In its 30 years in business, Redding, Calif.-based LifeHelp Insurance Ad-ministration Services has grown from an insurance brokerage into a nationwide, full-service third-party administrator (TPA) for life and health insurance products. There comes a time, though, when a policy administration system can take a TPA or a carrier only so far. We needed to be able to rapidly respond to providing solutions to potential clients, says Henry Cuenca, LifeHelp president. If you can quickly provide a solution when youre in the business of solving headaches, you bring in a whole level of value-added to any situation.
A committee was formed that included LifeHelps former IT officer and the head of sales and marketing, who had a software background. After identifying solution vendors that might be able to handle its needs, LifeHelp sent the committee to visit several of them. Following a trip to AdminServer in its Malvern, Pa., office, the committee returned believing it had found a solution. It was browser based, with a 100 percent Microsoft platform, and written in Visual Basic, Cuenca says.
AdminServer was formed in 1998 to address the software needs of all segments of the insurance industry. The company delivers a common platform for individual life and annuity carriers as well as for group market segments. Carriers can lower the cost of policy administration by using a common platform that doesnt require systems modifications. The system allows carriers and TPAs to perform complete policy administration for group life and AD&D, bill and collect premiums, and implement document printing, claims handling, and reporting.
LifeHelp manages policies for between 400,000 and 500,000 insureds, says Cuenca. Insurance carriers such as New York Life and UnumProvident use its services for their voluntary group term life and AD&D products.
The system we had before was a proprietary system with a long history, Cuenca explains. A real issue was the anxiety level of our employees. The system was not friendly. It was very complex. We would not be able to respond to developing the necessary information we needed to have. LifeHelp commissioned a study one year ago on its operations and found employees were stressed over the prospect of new business coming in because the old system couldnt handle the extra work.
From a technology standpoint, the old system had business rules embedded within its code, says IT director Ron Cordova. Anytime we had to make a change, we had to have programmers go in and modify source code.
What also helped, notes Cordova, was that AdminServer was positioned to be on Microsofts .Net platform. That will enable us to tap into Web services and provide all types of different solutions for the insurance industry, he says. LifeHelp operates on the Windows 2000 system with a SQL Server 2000 platform. AdminServer fits in completely with our system strategy, Cordova says. With the new system we separated our business rules and theyre XML based, so when we need to make a change we dont have to change base code. Were really just customizing business rules.
The selection process took seven months, and installation began in February. Cordova says the company tried to do too much too soon and eventually agreed to divide the project into two phases. The system is partially in operation today, but the first phase wont be complete until mid-November. Phase one is really just to get our core products up and running on the new system, Cordova says. Phase two will add the bells and whistles to make the system everything everybody wants it to be and what it needs to be.
Cuenca says there is a new morale in the LifeHelp offices since the conversion began. Employees are excited about the capabilities. Theres no longer the initial anxiety about having new business coming and how we are going to do it.
Cordova says speed to respond to changes will greatly impact LifeHelps business. With the old system, for new business opportunities, it would probably take six months to a year to set that up and program it, he says. With the new system were looking at 30 to 60 days. Thats a significant difference in time to market for new products. Robert Regis Hyle
CaseFile
The Problem: TPA couldnt grow with its existing administration system.
The Company: LifeHelp Insurance Administration Services
Web site: www.lifehelp.com
The Software: Group/Institutional Insurance System by AdminServer
Web site: www.adminserver.com
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