Priority No. 1: Manage & mobilize insurance data in a connected world BY CHARLIE HANNA · 12/14/2017

[Cara_McFarlane]

With instant access to information through increasingly mobile devices, today’s insurance customer also expects anytime-anywhere access to policy, coverage, and claim data. However, as an insurer, you must still ensure security and privacy, and guarantee one version of the truth across platforms, users, and transactions. Availability of, and accessibility to, data that exists only in paper files or hidden behind legacy firewalls means you cannot utilize it to its fullest potential.

That means managing and mobilizing insurance data in a connected world just became insurance industry priority No. 1.

While the introduction of the Internet of Things (IoT), smart devices, and mobile apps have resulted in a more connected consumer, these advances have only made things worse for data-challenged insurers. Now facing a virtual onslaught of emerging data sources with varying levels of trust or authenticity, insurers still struggling to manage static, siloed policyholder data face an inflection point.

The sins of the past

In the Information Age, the idea of paper files is expectedly problematic. In the last 10 to 15 years, insurers started scanning and digitizing historical documents simply to eliminate storage charges and overhead involved with maintaining such files.

As luck would have it, the somewhat unexpected side benefit of digitizing policyholder files was increased access to information. This gave insurers a holistic view of a policyholder’s product portfolio, enabling cross selling, upselling, or even protection from identity theft.

However, for many insurers, the sins of the past are literally coming home to roost. Consider that policyholder data, and the information derived from it, was never something insurers actively planned to use. It was simply a by-product of doing business.

Today, the industry has a second chance; an opportunity to do things better this time around. Insurers need a single enterprise information platform for managing insurance data and documents, which will not only unite, but also protect, all critical systems and information.

Guaranteed availability

The value of a single enterprise information platform, fortunately, goes beyond the quick access and simple document routing benefits possible for all internal users – once data is normalized for performance and available across systems. Such a platform empowers efficiency and agility through collaboration, so insurers can grow and innovate with confidence.

With data digitized, normalized, and managed securely, insurers can make information more widely accessible, even externally, on a 24/7/365 basis via tightly integrated, self-service cloud solutions.

While users can quickly search for documents and easily navigate to all related content, the larger benefit comes in the form of robust information management and process automation capabilities. This makes information actionable by any authorized employee, regardless of the device used, in the office or in the field.

By extending an information management strategy and mobilizing critical insurance data in this way, employees can easily view information from other business applications through direct integrations; add notes and annotations to documents; complete tasks and approvals as part of a workflow; route content to others; and trigger processes by completing forms or capturing key content.

Effectively, it becomes a content hub, surfacing information from other business systems and mobile apps.

Once insurers are working with digital information stored in the cloud, the challenge becomes moving it from the data center to the point of action, wherever that may be. Natively developed mobile apps help by leveraging content management capabilities delivered via an enterprise information platform. Adding mobile capabilities empowers your employees to intelligently capture images and data, complete forms, collect information, complete businesses tasks, obtain approvals, and interact with or modify content while offline, using approved mobile devices.

Priority No. 1

Managing and mobilizing insurance data and documents in a connected world may be the most important strategic imperative facing insurers today. It’s industry priority No. 1.

Your organization can achieve accessibility across systems and platforms as part of a larger digital transformation initiative. But only when data is delivered to the point of action can you hope to tackle the challenges presented by the mobility inherent to today’s workforce and consumer.

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[Amar_Bains]

Cara,

This is great nformation and so true. So, the next question, how can I use a Mobility app to extend services to Adjusters and Brokers?