Novarica Releases Business and Technology Trends: Workers' Compensation Report

BOSTON - Oct. 21, 2014 - PRLog -- Workers’ compensation continues to be hyper-competitive with technology playing an ever larger role in insurers’ ability to attract, retain and profitably serve clients. Top technology initiatives for workers’ compensation carriers include agent portals, business intelligence —especially predictive analytics and core claims, and policy administration implementations, says a new report from Novarica, a research and advisory firm focused on IT strategy.

Novarica’s Business and Technology Trends: Workers’ Compensation report provides an overview of workers’ compensation carriers’ business and technology issues, data about the marketplace and 40 examples of recent technology investments. Some of the key findings from this report include:

•Most workers’ compensation mobile applications are currently focused on loss control, with TPAs offering apps with injury reporting and other claims self-service functionality.

•Agent portals continue be important for guiding producers as to carriers’ risk appetite and for ease of doing business.

•Business Intelligence and analytics are viewed as key competitive capabilities.

•Core systems investments continue to be critical in improving time to market and product flexibility.

•Lower priority technology initiatives, include billing, customer portals, distribution management, document creation and management, rating, underwriting work stations and specialized components.

Workers’ compensation insurance is characterized by a high degree of sensitivity to state regulation and is extremely vulnerable to economic changes such as unemployment rates, payroll reductions and interest rate fluctuations.  Insurance carriers are trying to offset this by investing in technology to make better underwriting decisions, improve operations, and leveraging proactive analytics to determine which claims are likely to result in long-term payouts.

Novarica’s Business and Technology Trends: Workers’ Compensation report is part of a series on key business and technology trends in specific line of business segments in the US insurance industry.  These reports are based on the expertise of Novarica’s staff, conversations with members of the Novarica Insurance Technology Research Council and a review of secondary published resources.  A free summary of the workers’ compensation report is available online at: http://www.novarica.com/b_and_t_trends_workers_comp_2014/

About Novarica
Novarica provides information, insights, and perspectives on markets, operations, and technology to financial services and insurance executives. The company delivers its service through published research, retained advisory services, and project-based consulting. Novarica draws its knowledge from the personal experience of its principals, the ongoing information gathering initiatives of dedicated research staff, and regular communication with insurer executives through informal networks and through the Novarica Insurance Technology Research Council, a moderated knowledge-sharing community of more than 325 senior IT executives representing more than 300 North American insurers. For more information about Novarica, visit:www.novarica.com

About Novarica Insurance Technology Research Council
The Novarica Insurance Technology Research Council is a free, moderated knowledge-sharing community of over 325 insurer CIO members. Members represent a cross-section of property/casualty, life/annuity and health insurers, and range from the very small to the largest companies in the industry. The Council provides insights on issues of interest to insurer technology executives in a way that promotes knowledge sharing, provides quantitative data, and fully preserves participant anonymity. Membership benefits include free copies of survey results in which members participate, opportunity to query other members anonymously through moderator and much more.  To join the council or to learn about other member benefits, visit: http://www.novarica.com/council/