Optical character recognition & better insurance document processing
Learn how technology can help unlock the power of unstructured data with less manpower.
Today’s digital technology is driving massive changes in the insurance industry as insurers aim to increase work efficiency and productivity while improving the customer experience at the same time. One technological advancement that has become key to helping agents remain more competitive and retain more business is optical character recognition or OCR.
What Is OCR and how does it work/?
OCR technology converts unstructured data into machine-readable text. Simply put, it transforms the content in a physical document (printed or handwritten) into a digital format. The process is easy. A document is scanned and uploaded, and the data is read and converted into a digital file. Once the information is in the system, it can be further used for other data processing needs, such as applications, supplemental forms and proposals.
What are the benefits?
The insurance application, quoting and renewal processes have always been labor intensive. Even with the advent of online applications and new software management systems, marketing accounts require hours of keying in information, which can lead to errors and processing delays. Just imagine the time saved if you could streamline the remarketing of accounts; pre-populate applications, proposals and certificates of insurance (COI); and receive instant renewal pricing — all with increased accuracy? With OCR, that’s exactly what you can do.
The key benefit of OCR in the insurance industry is its ability to process documents. This easy-to-use, efficient document-processing tool can save time and administrative costs by:
- Reducing manual data entry processes.
- Expediting the turnaround time on quotes.
- Eliminating the chance for errors through automation.
- Reducing the claim cycle time.
- Prefilling new business and renewal applications, forms, proposals and COIs with data capture capabilities.
A better way to manage documents and access information
According to OCR Vision, insurance companies and agencies typically use document management systems (DMS) to scan and store information. However, without OCR software, they are unable to utilize the information available in the system because the data inside scanned documents remain trapped and can’t be identified by the DMS. As a result, employees spend countless hours manually searching for information that can’t be found.
The everyday decisions that an insurance company must make are based on the information that is made available to them by their systems. For that reason, it’s no wonder that things such as manually driven processes can create delays that not only cost time and money but have a negative impact on the customer experience as well. Today’s OCR technology is changing all that by enabling insurance companies and agencies to work more efficiently – so they can improve customer service, attract and retain more business, and reduce operating costs.
Paul Holbein is co-president of Builders & Tradesmen’s Insurance Services, Inc., an Amynta Group Company. To learn more about OCR, email Paul at phohlbein@btisinc.com.
For additional information visit www.btisinc.com or call (877) 649-6682.
This piece originally ran on the Builders & Tradesmen’s Insurance Services site and is reprinted here with permission. Opinions expressed here are the author’s own.
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