Forms Software Cuts Errors, Saves Time

To be successful, the software must make information entered on a form work over and over again, to help avoid the` need to fill out additional paperwork–thus eliminating keystrokes, duplicated effort and the chances for error.

A single form should do as much as possible for the agent, the insurance carrier and the customer who is applying for an insurance product, said Mr. Grieco. "One of the biggest problems for the industry is the number of information systems that are unable to talk to each other at the enterprise level," he added.

In looking for document management software, insurers and agents should look for products that work well with existing software, advised Mr. Grieco.

"We have seen consolidation of software manufacturers in the industry," he said. "One of the important considerations in buying a product is the financial viability of the vendor and the ability of the software to play nicely with others. Yes, a product may have interesting, easy-to-use features, but will it play nicely with others, if I have a store of information that I want to share among a variety of users, some using different software? Thats the single most important thing to look at right now."

In addition to ease of use with other products and ability to work with a number of different products, Mr. Grieco advised buyers to look for software with scalability, or the ability to grow with the user firm. It should also have the ability to work across firewalls.

Finally, he said, look for firms that are likely to be around for awhile to service their products. In an era of business aggregation and consolidation, he counsels, its a good idea to look at a vendors financial statements, where available, to assure it is on a solid footing.

Some of the software vendors in the field are listed below. All vendors software programs cited below are compatible with standards set by ACORD in Pearl River, N.Y., and most have the ability to publish, expedite workflow, produce forms and consolidate data from other sources.

Xerox Insurance and Financial Services in Rochester, N.Y., said that around 1.5-to-2 percent of net premiums written in the insurance industry is spent on documents, in the form of direct costs for equipment labor, services and supplies.

Add indirect costs, such as for queue times and professional productivity losses, and the figure can be substantially higher.

Xerox provides carriers with the option of outsourcing all their documents management and forms to Xerox on a contract basis, but it also offers Web-based forms management services.

Its Web-based system offers a wide suite of software that enable users to streamline paperwork, said Patricia Calderon, general manager of solutions development for Xeroxs financial services and healthcare industrial business.

The company helps the business customer to analyze uses so that, in many cases, it can eliminate the need to stockpile certain forms and instead print them on demand, Ms. Calderon said. Or users can requisition multiple forms with a single visit to a Web-enabled requisitioning site.

The companys "Spectrum Plus" software allows customer to automate forms ordering. "It also allows a profile of the end-user so if you are a carrier, you can create a profile for, say, each broker and specify that a given broker is allowed to use only certain forms associated with specific products you have licensed him to sell," explained Ms. Calderon.

Xerox offers a variety of ways for businesses to use its forms management software. For instance, the customer can put it online on his or her own server, using a Windows NT system, or Xerox can serve as a host site.

Typically, if a customer buys software for use on his or her own site, prices start at $100,000, the company said. If Xerox hosts the software, prices may begin at $45,000 for setup, plus a monthly transaction-based fee, based on the users consumption of services.

Napersoft, in Naperville, Ill., offers "Bridge," a module of related products that can work on a Windows server or a variety of mainframes. The 17-year-old company provides document management software and consulting services.

"We analyze the customers needs through a business function review, we go in and determine the clients needs and how our products can be applied to those needs," said Edward Evans, president of the company.

By helping insurers, agents and others transform to a paperless environment, Mr. Evans said his company can help clients significantly cut costs.

Because customers have a wide choice of plans, prices can range drastically, from $200,000 for a site license to well over $1 million, the company said.

Silverlake Software in Bordentown, N.J., offers "Virtual Paper Designer Publisher and Designer," a product with property-casualty insurance applications. "Publisher will take a source form which we provide and output it to a print device or PDF file," said Jamie da Silva, the company's president.

The software allows large companies to create their own customized forms in significant quantities. "For smaller projects, we usually create the forms for them," he explained.

Prices for the system start at $10,000, but due to the many variables involved–such as form quantities and number of users–Mr. da Silva said it can run much higher. The software runs in any Windows system.

PaperFree Corp. in Livingston, N.J., offers "Lightpaper," which can support forms processing and document management at most any personal lines insurance company, although most of its customers are p-c carriers, said its president, Joel Benisch.

"Lightpaper" is actually a family of products designed to provide a real-time document interface between agents, carriers, adjusters and brokers, he said. The end-user is generally any employee in an insurance agency or company. The product enables them to complete forms on-screen.

"The end-user doesnt have to do anything special to send or receive data from or to any partner," said Mr. Benisch. That means that no special training is needed to use the software.

The product operates on any Windows or Mac system or a Unix workstation, the company said. Declining to cite specific prices due to varied factors such as licensing requirements, Mr. Benisch said prices are generally scaled to the number of workstations a customer has.

Allen Beggs, president of QualCorp in Valencia, Calif., described his companys "FormsPlus" software as a forms-driven database that carriers and managing general agents use to issue and manage personal and commercial lines of business, including life and health and workers compensation in all 50 states.

It can also feed data from an agencys or carriers claims system to its accounting systems.

"FormsPlus" charges customers based on three components: a database, the number of lines of business used, and form charges, the company said.

Mr. Beggs noted that prices have recently ranged from $25,000 for a managing general agent, to $500,000 for a carrier that bought 35 copies of the program.

"Most users, large or small, can see a complete return of their investment in six to eight months," said Mr. Beggs.

The company also introduced a new product this year, "ProjectPlus"–a workflow management and imaging software package.

"'ProjectPlus' is used by MGAs and carriers to manage workflow," said Mr. Beggs. For instance, they can readily check the status of an existing account–whether it has reviewed a policy yet, who in the agency has it and for how long.

Other companies producing document management/forms processing software for the insurance industry include ELF Solutions in Fraser, Mich.; InSystems of Markham, Ontario; and Docucorp in Dallas. These companies could not be reached for comment before this article went to press.

Trevor Thomas is an assistant editor for NUs Life & Health/Financial Services Edition.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, June 3, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.