People make New Year's resolutions, we are told, because January 1 represents a clean slate of sorts and an opportunity to start over. 

By about the first of February, however, many of these resolutions have been either broken or forgotten altogether. The year is under way, and it is all too easy to slip back into old patterns of behavior. 

For claims professionals, the secret to a successful 2014 is not in sticking to New Year's resolutions, but in identifying and focusing on a few major priorities. In our work with claims organizations of all sizes, we see four major areas that demand attention in 2014.

Read on to learn about the four priorities claims organizations must set in order to be successful.

1. Think about the future. New technologies, from the cloud to Big Data to collaboration to mobility – have helped lower claims costs and increase customer satisfaction. Each new technology comes with its own set of challenges in terms of implementation.

While dealing with the nuts and bolts of new technologies, however, it is vital to think about those just over the horizon, such as smart buildings, driverless cars, and wearable devices. The driverless car, for example, has the potential to turn not just the claims function but the entire automobile industry on its head. Giving serious consideration to the implications of these disruptive technologies should be a top priority for 2014.

See related: 5 Insurance Tech Trends for 2014

2. Think about the workforce. After the cost reductions that followed the financial crisis of 2008, companies grew accustomed to doing more with less. Many stopped hiring and relied upon automation—as well as an increased workload for those claims professionals still in place—to get the job done. 

Now, however, it is time to think about the demographics, morale, and direction of the claims workforce. Too many companies rely on a cadre of veterans who are just five or 10 years from retirement. If you don't have programs in place to attract, then develop and retain claims professionals, it is time to start thinking about it.

See related: Four Steps P&C Insurers Must Take to Recruit Talent

Some leading P&C insurers have established partnerships with colleges and universities to develop claims talent, a high-potential avenue to explore. 

3. Think about fraud.  The recent attacks on major retailers' credit card networks are emblematic of the organized, highly sophisticated groups engaging in computer fraud. Equally sophisticated groups are hard at work on the next phase of property and casualty insurance scams. It is time to take a look at how high your fraud barriers are. Predictive analytics, social media monitoring, pattern recognition, and other anti-fraud technologies are advancing rapidly, but fraudsters evolve their own tactics at high speed as well. It takes constant effort to keep up with fraudsters, and more effort to get ahead of them.
 
It's worth keeping in mind that, while sophisticated analytics save insurers money on claims paid, they also reduce the manual effort needed to review and process data, and reduce the overall number of fraudulent claims that need to be managed. These resources can be directed to claims demanding specialized knowledge and personal attention.

4. Think about the customer. The claims experience remains the moment of truth for customers, the time when the P&C insurance organization gets to deliver on what it has promised. That has not changed. What has changed, however, is the extent to which the customer is now involved in the claims process. 

This year is the time to review how you are empowering your customers to monitor risks, to report on first notice of loss via mobile devices, or to follow up on the status of claims directly via text or email.   Customer involvement can speed up claims processing while bolstering customer satisfaction, so it is time to explore every possible avenue to make the customer part of the solution.
 
These four priority areas might seem like a fairly heavy workload for 2014, and they are. It is important, however, to make sure that the "basics" are covered as well. Ongoing programs to automate manual processes, to provide multiple channels for customers to file claims (including mobile applications, websites, and telephone/text), and to incorporate analytics into claims evaluation all demand continuing attention and resources. Tried and true management techniques—such as careful diagnostics of existing processes—can still yield significant results in terms of increased effectiveness and lower costs. 

Michael A. Costonis is a managing director in Accenture Property and Casualty Insurance Services. He is based in Philadelphia and may be reached at [email protected].