I N S U RA N C E C O M PA N I E S US I N G B P M T O I N C R E A S E FL E X I B I L I T Y

Insurance is one of the most highly regulated industries, with new requirements and rules being added and changed frequently. Because of this, it is highly important that insurance companies practice organizational efficiency and flexibility to be able to stay up to date.

One approach that insurance companies use is called Business Process Management, or BPM.

BPM is an approach or philosophy with the purpose of decreasing organizational inefficiencies and waste through business process improvements and optimization. When applied to companies working in the insurance industry, BPM shows significant benefits both for the insurance company as well as their customers.

Using BPM solutions, insurance companies are able to document, analyze, streamline, and improve their workflow and the processes within it.

One reason that BPM solutions are particularly effective within the insurance industry is that BPM is extremely flexible, which makes it easier for companies using it to adapt to industry regulatory changes quickly and with minimal disruption to the processes involved.

Once deployed, a BPM system can be updated as workflows change or new processes are added, without needing to replace the entire system every time a law changes. While some legacy systems used by insurance companies might be able to handle modifications to processes, most of them lack the flexibility to do this easily and efficiently.

Insurance companies also benefit from the inherent transparency of BPM

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Stakeholders are able to view entire streamlined workflows and see the interactions between people, information, and processes. This allows them to quickly notice problems as they are occurring and be able to predict and avoid future issues. This transparency and inclusion of all information in a centralized location also helps improve communication, both internally and with customers and regulators. Communication with customers and the demystifying of the insurance claims process, in particular, has been shown to have a significant impact on customer satisfaction and retention.

Another benefit seen by insurance companies using BPM solutions is decreased errors due to all processes being tied to workflows so that nothing is able to fall through the cracks and be overlooked. This makes it easier for employees to complete tasks correctly and efficiently. Following the workflow processes also increases accountability for employees. If a problem does arise, the BPM solution makes it easier to detect exactly what went wrong and how, which allows any problems to be dealt with quickly.

BPM systems also help insurance companies to improve their bottom line by automating processes and identifying costly inefficiencies. Once these inefficiencies are recognized, the company can take steps to improve the processes, then continue monitoring the workflow for additional areas of improvement. Rather than spending time with tedious paperwork, employees can automate processes like that. Then they can use the extra time they saved to work on new business opportunities, for example. The BPM system will then assist with knowledge-sharing so that the process can be automated across other functional areas of the company. Even small process efficiency improvements can have significant impacts as they free up resources to be used for more important tasks that can add value to the organization.