San Diego, CA — December 11, 2018 — Mitchell today released its Industry Trends Report for the fourth quarter of 2018. The report explores how intelligent automation is changing the nature of work in insurance, collision repair, and beyond. It also provides insights into key industry trends, including how to manage performance in a technology-shocked industry and the power of integration and automation in humanizing the claims process.
How Intelligent Automation is Changing the Nature of Work in Insurance, Collision Repair, and Beyond
In this edition of the Industry Trends Report, Mitchell CEO Alex Sun discusses the significant implications artificial intelligence (AI) technology will have on the Property and Casualty and collision repair industries. Sun dives deep into the far-reaching implications AI technologies will have for businesses, explaining that “as AI becomes increasingly ubiquitous, it will allow knowledge workers to spend less time on repetitive tasks and more on the higher value, human ones that drive better outcomes.”
Sun also discusses the increased productivity that will result from the utilization of robotic process automation (RPA), as well as the augmented human intelligence that will result from intelligent automation. When speaking about the productivity gains that could result from artificially intelligent personal assistants, Sun notes that if, “knowledge workers in the claims ecosystem could automate repetitive tasks by using a combination of simple and intelligent RPA, they would enjoy a significant increase in productivity. Better yet, they could use that time on tasks that require a human touch: making personal connections, providing consultations, being empathetic—things that drive different behaviors and actions and can truly help improve outcomes and restore injured people’s lives.”
The Casualty Edition: The Power of Integration and Automation, Humanizing the Claims Process
This quarter’s Casualty edition explores the benefits of leveraging advanced technologies and automation to simplify the claims process in “The Power of Integration and Automation: Humanizing the Claims Process.” Expanding on Sun’s article, Nina Smith, Mitchell Executive Vice President and General Manager, Casualty Solutions, takes a more in-depth look at how the Property and Casualty industry is well-positioned to reap the benefits of automation. “One of our collective goals as an industry is to simplify the claims process as much as possible to create better experiences and outcomes for anyone injured in an unfortunate event,” explains Smith. “But with regulatory compliance and required paperwork, streamlining the process isn’t as simple as it sounds. Technology that facilitates automation can help create the positive experiences for claimants that we strive to provide. Though we all have heard the scary predictions about how artificial intelligence and automation will take away jobs and completely change the nature of work, the P&C industry has a great opportunity to embrace technology and use it to both simplify and personalize the claims process.”
The next article, “Seven Technology Features to Look for in a Medical Management Software Platform” offers Mitchell’s insight on the practical benefits of performing utilization review and what to look for in evaluating a medical management technology platform. Stacey Jefferson, Mitchell Director of Product Management, Medical Management, writes, “Historically, stakeholders in the workers’ compensation industry have viewed utilization review as a requirement only in the states where it is mandated. But today, more carriers are making utilization review a priority.”
The report also includes an article co-written by Mitchell Casualty Solutions’ Michele Hibbert-Iacobacci, Vice President, Regulatory Compliance Management, and Valerie Lindgren, Business Systems Analysis, Regulatory Compliance Management, which discusses some of the updates included in the American Medical Association 2019 Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code set, and how these changes will impact the casualty industry. In, “2019 Code Changes: Technology is King,” Hibbert-Iacobacci and Lindgren write, “After an intensive review of the new CPT code book, the most notable changes are technology-based. These changes reflect the new, modern age of medicine.”
This quarter’s report offers further industry insights, including information about recent trends in pharmacy and prescribing.
The Auto Physical Damage Edition: Managing Performance in a Technology-Shocked Industry
The Industry Trends Report has kept readers up-to-date on the effects the increasing complexity of today’s vehicles will have on collision repairs—especially the need for pre- and post-repair scanning and the advantages of Mitchell Cloud Estimating and integrated repair procedures. But what about the effects of technological advancements on the performance of repair shops and their expert staff? In this quarter’s Auto Physical Damage edition, Ryan Mandell, Mitchell Director of Performance Consulting, in his article, “Managing Performance in a Technology-Shocked Industry,” suggests ways to implement an effective performance management strategy. Mandell then explains that “collision repair facilities, OEMs and insurance carriers…share a common goal that just so happens to also be important: to restore customers’ lives after a challenging event has taken place. The customer should ultimately be at the heart of an effective performance management strategy.”
He goes on to recommend four primary steps to implementing an effective performance management strategy: embrace competition, distill KPIs down to the most impactful, measure KPIs that inform behaviors, and create visibility into goals.
The latest Industry Trends Report also includes Mitchell’s rental data for repairable vehicles and current used vehicle market conditions.
About the Industry Trends Report
Now in its 17th year, Mitchell’s Industry Trends Report reaches more than 30,000 collision and casualty industry professionals and provides meaningful visibility into data-driven trends in the P&C and collision repair markets. The complete report is available at mpower.mitchell.com/industry-trends-reports.
