Any business that deals with high volumes of manual data entry knows the value of improving the efficiency of repetitive processes. It saves money and can drastically improve the service level provided to customers. However, the task of actually achieving quantifiable gains in efficiency can prove elusive, especially when you’re trying to accommodate outdated, legacy systems that don’t play nicely with other software systems.
Our customers were faced with this same dilemma. They knew that if they could improve claims processing time, then they could significantly cut costs while providing a better customer experience. Motivated by their commitment to improve all aspects of the customer journey, they sought a cost-effective solution that didn’t require a large scale and expensive deployment of new software systems.
In insurance processing, claims entry can be one of the more time-consuming aspects of any frontline processors role. It requires foreknowledge of specific claim codes to not only process the claim, but do it quickly, effectively and with no errors. Did you know that 1001 is the HICAPS claim number for an initial Chiropractic consult? Your experienced claim staff do, but with thousands of different claim codes, you can imagine the ordeal that many managers in claims processing face in training new staff or dealing with errors and exceptions because just one of those numbers was entered incorrectly.
No upgrades to core systems or significant training for staff.
Working with our clients, we used custom APIs and e5’s framework to overlay a front-end system that talked to the existing claims entry screen. This made processing claims much faster, more intuitive and optimised for data entry – in other words, we built a bridge between systems that made everything simpler and faster. Gone were the days of remembering multi-digit numbers by rote, as they were now replaced with a simple dropdown select feature that turned “1001” into: “Chiro Claim”. New staff no longer had to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of all claim numbers, nor did they have to copy and paste data from one screen to the next – all the important information to complete the claim was presented on a single screen view.
What this didn’t require were any upgrades core systems or significant training for staff. The intuitive front-end system that e5 built, meant that frontline processors were able to get through more work with more accuracy and less frustration. For all of our clients, processing speed improved significantly; in some cases by as much as 80%! This also produced excellent results for their customers as claims were processed faster and communication could be delivered to them far sooner than before.
For Kenny Ho, Head of Claims at Doctors Health Fund, the results were dramatic, “The Coding Screen has greatly increased our efficiency by simplifying entry of data into our core system. Training time for entry level assessors has been reduced and it has provided the business flexibility to rapidly onboard temporary resources when necessary. On top of that, the streamlined and guided approach has helped reduce our error rates helping ensure our claims are paid accurately and with minimal delay for our members.”
If you and your processing team are looking to build efficiency while keeping costs down, talk to one of our account managers today by filling out the form below.