Insurance White Paper Accelerate Results with an Intelligent Scanning Strategy Contrary to the myth of the paperless office, insurance organizations remain heavily dependent on documents like checks, claims, forms and applications. The typical insurance organization processes tens of thousands of documents of all kinds every month. This information must flow quickly from paper to the digital realm, where it can be captured, codified, collected and acted upon. Scanning is usually the first step in this process, so insurance companies have many reasons to consider an investment in intelligent scanning infrastructure. The solution you choose affects far more than paper; it impacts the capture and flow of information throughout your business. This white paper looks at the challenges and opportunities facing insurance scanning operations. The ideas and strategies presented here will help you implement your own high-level scanning strategy and capture all the value it can provide. Transforming Your Document Workflow Insurance enterprises benefit from intelligent scanning automation to digitize, sort and route vital business documents. Transforming information from paper to digital accelerates access to that information for customer service, business processes and strategic decisions. The reduction and digital archiving of vast amounts of paper documents makes it easier to retrieve documents for auditing purposes and customer service. A digital image environment eliminates many physical hand-offs and increases operational efficiency. Earlier Information Capture Benefits accrue when documents can be identified, routed and flagged earlier in the workflow. Checks get deposited more rapidly to maximize interest. Claims get processed faster. Organizations can reduce prep time, eliminate sorts, prioritize work, and encourage faster payments, thus improving customer service. One example of the advantages of intelligent upfront scanning is BlueCard. This claims processing must be expedited by member organizations of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Using inline recognition technologies, a BlueCard claim can be immediately identified and sorted separately by reading the claim type, member number and group number. When the claim is from a BlueCard member from a reciprocal BCBS Plan, it is re-batched for higher priority processing. Better Prepared Customer Service Excellent service is a differentiator in the highly regulated and extremely competitive insurance market. Strategic scanning can improve your ability to deliver faster service to internal and external customers. Clear images of documents are immediately available for viewing sooner after scanning. This is especially valuable for Customer Service Reps who must be prepared when policyholders or plan participants call with questions or problems.
Greater Staff Productivity An intelligent scanner strategy can actually help employees become more productive. Due to process improvements, average document handle time can be decreased. One insurer found that decreased scan and prep time freed staff for other tasks. A Centralized Scanning Model A centralized scanning model best meets the unpredictable, high-volume document needs of insurance enterprises. Insurers can achieve significant business benefits such as resource consolidation and reduced operating expenses. Operations become more efficient with streamlined processing. More internal clients can be served at a higher level, and operations increase productivity and save time. Service levels and expectations can be clearly defined and met. Data capture and workflow processes are improved. Centralized scanning operations are service providers for their internal customers, and thus must constantly be in a delivery mode. Shared operations must be prepared for varying capture requirements from multiple back office departments like accounting, claims and customer service. Work must be available Monday through Friday for departments to process, otherwise their tasks are delayed, and ultimately company business is affected. An ImageTrac scanner enabled one insurer to transition from a standalone section scanning documents for just one department to a new centralized scanning department. This department is now the front end of a workflow process for six different departments. Scanning and imaging technology can reduce staffing costs by eliminating paper handoffs, batch sorting functions and manual work assignment by supervisors. One insurer combined business processes from five different sections to create one new centralized scanning department. Through attrition, staff count was reduced across the five units. We have realized staff reduction cost benefits and also gained improvements in both productivity and quality, noted the operations manager. Foundation of Scanning Infrastructure ImageTrac color scanners, SoftTrac control software and intelligent DocNetics software from IBML can be the foundation of a strategic scanning infrastructure. ImageTrac scanners are reliable production workhorses that can anchor a centralized scanning operation. SoftTrac provides an easy operator interface for control, reporting and auditing. DocNetics brings dynamic intelligence to inline processing to accelerate the transformation of paper-based content to digital information. It mines a previously untapped source of enterprise productivity and efficiency --- scanning workflow --- at the point of document preparation and capture. The ImageTrac platform with DocNetics intelligence sets the benchmark for high-speed, high-volume image capture automation, so claims applications, remittances and other work get into the digital stream faster. It combines sophisticated image analysis with customized business rules to ensure transaction completeness and more precise outsorting. DocNetics works with SoftTrac Software to bring a higher level of performance to existing ImageTrac scanners, bringing customers more productivity without new hardware investments or increasing their equipment footprint.
