The manner in which insurers select a robust, effective RMIS has changed a lot in recent years.
While it was common practice for products to only differ on features and functions, we have seen a clear need for the market to also consider factors such as ease of use, configuration and mobile accessibility.
Simon Pemberton (SP) – Chief Executive Officer, Gallagher Bassett, and Pete Diskin (PD) – Chief Client Officer, Gallagher Bassett discuss what insurers should consider when choosing their next RMIS partner.
Q: Let’s start at the beginning, what should insurers be looking for when selecting a TPA partner for their RMIS?
SP: Historically, robust RMIS products just simply weren’t available from TPAs. But that has all changed in recent years as TPAs invested significantly in developing competitive RMIS products so insurers could centralise and manage all data impacting their total cost of risk (TCOR). This has seen an increase in the competitiveness of features and functions of these products, but we are now seeing factors such as 24/7 availability, training, ongoing customer support and much more playing into the decision-making process. Insurers should also look for claim data dashboards, inquiry and reporting functionalities that support preconfigured reports and interactive reporting tools.
PD: It’s really critical that insurers consider whether their TPA’s RMIS product suite includes all of the data inquiry, transaction reporting, and advanced interactive analytics crucial to successfully managing business risks and insured enterprise-wide liabilities. At GB, we’ve ensured our RMIS platform LUMINOS is inherently flexible, with an agile computing resource to meet and exceed the risk management information challenges our insurer, program administrator, and MGA partners are facing.
Q: How can insurers evaluate RMIS offerings that are bundled with TPA claims management services?
SP: The RMIS Reports from Redhand Advisors are the definitive resource for independent tool reviews. Published annually by respected insurance industry veterans David Tweedy and Patrick O’Neill, their RMIS Reports review all the bundled and unbundled product offerings available in the marketplace. These reports include feature set evaluations, Net Promoter Scores (NPS®) and general commentary to help insurers make informed decisions about their TPA partner. Since 2018, our LUMINOS RMIS product suite has received top honours in the Redhand Advisor reports as the most comprehensive, bundled RMIS tool feature set in the TPA industry.
PD: Many of the data drawn from the Redhand Advisor surveys also noted that LUMINOS was user friendly and could accommodate all levels of customization to meet their organisation’s needs. Exceptional customer service is a core value here at GB, and we’re really proud that our insurer partners rewarded LUMINOS with the top NPS® scores for a bundled RMIS solution for the fourth year in a row.
Q: What does LUMINOS do differently from other RMIS products?
SP: Our methodology behind technology investment is centred on whether the product or improvement can measure superior claims outcomes, manage litigation, reserve accuracy, service delivery and improve over time. This methodology ensures that we can best support our claims professionals to do their role to the best of their ability, with all of the predictive analytics and insights required to successfully support modern-day insurer and insured risk management programs. The massive explosion in risk data quantities, sources and availability is literally rewriting the book of information management. Our goal at GB is to continually evaluate the needs of our partners so we can continue to adapt and evolve.
PD: LUMINOS is a single point of entry for all our client-facing products here at GB. Through our strategic partnership with Origami Risk, we have created a uniquely hybrid RMIS solution. Alongside core Origami RMIS software features, we apply our claims expertise and internal data-science resources to integrate select proprietary computing tools. The advances in cloud based computing power, machine learning and advanced analytics has allowed us to offer sophisticated tools that harvest all the valuable information residing in insurer’s computing applications and desktop spreadsheets.
Q: How does GB plan to group Expanded Service modules together to support specific industry verticals?
SP: We have developed an extensive list of LUMINOS Expanded Services to offer a holistic view of all factors impacting insurer risk management strategies and insureds TCOR. We have seen the benefits of grouping some of these modules together to better support industry verticals, so our package purchase options typically bundle several items together to support this. This simplifies the buying decision, and also typically includes tiered pricing value propositions that offer more attractive purchasing points.
PD: It’s really great to see the benefit bundling these RMIS concepts can have in the TPA market. We have been working closely over the past several months to define specific RMIS Expanded Service package offerings for our insurer and program clients and their insureds.
GB will be sharing more information about what these bundles involve in the very near future, so please reach out to our team if you’d like to learn more about this!
