In October 2009, the Main Street America Group put the finishing touches on a technology implementation that helped streamline the company's auto repair management. By integrating repair shops, adjusters, and policyholders, Main Street was hoping to increase customer satisfaction, cycle time improvement, and estimate accuracy. Claims recently chatted with Mike Lancashire, vice president of claims and integrated customer solutions at Main Street America, to find out how the process unfolded, what he would have done differently, and the traits he looks for in a vendor.
Can you describe your vendor selection process? What were the criteria?
LANCASHIRE: We included four vendors in our RFP process. Our approach was very open in order to see what creative alternatives the vendors had that we might want to consider. At a high level, our objectives focused on scale, service, and results. As a super-regional carrier, we want to keep true to our "Main Street" identity while also providing a claim product competitive with the national carriers.
There were four areas that our potential vendor had to be able to deliver on:
- Network Management: Full management of a best-of-class repair shop and independent appraiser network.
- Positive Metrics: A positive impact on loss adjustment expenses and indemnity plus improving our established key performance indicators, such as cycle time and customer service.
- Value-Added Services: Resources to partner with Main Street America on compliance issues, process improvement, and expansion as our footprint grows organically and through acquisitions and affiliations.
- Full-Service Application: Storage, dispatch, functionality, and it had to integrate with ClaimCenter, our claim-processing platform.
We selected Innovation Group's Innovation Auto offering because they had the capabilities to help us achieve our goals by providing a high level of scale and claim expertise, along with the ability to customize their processes and software platform to support our unique requirements. Also, the ability to tie in our independent agent-customers with Innovation's nationwide network of credentialed body shops was a major differentiator in our decision to partner with them.
On a scale of one to 10, how important was the claim system integration aspect?
LANCASHIRE: We consider integration to be a "10." As we transitioned from a legacy system to a web-based application, our staff's expectations increased. We utilize multiple vendors and have more than 65 programs available to help us handle our four lines of business. Each vendor program has a standalone, user-friendly front-end, but as you start toggling between multiple browsers, e-mail, and duplicating data entry, the advantages of integration are apparent. Having the two systems function as one provides an immediate lift in adjuster efficiency and accuracy. We are able to use the tools in our general claim system plus benefit from the specialty features available from the new platform. We completed two other integrations in 2009 with BrightClaim and Craig/is, and we have a fourth slated for first quarter 2010 with Allegient Systems. Our goal is to be fully integrated with all of our major programs.
What were some of your challenges in terms of integration and implementation? Looking back, would you change anything?
LANCASHIRE: This was a major project that was completed on time and on budget. It could not have been done without a lot of hard work from our claim staff, our IT department, and our claim processing system integration vendor, Capgemini, as well as Innovation Group.
As for lessons learned, we would allocate more time for post-implementation changes into the plan. Despite the best efforts during the design, QA, and UAT phases, there were still items that surfaced after we rolled it out that made us realize that we could have done a better job. The integration has been a success in that it works as designed, but we believe in continuous improvement and we are making adjustments to get even more out of it.
Is there an audit process?
LANCASHIRE: We included auditing provisions into our contract with Innovation. They share our commitment to quality and both of us have benefited from the informal and formal auditing process. We have an escalation and resolution process, weekly status calls to review any issues, and just completed a comprehensive on-site audit. Also, Main Street America has a dedicated vendor manager overseeing the program and we also formed a vendor advisory team that is composed of unit managers and claim representatives who promote process improvements and ensure quality.
What are the top three traits an insurer should look for in a business partner when looking to set up a relationship to outsource claims?
LANCASHIRE: First, does the partner have the technology, technical expertise, and scale to meet your objectives? These items are the obvious qualifications that a vendor has to bring to the table just to be in the game. We had, and continue to have, the need for specialty products. Often, it is more effective to partner with an established vendor than it is to build it on our own.
Next, look for creativity. What new ideas do they bring that you had not previously considered? Are they willing to take calculated risks with you -- and then make the necessary adjustments based on the results?
Finally look at their corporate culture. Relationships with our agent-customers are a key to the success of Main Street America. Similarly, there has to be a strong relationship between a vendor and a company. The vendor is a reflection of the client and cannot compromise service. Ideally, the vendor will be invisible to the customer and will always add value. As a leader of a claims organization, I have to ensure that our partners are equally committed to the same values, vision, and goals.
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