Documentation Support Products Perform Many And Varied Functions

Joseph Leo, manager of marketing communications for SunGard, referred interested parties to the companys Web site for information on the product.

According to the site, Relius Document systems "can create as many documents as needed–for any type of plan."

"These systems produce complete submission and supporting forms packages," the site notes.

Pricing varies from system to system depending on the level of service required and whether the company is on a PC or Internet system, Leo says. It can range in the thousands, but license fees start in the hundreds, he states.

ImageRIGHT, Atlanta, makers of ImageRIGHT, say their product was "designed from the ground up inside insurance companies," according to Ken Elias, marketing director.

ImageRIGHT allows companies to achieve paperless production of the whole claims and underwriting production insurance environment, Elias says.

It allows a user to capture all incoming information whatever form it is in, including mail, faxes, e-mail, video, audio and telephone conversations.

"Any number of people have access to it immediately. Theres monitoring and tracking of all work in progress so you can see the status of anything in the company thats in production," Elias says. "It allows you to streamline the process of underwriting or processing claims by eliminating paper.

"ImageRIGHTs strength is that the structure and basis and design of the system replicate the way that underwriting and claims work with a file-oriented approach," he adds.

Having quick access to information available translates into a 30-50% increase in underwriting, because it eliminates callbacks, Elias says.

"Everyone has access to files so calls can be handled immediately. Concurrent tasks can be handled within a department," he explains. "Before, a manager would review items and allocate them out to personnel. Now, that can all be scripted into the system, speeding the process so the manager doesnt have to do routine tasks they were doing before."

ImageRIGHT can handle even large files, such as medical malpractice documents, "without tremendously burdening companies with up-front indexing," Elias says.

Cost savings come in part from more work getting done by fewer employees due to increased time efficiency and saved square footage where paper files were once stored.

Savings also come from "reducing phone time by a third because with automated workflow, no ones getting out of their desk to get a file," Elias says. "When you have everything you need at your fingertips, your productivity goes up 25-50%."

Depending on the organization, its structure and the number of people accessing the system at one time, ImageRIGHT can cost from less than $50,000 to more than a million dollars, he says.

"Its scalable. We have companies that use only portions of the system, we have others that use every piece of the system," he notes.

Support Systems International did not return a call for comment. The company offers CompSupport, which, according to company literature, indexes documents based on method of receipt and document type.

It handles first reporting, reserves and payments, and features a diary and activity log.

Moore North America, Libertyville, Ill., sells Moore Insurance Solutions. A request for comment was unanswered.

According to company literature, Moore provides customized products that convert documents into messages "that help build lasting relationships."

"This includes billing statements, regulatory compliance, member directoriesevidence of coverage booklets, disease management programs, policies, agent communications, project management services and design consultation services."

Reproduced from National Underwriter Life & Health/Financial Services Edition, June 3, 2002. Copyright 2002 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.