, new records business development for Canon Business Process Services.

Despite the fast-paced, technology-centered world in which we live, insurance is still a largely paper-based industry. While the use of tablets for data capture is on the rise, the use of paper by providers, partners, and customers is part of the lifeblood of almost any property & casualty insurance company. From mortgage applications and appraisals to claims forms and third-party reports, paper is not likely to be eliminated from insurance processes for years to come—if at all.

Such a massive paper influx can breed complexity—a policyholder's file can be hundreds of pages long and consume massive storage space. And when a customer calls with a question or a claim, finding the necessary information can be like finding a needle in a haystack. Multiply that by your entire customer-base and you are dealing with a significant amount of space, time, and money.

Many p&c insurance providers have implemented a scanning process, whereby forms and records are digitized for safe and cost-effective storage and handling. However, that is only the first step to effectively streamlining business processes. The next is to make forms and records 'intelligent,' so the information is integrated into various technology systems and properly indexed for simple extraction.

Insurance companies can easily integrate paper-based documents into a variety of systems and databases with a few simple keystrokes. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software is a tool that makes this possible and is part of a larger process called Business Process Imaging, which is a holistic approach to managing front-end document conversion activities that support an ongoing business process.

Conversion activities, whether managed internally or on an outsourced basis, can encompass distributed document intake and preparation, OCR scanning, indexing and validation, related tasks (such as manual data entry), and integration with the organization's workflow, databases or other systems. The information is in essence, "brought to life," as it goes from dumb to dynamic data that can be used in a variety of business applications, including customer relationship management, sales, procurement, and enterprise resource planning.

The information will also become more easily searchable so employees can find it quickly and efficiently. As opposed to sifting through thousands of pages of paper, finding a piece of information can become as easy as pressing Ctrl+F.

Insurance providers can utilize BPI practices to drive improvements in a few key areas:

Improving Customer Service and Satisfaction: BPI enables the insurance provider to improve customer service. When a company can process documents and information more quickly, it can respond to customers faster and more efficiently. This is enabled by converting paper-based information into digital workflows and searchable documents that are stored in electronic content management and records management systems. These systems are connected to relevant ERP, CRM, and core business systems.

Advancing Internal Processes, Products and Services: BPI technology improves internal processes as well as products and services by making information, knowledge, and documents available at their earliest point of entry into the organization—and in multiple formats to anyone who needs them. This approach changes the character and shape of a business process by cutting down cycle time, removing processing steps and providing more advanced methods of completing the process.
Mitigating Business Risk: Potential loss from fire damage, natural disaster, and even theft can be easily mitigated by backing up your documents electronically, and the easiest way to do this is through the use of BPI. As a gateway to the organization, this conversion can help reduce organizational risk by gathering, capturing, indexing and channeling documents into controlled archives and electronic workflow. Business risk can be reduced through more effective records management and faster access to critical information that supports key organizational processes.

The process of digitizing paper-based documents and turning the information held within into viable data generally undergoes a variety of steps. These include:

Pre-scan: Incoming mail reception, sorting and document preparation.
Scan: Capture/Scanning; Optical Character Recognition; or the recognition of printed or written characters by a computer; quality control and indexing.
Post-scan: Validation, data entry, data extraction, exception handling, archiving, data lookup, setting up physical files for records or documents and copying and forwarding special original records.

These steps constitute the transaction set-up, enabling the business process (e.g. accounts payable, new account processing, claims processing) to proceed more quickly and efficiently.

While the initial activities around the development of an effective BPI plan may seem daunting, partnering with a provider that offers expertise in this area will take much of the burden off a company's employees and enable them to focus on the valuable, revenue-generating activities that they do best. In doing so, the insurance providers will be rewarded with business process management solutions that help improve efficiencies, contain costs, achieve operational excellence and mitigate risk in a complex business world.

Special Reports /

Finding Their Way on the Paper Trail: Insurance and Imaging

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