Claims management is one of the essential parts of the insurance process. It is a critical part of financial planning and dictates how insurance providers handle customer service. The claims management process involves multiple parties and steps, and obstructions at any of these points can significantly affect the result.
Traditionally, lengthy claims management processes were typical, but technological innovation has changed customer expectations. Ensuring customer satisfaction is one of several claim management challenges professionals must face. Identifying obstacles in the claims management process is the first step in addressing them.
The Importance of Resolving Claims Management Difficulties
Claims management is complex, and customer expectations have increased over recent years. They expect expedient results when they make a claim. Claim management professionals must deal with many moving parts to meet customer demands, handling increasing amounts of information.
Leaving challenges in the claims management process unaddressed can result in financial losses for your business and increased delays, leaving customers looking elsewhere to meet their insurance needs. Increased digitization has made the claims management market more competitive, putting extra pressure on experienced teams. If there was ever a time to streamline the process, it is now.
Common Challenges in the Claims Management Process
The claims management process is detailed — customers expect you and your team to simplify it. Understanding the challenges in claims management is the first step to resolving them. Some typical difficulties in claim management include the following.
Managing Data
Each claim you manage requires much information throughout its life cycle, from first notice of loss (FNOL) to resolution. Managing a high volume of sensitive data is a double-edged sword. Manual claims processing requires extra time and effort, slowing down the process. Electronic processing could pose a security risk without compliant, secure software.
Losing Information Through Multiple Touchpoints
Establishing a claim typically requires the claimant, adjuster, insurance companies, and attorneys to transmit information back and forth. The lack of a unified platform can cause miscommunication, missed information and increase the chance of error. With so many people involved in a single claim, customers may also experience a disconnect and lose the holistic and transparent view they value so highly.
Handling Slow Claim Resolutions
Many states require companies to process and complete claims within a predetermined time frame. Periods vary from state to state, but time-consuming manual processes often stall claims. Delays in claim resolutions are among the top challenges in the industry. They occur for many reasons, including coding errors and prolonged investigations.
Incurring Claim Resolution Costs
Your business’ claim resolution processes could cost or save you money. Automated transactions are more cost-effective. High operational costs are always troublesome, whether caused by missed opportunities, claims leakage or erroneous payments. You can view any element that disrupts the claims management process as an additional operational cost.
Keeping up to Date with Technological Growth
Technological innovations in claims management have made the market more competitive. Customer satisfaction is essential, and businesses that introduce more streamlined and user-friendly claims processes have a competitive advantage. There is also internal pressure to make systems more accurate and stay compliant with the relevant regulations.
Dealing With Ineffective Claims Management Systems
Outdated claims management systems have significant challenges. They are resource heavy and require specialist tech support. Updating your claims management software can be expensive, but it provides a high return on investment in the long term and make you more adept at meeting your customers’ evolving needs.
Lack of management information is another critical challenge to address. With access to relevant data, claims management professionals can accurately forecast trends and make proactive decisions based on these predictions.
Managing Changing Customer Expectations
Your customers benefit from constant technological innovations across many products and services they use, and as a result, their standards are changing. They have higher expectations for claims adjusters, who must also deal with the direct customer service side of processing a claim.
Staying Compliant
Insurance regulations are complex and constantly evolving. Keeping up with these comprehensive regulations in the context of complex systems and detailed processes is necessary but labor-intensive. Focusing on staying compliant takes your focus away from your operations and the client experience, which can be detrimental to your bottom line.
Coping With Poor Integration
Combining internal and external systems creates a complex IT environment for insurance professionals. Poor data integration results in claims management professionals working with incorrect or outdated data, affecting payment levels and customer satisfaction. Additionally, your IT department is under increasing strain to maintain integrations and correct discrepancies.
How to Tackle Challenges in the Claims Management Process
Innovative technology is the most effective way to combat claims management challenges. Automating insurance claims processing with a stand-alone, claims-focused risk management information system is a robust approach to resolving the current difficulties in claims management. Some of the benefits of integrating a risk management information system to streamline and track claim activities include the following.
- Unifying processes: Several people and entities play a role in claims management. Standardizing the claims management processes eliminates lost information and discrepancies in the life cycle, leading to faster claim resolution and more accurate data.
- Saving time and money: Automating your claims processing will increase productivity and reduce the costs associated with employees’ workloads. Full automation decreases the claim life cycle, saving you time and money throughout the claims management process.
- Staying compliant: Quality claims management and tracking systems will help you remain compliant. As every stage of the claims management process requires you to process sensitive customer information, your software is subject to laws that govern data protection, allowing you to stay compliant with insurance regulations.
- Leveraging your claims data: Claims management has a data-driven approach. If you can access your claims data in real time from a user-friendly interface, you can take a proactive approach to decision-making and prioritize your financial stability.
- Improving claims processing: Claims management software helps your employees manage and close claims faster and provides advanced reporting to streamline your operations management.
- Providing a better customer experience: Streamlining the claims management process and providing customers with digital options for logging claims improves the customer experience and allows your business to maintain a competitive edge.
Streamline Your Claim Management with Cloud Claims
Addressing challenges in your claims management process with effective, incident-based claim management software is the next step to streamlining your operations and ensuring high levels of customer satisfaction. With APP Tech’s Cloud Claims, you can manage your claims — and the associated risks — with flexible and purpose-built technology to support your management objectives.
Our tailored onboarding can put your integration fears to rest. With a 100% client implementation success rate and unlimited support, we are always here to ensure your claims management software performs optimally and to address your claims management concerns. Contact us today, and one of our dedicated solution consultants will answer any questions and help you determine the advantages you will find with Cloud Claims. Start combating your claims management challenges today.