The roots of intelligent automation remain firmly established in the information technology industry, yet its influence has branched to serve businesses traditionally considered far removed from IT. As diverse business sectors and organizations recognize the need to help clients and customers more effectively, intelligent automation is being applied to business processes to propel those companies forward.
Look no further than the insurance industry.
Streamlining processes
As organizations are beset with regulations that vary between states or include federal oversight, insurers must adapt their products and services to these rules while serving customers and attracting prospects. Simultaneously, reams of paperwork processes are grandfathered into workstreams. These are burdens to agile businesses and require solutions that move at the speed of modern technology, consumer demand and regulatory change.
Enter intelligent automation.
Simply automating assignments in the regular workflow hastens the completion of repetitive tasks, freeing employees to use their talents on more important responsibilities. However, any change in the process or how it works can require human intervention. Intelligent automation solves this challenge. Introducing machine learning and natural language processing optimizes speed and precision. More importantly, intelligent automation can iteratively learn and incorporate changes in the automation on the fly.
Intelligent automation replaces outdated systems that have been implemented over time as insurance businesses and the industry have evolved.
The impact is profound across the enterprise: in the claims operations, underwriting, financial services, accounting, customer service and lead generation. This transformation optimizes workflow tracking, which is woefully inefficient in paper systems.
Additionally, there's no more need to adapt to internal or external change with irregular solutions or processes that mesh poorly. Modern digital tools used to bring a business up to the contemporary demands of insurance services are much nimbler in addressing future pressures that will mandate adjustments.
See also: Insurers Turn to Automation
Insurance challenges
In one instance, an insurer managing more than a million policyholders implemented a customized content management solution to eliminate waste, improve efficiencies and enhance customer service. The innovative system was designed to engage enterprise-wide and, as importantly, functioned in synchronization with third-party administrative systems.
These digital processes, implemented on time and budget, have customer service metrics skyrocketing. First-call resolution rates have reached 95% accuracy, rates of closed inquiries have topped 98% and the automated routing of work and use of intuitive dashboards has improved workflow across the board.
The insurer sought a 20% improvement on underwriting costs, the elimination of paper processes, new functionality in claims, managing annuities and customer service and the flexibility to adjust in the future. It enjoys all this today, along with the freedom to streamline up to a third of its core and support staff, resulting from improved operational efficiency.
Fast-paced pharma
Pharmaceutical and healthcare businesses likewise show the power of intelligent automation. They need to reduce paper processes while having at-the-ready, real-time access to information, intelligence, documentation and work inventory status. They want to boost customer service effectiveness and efficiency.
Businesses that manage 340B pharmaceutical reimbursement programs are overseen by federal regulations and live in a world incorporating healthcare providers, drug distribution and pharmacy operations and reimbursement. Thus, their tracking, reporting and compliance obligations are significant, and their functions must integrate with external systems. Like the insurance industry, these businesses can often be plagued by antiquated, inefficient processes.
One such business has adopted and deployed an online, automated intelligence system that's solved inefficiencies and focuses on pharmacy clients. It allows the business to serve those customers by managing high volumes of 340B reimbursements, generating accurate reports and remaining audit-ready and compliant.
Within a short time, the organization used the first phase of a state-of-the-art automated intelligence solution that managed claims processing, inventory fluctuations, order management, inventory replenishment, reporting and more.
Explicitly designed to function within an agile software development lifecycle, this highly scalable, web-based solution reduced development costs and enabled the company to enter the market quickly, raising its profile as a pharmacy-centric provider. After incorporating an in-house file processing platform, the solution functions today with a client load that regularly creates thousands of claims and processes them within a tighter time frame while meeting the terms of service level agreements.
See also: Future of Claims: Automation, Empathy
Different needs, different solutions
No two transformations are alike. Yet many have similar goals to meet and challenges to overcome. These examples in insurance and healthcare are only two of a countless variety of solutions that automated intelligence can address.
To accomplish cost-effective build-outs of new digital processes like those highlighted above takes in-house expertise for guidance and implementation. Highly skilled digital transformation companies have mastered weaving in digital solutions for rapid end-to-end business process automation.
Organizations that need to transform should seek a provider with an established framework that can deploy domestic, offshore and hybrid development talent to the necessary tasks if required. This is a highly sought benefit that bolsters on-time and on-budget transformations. It helps ensure the design and delivery of a secure system environment with the highest quality assurance.
The company will reap its adaptation capabilities and continue serving at scale in the future.
