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3 Reasons Insurers Should Have Intelligent Document Processing on their Technology Roadmap

Appian Contributor
July 23, 2020

Throughout the customer journey ñ whether it is quoting, onboarding, underwriting, policy endorsements, or claims ñ interactions between insurers, brokers, and agents involve an exchange of information, which in many cases involves a paper document. And despite the progress that has been made with respect to the capabilities of modern policy and claims software, it seems that document handling and processing has fallen short with respect to automation. There has certainly been a big shift with respect to the distribution and storage of paper documents, but less so in the process of automating the intake and dissemination of the information on those documents.

Insurance organizations need a way to transform documents in real-time to actionable data. Appian Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) is a solution that converts unstructured data locked in documents to structured data, combining machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities that are augmented by humans when needed.

With customer satisfaction high on the list of insurer priorities, IDP is something that should be a must-have on their technology roadmap, and here are 3 reasons why:

Increased operational efficiency

Documents that insurers receive are all over the map ñ machine printed, handwritten ñ some with signatures. Manual document processing is slow, tedious, and error-prone, and cuts into time that can be used on higher-value tasks. IDP makes it possible to get these documents automatically processed by AI services. When the AI can't recognize something, Appian makes it easy to get that document back in the hands of your workforce to reconcile the issue manually. And because IDP takes unstructured data from business forms and documents and converts it to structured data, you gain key insights into your business processes, driving further efficiencies down the road.

Enhanced customer experience

Customers expect real-time responses for their requests, meaning insurers need to quickly process them and make decisions ñ without compromising accuracy. With IDP, insurers can quickly automate and accelerate document processing, enabling high-volume processing of many different document types. Reducing the amount of processing time can give you the edge when trying to write new business ñ and good customer service is key to retaining the customers that you already have.

Improved governance and compliance

Compliance with industry rules and internal guidelines is something that insurance organizations cannot compromise on, but the ability of an insurer to maintain auditable records is often limited due to documents being stored in multiple systems. And while speed is a critical factor in improving customer service, intelligent automation is what sets IDP apart to deliver speed with accuracy, enabling insurance organizations to feel confident that the right decisions are being made for each document, and for the system to understand when human intervention is needed.

Bringing it all together

Insurers manage a massive number of documents for customers including marketing, policy, claims, and billing correspondence. These documents often end up in disparate systems, preventing an end-to-end view of the customer. Intelligent Document Processing is one of the easiest and fastest ways companies can leverage Artificial Intelligence to deliver tangible results to increase efficiency, deliver a superior customer experience, and maintain compliance.

Eileen Potter

Industry Marketing, Insurance