National Health Uses Sign-It

In an effort to speed its policy application process and digitize its entirely paper-based application and enrollment process, National Health Insurance Co. (NHIC, Prairie, TX, $1.2 billion in assets) will license biometric technology from Communication Intelligence Corp. (CIC, Redwood Shores, CA). "Sign-it is a software that allows us to digitally capture a signature and embed it in a PDF document," explains JD Smith, assistant vice president, information systems, NHIC. "This approach allows us to electronically mimic the paper-based process that is currently used by our agent force."

Sign-it verifies signatures based upon underlying biometric information that is unique to each signature. Once signed, cryptography techniques are used to bind the signature and document content together so that changes to a previously signed document can be detected.

NHIC chose Sign-it because the solution provided the most secure approach to meet its vision of avoiding complexities, improving accuracy and reducing the time of the customer enrollment process, according to Smith. Sign-it will be used in conjunction with tablet PCs that will enable the process to take place closer to the point of sale. Smith concedes that use of the new system will be a learning process, but, "once implemented, the turn-around time on submitted business will be so much faster that NHIC believes the paper-based process will rapidly fade away."