a person is holding a magnifying glass over a piece of paper

In an earlier post, we wrote about the ways in which companies go about reporting the incidents that spawn claims. And we recounted a conversation we’d had with a prospect on the subject of that reporting.

We recalled that post and that conversation in a more recent exchanges with another prospect. That made us think about what kind of risk-management reporting some companies might be getting. More important, it made us think about the extent to which many companies settle for what they’re getting.

Here’s a transcript of the exchange:

Us: What kind of risk-management reports do you get from your TPA or from your claims system?

Them: You mean loss runs or summaries?

Us: No. Risk-management reports. You know, the kinds of reports that would let you identify loss trends and such.

Them: Oh, you mean like reports of accidents, injuries, and stuff like that?

Us: Uh … not exactly. We were thinking more along the lines of reports that break down losses by type, by individual, by activity, by geography, and a number of other factors that could help you mitigate your risks and costs.

Them: Gotcha. You’re talking about the kinds of report that would help us improve safety, reduce the probability of accidents, and minimize our exposures.

Us: Exactly!

Them: Whew. Now we’re on the same page.

Us: Precisely. So, now that we understand our terms, what kind of risk-management reports do you get from your TPA or from you claims system?

Them: We don’t get anything like that.

It Doesn’t Have to Be That Hard

If you find yourself in a situation in which you’re not getting the risk reports you need to manage your risks adequately, you can do one of three things:

  1. Ask your TPA for them.
  2. Ask your risk manager for them.
  3. Get a system that will generate them for you on demand.

We know what we’d do. But we’re biased because we know how easy it is to get the reports you need.

If you’re ready to find out just how easy, we’d love to talk with you.

a cartoon illustration of children playing in a forest

A popular introduction to local news used to ask, “It’s 10 o’clock. Do you know where your children are?” Along the same lines, many companies in industries as diverse as insurance, transportation, construction, local governments, TPAs, self-insured groups, and restaurants are wondering where their claims managers and risk managers are. They might be in the office. They might be working from home. They might be on the road. It doesn’t matter. Wherever they are, they need access to information. And they need to be able to find the information they need as efficiently as possible.

If that was true to some extent before the coronavirus pandemic, it’s a way of life now. Some folks call it digital transformation. Some folks call it the new normal. We call it evolution and common sense. Paper’s been been on the decline in working environments for more than 20 years because digital technology has been on the rise for that same period of time. And there’s no going back.

Digging Digital

Much of the digital progress has been made in claims management and risk management. Digitization facilitates automation. Automation facilitates workflows. Workflows facilitate efficiency and productivity. Efficiency and productivity improve loss mitigation, customer service, and profitability. Digitization also facilitates better data. Better data facilitates analytics and reporting. Analytics and reporting improve decision-making. It’s a pretty straight line. And there’s more.

As data analytics and decision-making improves, so does claim prevention. By identifying trends, incident types, claims frequency, times of occurrence, affected activities, accident-prone individuals, and more, claims managers and risk managers can work with their customers and their employees to reduce the likelihood of risk.

We’d never say COVID-19 was a good thing. But it did bring about — or at least accelerate — some very good things. Because it created the need for enhanced digitalization, it created the opportunity for claims management and risk management to advance rapidly. If we can keep the momentum going, the future will be bright, indeed.

It’s 2022. You don’t need to know where your claims managers are.