The product consists of two modules that, together, help manage various customer interactions and then assess the effectiveness of the process. Product View provides analysis of product holdings; it gives an overview of claims experience by profit center and by underwriting company. That can allow a carrier to adjust its underwriting guidelines (or deductibles) if, for example, a particular industry is showing an increase in the average automotive physical damage settlement.

The second module, Transaction View, analyzes a carriers channels to determine the effectiveness and productivity of its claims service. Each claim interactionfrom first notice of loss through salvage recoveryis used to profile the behavior of individual customers and entire customer segments. The result is an analysis of the effectiveness of adjusters, service centers, or service providers. Insurers can use this information to decide if people need additional training, if assignments need to be changed, if contracts should be renegotiated, and so on.

And just in case you arent convinced, Teradata will show you its Claims Costs Business Impact Model, which purports to demonstrate the return on investment you can achieve by reducing costs through improved claims management.

Easy Axcess for agents
Solution connects agents to home office back ends

SEEC (www.seec.com) introduced Axcess for Insurance, what the company describes as an agent self-service solution. It allows agents to quote, underwrite, and issue policies in real-time over the Web. It also allows agents and customers access to policy, claim, and commission information, and can quote and issue even non-commodity products automatically.

Axcess for Insurance can be customized to fit a carriers existing infrastructure and processes, and includes Web-based components for quoting, underwriting, and policy issuance, as well as other components that use ACORD XML to connect to agency systems, carrier back ends, and third-party databases.

FRAUD FIGHTING
Health insurance fraud busters get new hero
HNCs neural network software identifies potential abuse before payment

HNC Software (www.hnc.com) launched Payment Optimizer, what it terms a predictive software system, to identify fraudulent healthcare claims before theyre paid. The company claims the software can reduce fraud costs, which by some estimates averages $100 billion per year .

Payment Optimizer uses pattern analysis and HNCs neural network technology to identify and flag suspicious claims. The software identifies patterns of unusual behavior, ranks associated claims based on their degree of risk, and identifies the source of that risk to give carriers information to take appropriate action. By acting preemptively, it can find fraud and abuse schemes before they have caused significant losses.

Pilot programs for Payment Optimizer are currently underway with two companies: New York-based Vytra Health Plans, and Government Employee Hospital Association (GEHA), the nations third largest national health plan.

According to HNC, more than 65 percent of claims are processed electronically, significantly increasing carriers vulnerability to fraud, as electronic payments make it possible to submit thousands of false claims simultaneously and collect payment on these claims within a few minutes or days.

ONLINE SALES
Transamerica and CSC offer term life in a box
Web distribution technology makes it easy to sell online

Transamerica Reinsurance (www.transamericareinsurance.com) announced a new Web-based distribution capability for its term life wholesale service, one that enables companies to market term life insurance over the Internet. Working with CSC, the company has set up the policy application and underwriting procedures to make it easier for consumers to buy a fully underwritten life insurance policy over the Internet.

Transamerica Res wholesale services include product development, case underwriting, policy administration, andnowInternet distribution to life insurance companies and other financial institutions.

The company recently completed just such an Internet-based term life insurance program for the Vanguard Group, enabling the mutual fund firm to sell a fully underwritten product directly to its shareholders through the Internet. Vanguard is using the program to give its shareholders a simple way to buy insurance, while keeping them in the Vanguard family.

Potential buyers can get information about policy options, calculate their needs, get a quote, and apply online. An enrollment specialist contacts the applicant within a day to complete a medical history and arrange for tests; once theyre complete, an underwriter decides on qualification. The company said policies could be issued within 30 days.

Interested companies can implement Transamerica Res solution using the Internet distribution model or via agents.

CUSTOMER CONNECTIONS
S1, McCamish ally to offer carriers online solutions
S1 to connect VPAS to any back-end system

S1 and McCamish Systems (www.s1.com and www.mccamish.com, respectively) announced a strategic alliance, and the two companies are working to build interfaces between S1 Insurance and McCamishs Variable Products Administration Systems (VPAS Life and VPAS Benefit Plan Administration). The end result, they hope, will allow carriers to offer their policyholders and agents online self-service and transaction processing capabilities. The companies are also hoping to enable banks to sell and service insurance products through the Web.

The companies believe that carriers want to offer their customers online policy functions, but not have to revamp existing back-office systems to do so. The combined effort will allow carriers to offer a modern front end for customers, while giving themselves a consolidated view of their customers accounts.

Carriers that use VPAS will be able to offer customers the ability to view details and make certain changes to policies and investment transactions.

RATING SYSTEMS
Policy Master, Rackley now go both ways
COM allows seamless integration between PPS and rating system

Policy Masters Policy Processing System (PPS, at www.policymaster-us .com) can now connect to Rackleys rating system (www.rackley.com) to allow carriers to integrate Rackleys rating information into the complete policy cycle, from quoting to policy administration.

Using COM-based technology, PPS can call and control Rackleys commercial rating product; its currently set up for commercial auto policies, and the company says commercial property and general liability product integration is imminent.

NEW PRODUCT
Faster filing of forms from field agents
E-Sync helps claims reps file paperwork

Helping insurers reduce the cycle time of claims processing is the idea behind ClaimsNow, a new product offered by E-Sync Networks (www.esyncnetworks.com). The product speeds the delivery of claims forms and supporting documentation from field agents to the home office. ClaimsNow combines fax, e-mail, and OCR, as well as business and workflow rules.

