8 ways business intelligence is transforming the insurance ecosystem

Data, and the way it is used, is arguably the most critical factor in how well a carrier meets customer expectations and improves the overall process. To make the most of all data resources, carriers need a robust system that organizes, consolidates, cleans and processes data into actionable and understandable insights.

While there are countless data analytics programs out there, all of these systems fall under one comprehensive data umbrella that all organizations should know about and utilize. This is business intelligence.

How business intelligence is transforming insurance

There’s so much more to business intelligence than just generating reports and processing data. In insurance business intelligence, there are industry-specific functions that are being transformed, giving carriers a new leg-up in an ever-crowded market.

1. Risk management: Arguably, the most important role that business intelligence plays today is in influencing the underwriting process and risk assessment and management. Insurance business intelligence gives carriers more visualized and actionable information to inform policy underwriting and premiums, helping to improve accuracy and customer service. Using both personal and environmental data, carriers can utilize all functions of business intelligence to create a holistic picture of customers and decide who the best customers will be.

2. Fraud detection: According to the FBI, the total cost of insurance fraud is more than $40 billion per year, meaning carriers are doing everything they can to combat the latest fraud schemes. Thankfully, data is a powerful weapon in the fight against fraud. Business intelligence, by way of insurance fraud analytics, is helping insurers identify suspicious behavior more quickly and accurately, so they can proactively protect themselves and their assets.

3. Claims handling: Claims handling is one of the most critical insurance functions when it comes to meeting customer expectations, as the last thing they want to deal with in their time of need is delayed payment or communication. With insurance business intelligence, claims handlers are given a comprehensive view of processes and performance as they relate to claims. They can then use this information to review essential information faster and deliver the fastest service possible.

4. Sales: Insurance sales professionals have multiple products and territories that they are responsible for, leaving carriers with many performance factors to monitor and analyze. With insurance business intelligence, carriers have access to real-time reports that cover the most important metrics, such as individual performance, product sales and more. With these insights, insurers can better identify which products and territories are most successful and make the necessary decisions and changes to improve business performance.

5. New business opportunities: Insurers are constantly competing to get products to market as fast as possible, and a critical tool that helps them do that is a centralized data resource. Business intelligence creates just that, as analytics software creates actionable visualizations that gives insurers the information they need to act. This data can also help insurers monitor the overall insurance space and see where the market is headed.

6. Customer insights: The information leveraged from business intelligence also helps insurers improve their customer insights and make better decisions that will please their target demographics. With insurance business intelligence, carriers can roll out new products that will attract a certain customer. It can also help carriers create more personalized offerings and delight the customer they already have, improving customer loyalty.

7. Centralized data resource: Most insurers are dealing with siloed data resources for all of their customer and business insights. These disparate systems can make creating accurate reports and actionable analytics nearly impossible, as these systems don’t communicate correctly and sometimes don’t work together at all. This is where business intelligence comes in — it creates a unified data resource that consolidates the carrier’s most valuable resources and gives them the information they need to compete.

8. Cybersecurity: Aside from fraud, cybersecurity is one of the costliest outside threats that insurance carriers face. According to a report published by the Ponemon Institute and Accenture, insurance cybercrimes costs have jumped 40% in a three-year span. But with the tools and insights associated with business intelligence, insurers are cracking down on cybercriminals. Using analytics, insurers can more quickly and accurately flag weak areas within their infrastructure and make the necessary fixes.

With data mining, data analytics, and performance benchmarking offered in the business intelligence infrastructure, all organizational data is translated into reports, metrics, and trends that are used to inform all facets of business decision-making.

Jeff Wargin is the chief product officer at Duck Creek Technologies. Contact him at jeffrey.m.wargin@duckcreek.com.

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