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News & Commentary
Content posted in July 2011
A Brief Excursion to the Insurance Industry of the Future
Commentary  |  7/29/2011  | 
Insurance executives should take heart from Arthur C. Clarke's seemingly outlandish prediction of the "city of the future," and what it implies about the way technology will improve insurance enterprise processes, communication and decision-making in the not-too-distant future.
Telemedicine Reduces Rural Health Disparities, Says UnitedHealth
News  |  7/29/2011  | 
Major health insurer urges more broadband connectivity, fewer regulatory hurdles, and better reimbursement policies
Pan-American Life Licenses CSC Insurance Data Model
News  |  7/28/2011  | 
The model will give the New Orleans-based carrier a consolidated view of essential producer information, both in the U.S. and throughout Latin America, from a variety of sources across the enterprise.
Century Casualty Selects 4Sight
News  |  7/28/2011  | 
The commercial lines insurer will use the vendor's business intelligence product.
Health Insurers Must Establish Post-Reform Customer Strategy: Accenture
News  |  7/28/2011  | 
With more individuals to deal with, as opposed to the current group structure, segmentation will be increasingly important, the company says.
Texas Mutual Selects Guidewire ClaimCenter
News  |  7/27/2011  | 
Though it's existing system meets its current needs, the carrier will proactively install ClaimCenter in anticipation of evolving customer needs.
Claims Focus Shifts from Financial to Service Concerns: Conning
News  |  7/27/2011  | 
The insurance research and consulting group has noted a change in claims strategy since the mid-1990s toward building the best customer service experience.
Mitek Systems Launches Mobile Imaging Cloud Service
News  |  7/27/2011  | 
New service enables insurance IT developers to create camera-based smartphone and tablet apps that extract data from documents
Omega Group Licenses Vertafore PolicyIssuance for U.S. and U.K. Operations
News  |  7/27/2011  | 
The Bermuda-based Insurer will license the solution in an effort to shorten cycle times and reduce errors and omissions.
Gerber Life Adopts iPipeline for Integrated User Experience
News  |  7/27/2011  | 
The insurer will use iGO e-App with e-Signature and e-Submission for straight-through processing to accelerate underwriting activities and speed policy issuance.
Oracle Launches Solvency II Compliance Solution
News  |  7/27/2011  | 
Oracle Insurance Quantitative Management provides easy-to-use tools to create reports and perform task related to reports required of European insurers by the Solvency II regulations.
Oklahoma Farm Bureau Insurance Selects EagleEye Analytics
News  |  7/26/2011  | 
The insurer will use the Talon predictive analytics suite.
National Planning Holdings Engages Erado for Social Media Services
News  |  7/26/2011  | 
Erado's technology will assist NPH's four broker/dealers in monitoring, tracking and archiving its representatives' social media activity for compliance purposes.
Erie Insurance Licenses CSC's Agency Link
News  |  7/26/2011  | 
Erie will use the front-end software in conduction with the carrier's CSC Series II policy administration system.
Insurers Now Have Modernization Options When Package PAS Systems Don't Fit
News  |  7/26/2011  | 
Rules-based, configurable policy administration systems have proven themselves in the market. But packaged solutions aren't right for every insurer. Fortunately, other, more flexible alternatives to legacy systems offer new options to carriers that need to modernize their core capabilities.
Q&A: Navy Mutual Embraces Industry Standard Processes with help from Accenture Life Insurance Platform
News  |  7/25/2011  | 
Newer core system modernization options provide less risky ways for insurers to customize, but Navy Mutual Aid Association has chosen the ALIP system in part to move away from a highly customized environment. Tom Benton, VP, Technology and Systems, discusses Navy Mutual's modernization initiative with Insurance & Technology.
Dodd-Frank Anniversary Marked by Missed Deadlines, Hostile Counter Legislation
Commentary  |  7/22/2011  | 
Over 131 rule-making deadlines have been missed, The House has passed a bill to limit the powers of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Federal Insurance Office faces a Jan. 2012 deadline for its report on modernizing the insurance industry.
Verint Acquires Vovici
News  |  7/21/2011  | 
The latter's enterprise feedback management capabilities will be added to the former's existing customer experience analytics suite.
Fireman’s Fund Introduces Text Messaging Alerts
News  |  7/21/2011  | 
The company, which also released a mobile claims application, will text policyholders updates during disasters.
Sapiens Closes Merger with FIS, IDIT
News  |  7/21/2011  | 
The deal brings Sapiens' customer base to over 70 and significantly enhances its presence as a global provider of comprehensive solutions across the life and annuities, property casualty and reinsurance sectors.
CIGNA CIO: Go Global, Go Deep, Go Individual
News  |  7/20/2011  | 
Mark Boxer, who took on the CIO role at CIGNA in April 2011, talks to Insurance & Technology about technology's role in supporting the health insurer's information-intensive global strategy emphasizing the individual customer.
Vertafore Acquires StoneRiver FSC
News  |  7/20/2011  | 
Vertafore adds rating capabilities to its suite with the buy.