DocNetics uses highly accurate, image-based topographic analysis to rapidly identify and evaluate documents. Operators just load materials, and DocNetics intelligence automatically examines each layout, assigns the type, and performs a primary sort. If a classification engine is used later to further identify documents, this primary sort ensures only designated types of documents are sent on to the classification engine, resulting in faster processing and more optimal use of that engine. Advantages of a Single Platform Some insurers maintain a disjointed conglomeration of different scanning systems, yet still lack the horsepower and intelligence to optimize the scanning function. Sometimes organizations have multiple scanners, but lack the versatility, capacity and integration to maximize the contribution of scanning services. Scanning capability is restricted to just a few types of work. Many companies have specific but separate units for document imaging and check processing. The best-case scenario is a single scanning platform to image all document types, including claims, photos, applications, EOBs and checks. Insurers can accomplish this by standardizing on the ImageTrac scanner platform. It provides the capacity and flexibility to handle the most work with one solution. For example, one nationwide insurer has four locations that scan significant volume. Two locations have the same capture platform, while the others have unique solutions. In the long run, this can create problems in support, integration and compatibility. With a versatile platform like the ImageTrac, an insurer with multiple scanning sites can maintain the same platform, consistency and expectations across the enterprise. Geared to Goals What criteria should operations managers consider when evaluating the best scanning strategy for their insurance business? The first step is do define the goals of the operation. Typical objectives are to build scan capacity, ramp up for future volume growth, and decrease the amount of prep/sort time associated with high volumes of documents. For some organizations, transaction completeness is the goal of their scanning process. For instance, when incoming documents involve predictable sets like a two-page form and a check, an intelligent can raise an alert if something comes in outside the norm, so companies can address exceptions sooner. Managers must often look beyond today s needs and base current decisions on future work expectancy. We are building for a 100 percent increase in volume, noted one manager. Currently, we have plenty of capacity as our volume is not expected to spike until next year. We are scanning about nine million documents a year, but by the end of 2007, that is expected to reach closer to 20 million pages a year with the addition of claim workflow. Flexible, scalable technology is critical to achieving a goal that involves future capacity and workload growth. Built for Volume and Versatility Typical scanning input is a catch all of documents of different size, shape, and purpose, such as AP invoices, legal forms, claims, and other structured forms. Centralized scanning operations often deal with a number of small scanning jobs, but incorporating many jobs into one run creates complexity. They require extensive prep
time and long scan hours to finish large quantities of various documents. Some scan jobs have onion paper in the same mix as normal 8 x11 pages, making it hard to scan without tearing the fragile paper. Busy operations don t want to shut down the workflow to prep different types of documents. It s an unproductive way to work. A scanner designed for the rigors of production volumes and a wide range of documents can transform the productivity of a scanning operation. In 2006, one insurance organization scanned approximately 14 million documents using ImageTrac technology. These ranged from personal checks and letter-sized correspondence to legal-sized documents. Documents of various sizes and weights can be processed inter-mixed without impeding productivity. Insurers can process large scan batches and perform auto batching of those all in a single pass. This reduces the number of unique batches to scan and the start and stop motions that slow down the process. Flexibility for Unpredictable Workflow Most inbound scanning workflow contains an unpredictable mix of documents, so companies need flexible input technology. Many insurers choose the ImageTrac scanner because of its ability to process multiple applications and the ease of use for scanner operators. Versatile DocNetics software removes limits on inbound processing. It can analyze all kinds of envelopes, checks and other materials in multiple orientations. Operators won t spend as much time prepping work for scanning. When operations must process thousands of documents each day, the impact on productivity is significant. The DocNetics system is quickly trained on the document types meaningful to a particular business. As a result, finer and faster sorts can be achieved. Yet, the advanced functionality doesn t require special skills; operators can load and go without performing any programming. Making Prep Fast and Foolproof Scanning workflow begins with the intensely manual step of prepping documents for the scanning platform, and this is where problems often originate. Operators must inspect and separate documents, define and sort batch classes, prepare pages, designate the beginning and end of documents and categories, and rescan capture exceptions. Before, small and fragile documents had to be taped to a larger page or copied prior to scan. With ImageTrac, users have decreased prep time, especially for small documents and lightweight paper. If the prepper makes a mistake, things won t happen as they should downstream, and the longer it takes to deal with a problem, the greater the costs. Clearly, labor makes document prep costly, and this is a prime opportunity for DocNetics automation and cost reduction. With DocNetics, exception documents are isolated as they come into the workflow, rather than downstream where it takes more time, effort and money to find and correct a problem. DocNetics catches, identifies and flags exceptions early, quickly and at less cost.
