Ag Workers Mutual Speeds Insuresoft Policy Admin Upgrade
2/26/2010Originally scheduled for an April 2010 go-live, Ag Workers got its Insuresoft Diamond .NET policy administration system ahead of a revised Jan. 2010 date.
Profile of Anthony O'Donnell
Blog Posts: 2240Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information technology in the property/casualty, life and health insurance industries, following the trends and issues faced by senior technology executives. In addition to reporting and editorial duties for I&T, O'Donnell also serves as a moderator and speaker at industry events and broadcasts. He began his editorial career in the healthcare industry where he reported and edited for medical publications with a variety of audiences, from the general public to physicians and researchers. He has also worked in the healthcare field as a media relations professional and Spanish/English interpreter/translator, and has taught English composition and conversation classes to native speakers of Spanish, both in the United States and in Latin America. O'Donnell lives in the Portland, Oregon area with his wife and two sons.
Articles by Anthony O'Donnell
posted in February 2010
posted in February 2010
Originally scheduled for an April 2010 go-live, Ag Workers got its Insuresoft Diamond .NET policy administration system ahead of a revised Jan. 2010 date.
Sircon Renews Partnership with NIPR
2/26/2010Together the companies provide producer licensing and compliance automation services to state regulators, insurance companies, agencies, and individual producers
Pacific Life Promotes Senior Tech Execs, Others
2/26/2010Philip Teeter has been named SVP, technology for the carrier's annuities and mutual funds division; and Dawn Trautman has been promoted to SVP, IT and strategic planning, life insurance.
Lloyd's Extends Contract for Broadridge's Tarot Service Bureau
2/25/2010Lloyd's has also extended its use of Broadridge's solutions through a SWIFT messaging bureau service that is newly available to Tarot users. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.
DALBAR: Insurer EOBs Continue to Confuse Consumers
2/25/2010A small number of innovative health insurers — including Arkansas BlueCross BlueShield, CIGNA, and Humana —'buck the tradition of incomprehensible customer communications, according to the third party evaluator.
Sebelius Summons Insurers to Discuss Premium
2/25/2010Letter invites insurer CEOs and NAIC leaders to attend a March 3 meeting to discuss the insurance companies' premiums.
CIGNA Invests $150k In Tennessee EMR Initiative
2/25/2010The Middle Tennessee eHealth Connect initiative is aimed at allowing health care professionals in its health information network access to patient electronic medical records (EMRs) in one safe, secure location.
Dennis Sullivan Named Chairman and CEO of Nolan
2/24/2010A 28-year veteran of the international consulting firm, Sullivan has an extensive background in management systems and performance measurement.
Steve Peeters Joins The Main Street America Group to Head Commercial Lines
2/24/2010The Zurich and Hartford veteran will will be responsible for all product development, underwriting standards, pricing processes and compliance for Main Street America's full portfolio of commercial lines products and coverages.
Trizetto Launches Electronic Personal Health Record
2/24/2010The vendor expects payer-based personal health records (PHRs) to "vault ahead" of provider-based electronic health records (EHRs) or electronic medical records (EMRs) because of health insurance carriers central location in the healthcare supply chain.
Progressive Implements SSP S4i for Foray into Australian Auto Insurance Market
2/24/2010SSP developed and implemented an entire insurance solution encompassing a fully customized Web front-end and the configuration and implementation of the S4i back-office application for the Australian market, within 12 months, the vendor claims.
Rockford Mutual Deploys Interactive Intelligence Content Management and Workflow
2/23/2010Rockford Mutual has enjoyed increased efficiency and reduced costs within its claims department following the deployment of AcroSoft tools from Interactive Intelligence.
SunGard, LIMRA Form Strategic Partnership
2/23/2010SunGard is the latest addition to LIMRA's strategic partnership program, which makes product and service offerings available to LIMRA member companies worldwide.
Sentry Insurance Completes Phase II of Claim Components Implementation
2/23/2010After successfully implementing the first release, for workers' compensation, Sentry selected Accenture to implement a second release of the application for Sentry's commercial lines claims, which included auto, general liability and property insurance.
White House to Propose Federal Regulation of Health Insurance Rates
2/22/2010The White House's announcement comes in the wake of proposed rate hikes of up to 39 percent by WellPoint's Anthem Blue Cross subsidiary operating in the California market.
Leaders Cove Launches Insurance Technology Practice
2/22/2010As market improves, IT vendors serving the insurance industry will benefit from assistance in building effective teams, the staffing company's strategists believe.
West Point Underwriters Selects DRC's Decision Maker Rating Enterprise
2/20/2010WPU will use the Decision Maker (DM) Rating Enterprise toolset to enable business users to model, manage and analyze rates for all lines of business across all states.
Allianz Life Hires Kara Barrow as Senior Counsel
2/19/2010Frank Coyne Elected to Underwriters Laboratories Board of Trustees
2/19/2010The Verisk Analytics and ISO chairman, president and CEO also served as executive vice president for Kemper Insurance Companies' specialty and risk management groups, as well as having held roles within the U.S. Treasury Department, Universal Underwriters Group, Reliance Insurance Company and PMA Insurance Company.
CargoNet: Expanding the Significance of Insurance Data
2/18/2010CargoNet functions as a symbiotic network of law enforcement, insurance companies and the industries implicated in the shipment of goods, namely transportation, manufacturing and retail. CargoNet provides the first national network for the reporting and circulation of information about cargo thefts in order to both facilitate recovery and to mitigate shipment risks.
