Case Studies

First thing’s first: The file set-up process can make or break your budget

Background

A mutual medical malpractice insurance company in the New York metropolitan area contacted Lanzko Consulting to review their claims operations and processes. Setting up a claim is a crucial first step in the life of a file. A poor file set-up procedure can result in significant negative legal and customer service implications. When not efficient, file set up procedures can take too long, involve too many people, and often result in unnecessary and duplicative proc­esses. A solution should increase produc­tivity, be cost effective, and simul­taneously decrease risk.

Results

A compre­hensive S.P.O.T. Assessment of the claim file set-up procedure identified inefficiencies and process break­downs that warranted improvement. Lanzko’s rec­ommendation reduced file set-up time from 10 days to 2 days, eliminated multiple redundant track­ing spreadsheets and logs, and saved the company several hundred thousand dollars in hard costs.

Making decisions about claims software and technology implementations

Background

Lanzko was asked to review a major start-up Property and Casualty insurance company’s comprehensive system initiatives from a claims perspective. The company was in the process of implementing an all-encompassing system to manage submission, clearance, underwriting and claims. They wrote multiple P&C lines of business, and wanted to know whether the claims application would be able to handle a variety of claim types. Given the start-up nature of the organization there were no claim subject matter experts to review the process internally, but there were stakeholders within each of the insurance disciplines that felt certain features were required.

Results

Lanzko reviewed the application, discussed the various features with both the technology vendor and internal department stakeholders, and was able to recommend a more streamlined implementation. Lanzko mapped out a claims processing workflow in relation to how the system would be used, and advised that the system was more than sufficient to handle the majority of claims that might be processed without the need for costly customization. With Lanzko’s guidance, the company could quickly proceed with the implementation and save significant time and money on unnecessary features or custom design.

Preparing for what’s to come

Background

Founder Marc Lanzkowsky often tells the story of walking into his first day at start-up Arch Insurance only weeks after the Chief Claims Officer had been hired. The company was working out of cramped space in Lower Manhattan and was rapidly growing its underwriting and binding new policies at a breakneck pace. On day one, Marc was handed the entire company’s log of claim files, which only consisted of one property loss, and one notification of a casualty incident. It was easy to think that claim counts would be low for a while, but within a few short months the company began receiving dozens of new files a month. With rapid growth in the start-up world comes the prospect of time disappearing.

Results

Because Marc had already been hired into the role, he was able to actively organize and plan the claims management process. Marc could concentrate on managing the administrative operation, which freed up the technical claims staff so that they could focus on strong technical claims handling from its inception.