Aon plc has expanded its strategic alliance with CLARA analytics, a provider of artificial intelligence technology to the commercial insurance industry, in a stated effort to help prevent litigation from entering the workers' compensation claims process and help U.S. companies reduce fees.
In a statement, Aon said that attorney involvement on a workers' compensation claim increases total claim costs, often greater than 400 percent; claims take 195 percent longer to resolve; and injured employees miss an average of 284 percent more days of work.
“Litigation is the most significant cost driver in the casualty claims area and we are thrilled to collaborate with CLARA to solve this major cost burden,” said Kevin Combes, director of Aon Global Risk Consulting. “The upgraded solution will significantly reduce workers' compensation claim costs, increase efficiency, and deliver innovative solutions that help reduce U.S. companies' total cost of risk.”
According to Aon, to dramatically reduce this cost, this technology uses AI insights to help detect claims that are at risk of becoming litigated before issues arise, identify an attorney, if needed, and resolve claims efficiently – all in a highly scalable way.
Steve Petrevski, senior vice president of enterprise analytics, innovation, and partnerships at Aon, added, “AI is bringing new possibilities to the way we manage risk. Our growing collaboration with CLARA reflects Aon's technological evolution to deliver new products that meet clients' needs today and tomorrow, in a transparent and efficient way.”
Aon said that, in collaboration with CLARA, it now has fully integrated this technology with Aon's litigation analysis, mitigation, and benchmarking of defense attorneys (“LAMBDA”) product, which helps risk managers understand their underlying legal costs and – by placing the focus on performance rather than hourly rates or billing practices – determine the relative efficiency of the defense firms they engage.
“We are thrilled to join forces with Aon to bring this groundbreaking product to market. We believe strongly that the primary purpose of AI in claims operations is to provide tools to dramatically improve the claimant experience,” stated Jayant Lakshmikanthan, CLARA's founder and chief executive officer. “Aon's LAMBDA 2.0 will help accelerate efforts towards that goal by addressing various aspects of the litigation-related workflows in the claims process – from litigation avoidance, to defense attorney selection, to helping with settlement strategies.”
Learn more: Aon plc; CLARA analytics.
Victoria Spears
Victoria Prussen Spears is senior vice president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Brooklyn Law School, Ms. Spears was an attorney at a leading New York City law firm before joining Meyerowitz Communications. She may be contacted at [email protected].