Independence Blue Cross Expands Social Effort to Mobile with Pedometer App
News  |  7/19/2011  | 
The insurer's Healthy Steps program now has an app that allows users to track exercise and share with their social network.
Making the Business Case to Upgrade Planning, Budgeting and Forecasting Capabilities
Commentary  |  7/19/2011  | 
Regulatory oversight, the globalization of markets and increasing operational complexity are spotlighting PB&F capabilities. But insurers should steer clear of a panacea approach in upgrading these necessary systems.
Gary Plotkin Leaves OneBeacon CIO Post
News  |  7/18/2011  | 
The former Hartford P&C CIO declined to comment on his reasons for leaving but said he is exploring new opportunities.
Top Allstate Protection Exec Steps Down; Soon-To-Be Subsidiaries Selling on O.co aka Overstock.com
Commentary  |  7/18/2011  | 
The company has not disclosed why Allstate Protection president Joe Lacher is leaving.
Analytics Will Take Center Stage as Health Insurers Enter Exchanges: PwC Survey
News  |  7/18/2011  | 
While uncertainty in terms of how states will model their exchanges remains, one thing is sure: Insurers must ramp up their data analytics and risk management capabilities to ensure success in any exchange model, PwC says.
HHS Proposes Health Insurance Exchange Rules
News  |  7/18/2011  | 
Federal guidelines assist states in building mandated competitive health insurance marketplaces.
After Proposed Rules, Health Exchange Questions Remain: Milliman
Commentary  |  7/15/2011  | 
The actuarial firm identified concerns for insurance companies after HHS released potential regulations.
Humana Creates Social Network for Older Policyholders
News  |  7/14/2011  | 
Humanaville.com takes advantage of increased use of online channels by older consumers.
Continentale Insurance Group Selects SimCorp Dimension
News  |  7/14/2011  | 
The German insurance group will use the program for investment management.
Accenture's Duck Creek Acquisition Signals Evolving Software and Mid-Tier Strategy
News  |  7/14/2011  | 
The acquisition reinforces Accenture's stature as a provider of core insurance software solutions and will support a more aggressive strategy in the mid-tier insurer market.
New Harleysville CIO Focuses on the 'Intersection of Service and Profitability'
News  |  7/13/2011  | 
Former OneBeacon VP Arne Herenstein will shepherd in-flight claims and billing system implementations, boost existing analytic capabilities and leverage a very strong IT team to pursue differentiation by superior service.
Allstate Adds $300 Million to CAT Loss Estimate, Other Insurers Report Losses
News  |  7/13/2011  | 
The losses from 13 June events are tacked on to a $2 billion loss from April and May.
CodeObjects Integrates ISO Electronic Rating Content
News  |  7/12/2011  | 
The vendor will include loss costs, rules, and rating information received from ERC with its policy administration system, PolicyEnterprise, for both commercial and personal lines of business.
Swiss Re Selects Multiple CSC Apps for P&C Processing
News  |  7/12/2011  | 
The insurer has adopted CSC systems spanning policy, claims, BPM and agent portal capabilities to support growth in the North American P&C market.
What Agile Development Really Means
Commentary  |  7/12/2011  | 
While insurance companies face many complex barriers for optimizing their software development process with agile processes, those carriers that are able to effectively harness and apply the power of agile software delivery will have a considerable advantage over the competition
Harleysville Names CIO
News  |  7/11/2011  | 
Former OneBeacon exec Arne Herenstein takes over the post.
MiCRO Demonstrates Viability of Parametric Underwriting for Microinsurance Coverage
News  |  7/11/2011  | 
Swiss Re released about $1 million to clients of Haitian microfinance institution Fonkoze based on publicly available data rather than infrastructure-intensive individual claims.
Brazos Specialty Risk Partners with SpeedGauge for Analytics
News  |  7/11/2011  | 
The fleet insurer will lower premiums for policyholders using SpeedGauge.
KCIC Releases New Version of Claims Management System
News  |  7/11/2011  | 
The goal of the revamp is to improve user experience.
Update: More Insurers Release Spring Loss Estimates
News  |  7/7/2011  | 
After a spring quite active on the catastrophe side, loss reports are trickling out from insurers.
Penn Millers Puts Workers' Comp Toolkit Online
News  |  7/6/2011  | 
The ComPENNsation kit provides educational and training resources, safety tools, a forms library and industry news.
Narragansett Bay Accelerates the Claims Pipeline
News  |  7/5/2011  | 
Narragansett Bay's move to BlueWave Technologies' web-based PipelineClaims system has helped the insurer speed claims resolution, boost recoveries and prepare for growth.
GEICO Launches Social Media Platform for Military Personnel
News  |  7/5/2011  | 
HomeFront can be accessed via the web or an Android app.
Turner Construction Deploys Oracle Insurance Suite
News  |  7/1/2011  | 
The nationwide builder is replacing legacy internal insurance-related capabilities with Oracle Insurance Insbridge Rating and Underwriting, Oracle Documaker and Oracle Insurance Data Capture


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