CNA Adopts CargoNet
2/18/2010CargoNet provides a central database and related functionality that enables the immediate reporting of cargo theft to law enforcement professionals nationally, as well as secure and confidential information sharing among other concerned parties.
Sunshine State Extends BPO Relationship With CSC
2/18/2010The six-year contract will add support for the insurer's personal and commercial property business from an upgraded technology platform to existing processing services supporting Sunshine State's underwriting, rating policy issuance and administration and other functions.
Indiana Farm Bureau Chooses Thunderhead for Customer Communication Management
2/17/2010Indiana Farm Bureau has chosen Thunderhead NOW over its existing Oracle Documerge solution due to NOW's XML-based design and support for service-oriented architecture, according to the vendor.
NJ PURE Chooses Ravello Policy Admin, Claims and Billing
2/17/2010Ohio National Licenses CSC's Wealth Management Accelerator, Business Analytics
2/17/2010Ohio National will use CSC's Wealth Management Accelerator for life insurance policy and annuity administration; the carrier will use CSC's Insurance Optics Business Analytics to access and analyze commission and policy information.
Genworth Taps iPipeline iGO e-App for Drop Ticket
2/16/2010Genworth will deploy the short form of iGO e-App for Drop Ticket for its Colony Term UL products in all states, seeking to ease distributor access to the underserved "Main Street" market.
Zurich Japan Deploys Guidewire ClaimCenter
2/16/2010Under the internal name of Z-Trust, ClaimCenter currently processes Zurich Japan's auto and motorcycle claims and will be extended to other lines of business in subsequent deployment phases.
Allianz Life's Dulka Runs Infrastructure to Meet the Pace of Change
2/16/2010New VP for infrastructure and application maintenance Andy Dulka emphasizes partnership management, teamwork and agility in support of product, service and the demands of M&A.
Blue Shield of California Extends Contract with MedeAnalytics
2/12/2010The MedeAnalytics Claims Transparency solution supports BSC's successful Partnership in Operational Excellence and Transparency (POET) program.
Accenture Launches Risk Management Consulting Practice
2/12/2010By leveraging the consulting firm's broad risk management capabilities, the service aims to provide clients with information that supports advanced decision making and early warning solutions that can detect emerging threats and opportunities.
Harleysville Life Insurance Launches Online Group Benefits Platform
2/12/2010My Harleysville Life Link provides agents and employers with the means for making policy changes, as well as the capability to download billing statements, forms, employee certificates, policies, and other company information.
Connecture Partners with MedicareCRM
2/11/2010The partnership will enable Connecture and MedicareCRM to offer customers an integrated solution via a series of real-time integration points between their online software platform.
The Hartford Names Brian Laubacker VP, Life Insurance Sales, Western U.S.
2/11/2010The former Saybrus Partners executive will co-lead the sales organization with Ron Herrmann, The Hartford's regional vice president of the eastern region of the country, and will report to executive vice president Brian D. Murphy.
CNA to Build Western Service Center
2/11/2010Denver facility will feature claim handling, policy processing, a call center as well as billing and collections.
Travelers Promotes Bill Cunningham to EVP, Business Insurance
2/9/2010Cunningham will succeed John Albano, following the latter's decision to take on a part time role in order to pursue outside interests.
Grange Life Selects iPipeline Illustration Suite
2/9/2010The insurer will use iPipeline's Web-based solution for needs analysis, advanced sales and Illustrations to both Property and Casualty and Life Insurance agencies.
Carrier Confidential: Selective Plans Right, Builds Right and Runs Right
2/8/2010Selective Insurance Group's IT organization supports the carrier's high-tech/high-touch approach to distributor relationships with judicious planning and a focus on execution.
AIG Names Peter D. Hancock EVP, Finance, Risk and Audit
2/8/2010Named EVP, Finance, Risk and Investments, Hancock will oversee finance, risk, audit, investments, strategic planning, and AIG Financial Products Corp.
Humana Appoints Roy Goldman VP, Chief Actuary
2/8/2010Goldman, who has served in actuarial and financial management roles at Geisinger Health Systems, Mercy Health Plans, and Prudential Health Care Group, will report to James H. Bloem, Humana's senior vice president and chief financial officer.
IVANS: P&C Insurers Prioritize Retention, Compliance and Operational Transformation in 2010 IT Spend
2/5/2010Facing a negative outlook, carriers are investing in IT to shore up their customer base, prepare for an evolving regulatory compliance regime and find customer retention and find new sources of efficiency.
Compliance 360 Offers New Internal Audit Application
2/4/2010The new, integrated application for managing internal audits fulfills the needs of all senior officers charged with governance, risk and compliance responsibilities.
enherent and G4S Compliance Deliver Fraud Mitigation Solution
2/2/2010The Polaris solution enables companies in the insurance industry to detect fraud earlier and more accurately by quickly analyzing large volumes of text as well as structured data associated with insurance claims, according to the vendor partners.
Chubb Expands Online Inland Marine Capabilities
2/1/2010The u.writer system now features broader underwriting parameters to permit more business to be processed online, and can be accessed by Chubb-appointed wholesale brokers as well as independent agents.
SOTU and State of Health Insurance Reform
2/1/2010Reform may come in a series of bills rather than a single, big game-changer, suggests Paul Keckley of Deloitte. "I would not be surprised that health insurance plans will face regulatory changes addressing things like pre-existing conditions, guaranteed issue, lifetime limits and even interstate competition," he comments.
Farmers Names Susan Bithell Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer
2/1/2010Bithell will oversee the continued alignment of the company's underwriting strategy, processes and methodology across several business units.
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