Michael Lightman, vice president of managed services for E-Sync, said insurers know there is a direct relationship between the time it takes to process a claim and customer satisfaction and costs. With ClaimsNow, insurance companies dont have to rely on the mail or manual handling of paper documents, both of which delay and introduce errors into the process, Lightman said.

NEW VERSION
ISO announces Claims Outcome Advisor 1.6
Adds new tools, integrates some older ones

Insurance Services Office (ISO, at www.iso.com) announced a major new release of its ISO Claims Outcome Advisor (COA).

Release 1.6 includes the new Graphical Medical Search feature, in which adjusters use a graphical (not graphic) representation of the human body to point and click locations that have medical information associated with them

Also new are Case Reserves (which helps claims reps accurately project the outcome of bodily-injury claims) and Negotiation History (which provides graphical tools for tracking and strategizing the negotiation process of case settlement). Included with COA are ISOs Audit Manager and Settlement Analyzer, both of which were released in 2001.

According to the company, COA helps claims handlers manage the unique and complex medical, legal and occupational issues presented by personal injury claims, by having in its database the severity and recovery implications of more than 20,000 injuries, treatments, complications, and pre-existing conditions.

Mitchell increases presence, reduces claims time
New version adds tracking, online capabilities, and more

Mitchell International (www.mitchell.com) is raising its profile in the insurance and collision repair industries with the unveiling of an enhanced version of eMitchell.com, its Internet workspace and marketplace. Mitchell says it can reduce the claims cycle by three days or more, allowing customers a greater savings in loss adjustment expense.

Among the product enhancements are claims status tracking, expanded assignment and dispatch capabilities, enhanced MIS reporting capabilities, online procedure pages, and the Mitchell Shop Network.

Mitchells senior vice president of marketing and product management, Steve Yin, said the enhanced product and the companys recent acquisition of Ensera, a provider of integrated e-business tools, advances the companys strategy to provide enterprise-wide solutions for its customers.

Integration with eMitchell.com is seamless thanks to its connection to proprietary data transmission networks such as IVANS and GEIS. The site offers 128-bit SSL data encryption and a dual authentication network.

Siebels Seven
New CRM/ERM application adds interactive features

Siebel Systems (www.siebel.com) is hoping seven is its lucky number; it announced the release of Siebel 7, the latest version of its suite of applications for CRM and ERM. The product offers new sales, marketing, service, and partner management functions, along with other customer-related processes.

The new release introduces Siebels Smart Web Architecture, which provides what the company describes as a level of interactivity previously found only on desktop applications. Customers get the cost savings associated with the deployment of a Web application, and an intuitive user experience, according to Siebel.

BROKER CONNECTIONS
Help brokers help themselves
SEMCIish solution connectsbrokers to multiple carriers

Insurance Technologies (www. insurancetechnologies.com) has released a new multi-carrier, multi-product, point-of-sale management solution for brokerage houses and insurance carriers that work together. Called Foresight Brokerage, the product assists in everything from product selection through application processing. It includes a single interface to allow brokerage firms to connect with each insurance carrier it represents.

Cliff Chaney, vice president of business development for Insurance technologies, said, Foresight Brokerage will speed new business processes and reduce technical support costs, providing brokers and carriers with a single solution to fit their point of sale needs.

NEW PLAYER
Whitehill Technologies enters insurance market
Firm offers high-powered legacy to XML conversion and creation

Whitehill Technologies (www.whitehill.com), which made a name for itself by creating XML-based products to convert data from legacy systems, is now entering the insurance arena, noticing, we assume, the large number of mainframes hanging around.

Some of the capabilities the companys products offer include the ability to automatically convert AL3-formated documents to ACORD XML (without changing back-end processes), high volume paper to Web conversion for documents, automatic distribution of reports, and generation of personalized bills for individual or group customers that can include targeted-marketing messages based on the data.

PRODUCT UPDATE
Docusave Server 2.0 automates archiving
New version streamlines process, avoids screen scrapin

Docucorp (www.docucorp.com) released version 2.0 of its Docusave Server for Windows NT and Windows 2000, which provides automatic indexing and filing of documents into a variety of archival repositories.

According to the company, the new version replaces two older products and combines their functions into one.

By capturing the keys generated by whatever engine built the documents, Docusave Server is able to avoid screen scraping the information. Once captured by the system, it can manage the documents in a variety of ways; the company claims it runs 40 percent faster than previous products.

Depending on what needs to be done with captured documents, Docusave Server can choose between standard and custom libraries to process the jobs. Standard libraries provide for function such as compression, conversion, and filing with a variety of content management systems. By employing custom libraries, users can add functions such as conversion libraries or support for other document or repository types.

Docusave Server can take output from Docuflex, Documaker, and Documerge publishing engines, and work with Documanage, FileNet Panagon, IBM ImagePlus, and other archives.

NAME CHANGE
Xcipio Doo Dah!
New name, location for the company formerly known as Inskey

With all the changes it has made in the last year, its almost surprising that Inskey, developers of QUAD (Quote, Underwriting, and Application Distribution), didnt change its name to New and Improved, Inc. Instead it chose Xcipio. The name change also comes with a new CEO, David Cooksley.

QUAD helps streamline the policy issuance process for personal and specialty commercial line product offerings. To accommodate what Cooksley hopes will be a new batch of customers, Xcipio (www.xcipio.com; you can bet it had no trouble registering the domain name) has also found a new home for itself in Lawrence, Mass.