Separate by Envelope to Reduce Prep Work Reduced document preparation combined with high performance throughput makes DocNetics ideal for insurance organizations with high intake and processing requirements. The benefits are especially significant for large volumes of inbound work that involve envelopes, which can incur expensive prep time. DocNetics minimizes time-consuming manual sorting by analyzing and sorting documents inline on the scanning transport. Document capture is pushed to even greater efficiency by eliminating the need for expensive barcoded separator sheets. Operators simply load intermixed documents without further preparation. Instead, the extracted envelopes themselves can be repurposed as separator sheets. As a result, costs and labor are reduced, and transport throughput can be increased by as much as 25 percent, saving up to three hours of prep time a day. Many types of envelopes can be used as transaction separators, including standard business envelopes, flats and express envelopes. Single, dual, three- or four-sided envelope extraction adds further flexibility. DocNetics can also separate sets by checks. Doubles Detection Avoids Problems Intelligent imaging results in more accurate identification, sorting and flagging of items that need attention or are missing a component like a specific form or check. Double feeds during scanning result in missing pages in digital documents. This can cause processing delays and problems, but most scanners lack effective double feed detection. Operators must hand count paper prior to scanning and compare it with the scanner count to ensure all pages processed correctly. Any conflicts must be resolved via image-by-image comparison to see what was missed. When a discrepancy is found, re-scans are required to reprocess detected double feeds. In a production scanning operation where tens of thousands of items are processed daily, there is little time for tracking down double fed pages. To avoid this problem, the ImageTrac uses two layers of doubles detection; eliminating undetected double feeds. Insurers can rely on scanner-generated counts and eliminate the need for hand counting. Checks Handled Carefully Incoming insurance paperwork often includes checks and remittance slips or other instructions, which drive downstream processes like accounting. The ability to identify checks is valuable for insurers, and DocNetics can read and identify checks from four orientations. The ingested data can be used to update records, and fast relay of information helps avoid unnecessary reminder notices and other collections efforts. Check processing is particularly difficult using older scanner technology. Checks frequently jam on dated scanning equipment and get torn or damaged. Recognition can be very poor, requiring extra effort for character repair. Insurance companies find that after an IBML scanner is installed, their check processing function is much improved. DocNetics Software accepts and reads checks in all orientations, reducing time spent correcting misaligned feeds. In some cases, throughput increased by about 25 percent, and recognition is vastly improved. The overall impact can be a reduction in staff time for character repair.
Barcodes Easily Read Barcodes give insurers the ability to track, verify, index and manage documents, provided they can capture the bar-coded data. Content management, verification, tracking and other processes often use barcodes to automate workflow. With barcode support, ImageTrac scanners help maintain seamless document streams. Insurers can maximize the value of their barcodes with little effort and no forms redesign. DocNetics reads barcodes in any orientation and maintains the full integrity of each image. Accelerate Productivity Downstream When a greater percentage of documents are classified dynamically at time of scan, companies can limit the amount of sorting documents will need later. Workflow efficiencies increase when a percentage of documents are classified appropriately earlier in the process. IBML document classification software identifies unstructured forms during scanning to streamline sorting routines, indexing and form classification downstream in third party capture software. This ultimately reduces manual sorts and processing time. Operating expense dedicated to prep, sort and scan will ultimately decrease, driving more value to the bottom line. Tap into More Productivity In a time when it has become harder and harder to find significant new sources of efficiency and productivity, ImageTrac and DocNetics prove there are still opportunities to achieve remarkable results from production scanning operations. It accelerates processing of invoices, forms, checks, claims, and other documents, and benefits the business processes downstream that need this information. As a result, organizations can achieve greater productivity across the enterprise. Jim Bunn is a Business Development Manager for Imaging Business Machines, LLC. He can be reached at jbunn@ibml.com SoftTrac and ImageTrac are registered trademarks. DocNetics is a trademark of Imaging Business Machines, LLC. 2007 Imaging Business Machines, LLC. All rights reserved.