How Robotic Process Automation will Ultimately Change the Insurance Industry
by Ken Neal
March 9, 2016
My colleague, Michelle Stephens, BPO Advisor, Insurance solutions for Canon Business Process Services, recently shared with me an interesting article on an Everest Group Report. The report, which focuses on robotic process automation (RPA) states that “…adoption of RPA in insurance BPO is gaining speed because the cost savings are significant. RPA can yield incremental cost reduction of anywhere from 15 percent for offshore operations to as high as 45 percent for onshore operations.“
The report adds: “With the commoditization of labor arbitrage, automation and analytics have emerged as key value levers. RPA is highly valued by insurance BPO service providers as a method to reduce FTE in labor-intensive processes such as claim processing. Similarly, with the inclusion of judgment-intensive processes in insurance BPO contracts on the rise, expertise in analytics is becoming a key competitive differentiator.”
There are five graphics within the report that illustrate emerging trends and key takeaways that insurers should consider in 2016. One of the most important areas, in Michelle’s estimation, is to understand how robotic process automation in insurance BPO might benefit your organization. This includes achieving significant savings, improved efficiency and greater ability to handle volume fluctuations in operational processes. The latter might include an influx of new business applications due to product rollouts, spikes in claims processing due to natural disasters, increases in policy cancellations (typically taking place monthly/quarterly/annually), and more.
Feel free to visit the Insurance Industry page of our website for more information on industry trends and best practices including case histories, white papers and more.