Insurance Company Advances Performance with Document Processing Improvements and Cost Savings
Challenge
Paper-based transactions are central to the insurance industry. Our client, an insurance company that provides financial security to credit unions and their members worldwide, originally worked with a vendor to scan, index, and code the company’s large amount of incoming claims and customer correspondence each day—but the company wanted more from its document management process. First, the company wanted to integrate newer technology into that process to improve efficiency and save money. Also, our client needed a comprehensive performance management system to provide results in near real-time—not only to track results, but to measure how well the outsourcing provider was meeting its SLAs.
"We wanted to work with a service provider that could produce more than basic Excel spreadsheets," explained the company’s director of administration. "Those spreadsheets document processing volumes but provide little additional insight."
When the company reached out to us and recounted its struggles, we listened and offered our take: We could apply our deep experience with document imaging solutions to manage the entire process, using Six Sigma® methodologies, technology solutions, and a much-needed performance management system to systematically measure, benchmark, and drive continuous improvement. Through these conversations, we connected with the insurance company, becoming its trusted partner in creating a sustainable workflow for managing documents.
Optimizing Document Imaging Processes
We kicked off the partnership with a four-phase plan to take the company’s document scanning processes to the optimal state. This roadmap specified the necessary resources, time allotment, and potential ROI for each phase.
In phase one, Canon assumed management of staff and operations for the scanning process; we received, prepped, imaged, and coded time-sensitive insurance documents and entered them into the company’s business process workflow. To this day, we scan and index 31,000 pages daily—totaling over 11 million scanned images a year. Phases two through four involved ongoing measures to reduce costs and increase efficiency. A big part of this effort was moving 40% of scanning operations to our offshore business process center (BPC); meanwhile, our BPC in the US receives, processes, and uploads documents to the company’s content management system.
The final phase of the plan was particularly exciting for our client: We implemented a fully automated imaging process, replacing manual data entry with hands-free digitization and data extraction—again meaning reduced time and costs. This new process anticipates the future of the insurance industry and puts the company in a strong position for ongoing success.
Document Plan a Success
The document and workflow plan has been successful to date, with the client realizing $140,000 cost savings each year. We worked with the client to establish SLAs prior to the project, and our performance management system showed progress after just six weeks. The insurance company can view performance data for specified periods from seven days to five weeks, or it can view its custom interactive dashboard starting at 8:00 am each day to view the previous day’s results. Through the performance management system, our client can view documented progress—and proof of progress for its documents.
"One key benefit of Canon's performance management system is transparency," added the company’s administration director. "We never had this kind of visibility into workflow processes, and neither did our previous services provider. It gives so much more information and information is power: It allows our processes to change and improve."