Thirty-three percent of respondents in the "2020 RMIS Report" said their organization's annual RMIS systems costs exceeded $100,000. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Risk management information systems (RMIS) have evolved in recent years to address more than just the basic monitoring and reporting of risks. Now, companies nationwide are using RMIS for a wide range of functions and are investing heavily in the technology to help drive efficiency and improve performance, says the new "2020 RMIS Report" from Redhand Advisors.
Redhand Advisors surveyed more than 800 executives in December 2019 and January 2020 for the report. Respondents include leaders from finance and insurance, manufacturing, transportation, health care, retail, education, and more.
One of the report's most telling findings is that one-third of respondents said their organization's annual systems costs exceeded $100,000, including 6% whose costs were above $500,000. Forty percent said they spend between $25,000 and $100,000, while 28% said their annual systems costs are below $25,000.
These figures illustrate how companies are seeking to leverage a growing roster of RMIS capabilities. In the past, the RMIS marketplace was focused on claims management and reporting. Today, that's no longer the case, said David Tweedy, senior risk advisor and partner at Redhand Advisors, said in a statement. RMIS has expanded to include "functionality to support environmental health and safety, client relationship management, ERM, global risk and compliance, and AI all are becoming integral elements of an RMIS," said Tweedy.
Nonetheless, claims management and related services remain the most ubiquitous among the systems. According to the report, more than 8 in 10 survey participants use their RMIS for claims management. Fifty-two percent said they use their system for claims administration, 41% for incident entry and management, 38% for loss control and safety analysis, 30% for insurance renewal and data collection, 27% for litigation management, and 25% for benchmarking.
Other uses for RMIS include OSHA compliance, insurance policy/program management, exposure and asset management and enterprise risk management, amongst others highlighted in the report.
The COVID-19 impact
"For many employers, RMIS have become increasingly mission-critical to a wide range of functions, including risk management, safety and loss control, compliance, enterprise risk management," Patrick O'Neill, founder and CEO at Redhand Advisors, said in a release. "In recent weeks, this was underscored by how fast the leading RMIS providers developed tools and functionality to help clients address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their organizations."
For example, Riskonnect developed a coronavirus tracker to monitor the spread of the virus relating to an organization's business assets, as well as new safety audit and non-clinical rounding resources, says the report. Another vendor, Origami Risk, created an impact data visualization of COVID-19 data, location status tracking, employee exposure tracking, and incident-based content by location.
How to choose an RMIS
Tweedy advises that new RMIS capabilities should only be one of many factors buyers consider when selecting a vendor. "Customer service and delivery often translate to real value and can be game-changers when it comes to choosing a provider. While the providers all have different approaches to the customer service/implementation models, one size clearly does not fit all," he said.
Additionally, assessing ROI, such as analyzing the full system's cost and comparing it to other investments, also is critical when evaluating potential RMIS investments, O'Neill noted. "Determining ROI is helpful not only in decision-making but also in measuring the success of the implementation and utilization of the software over multiple years. Use the ROI targets identified in the business case to measure the effectiveness of the RMIS," he said.
Read more of the report's findings by visiting www.rmisreport.com.
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