First notice of loss and absence management are strategies crucial to optimizing the bottom line for most medium and large businesses. Regardless of your market segment or region of the globe, tracking and controlling absences, injuries, and damages effectively can improve the security and integrity of your business. Such programs can be implemented in-house through outside training and hiring, or via outsourcing to an expert in the field. To learn more about these and related issues, check out a few of our popular blogs:
Author: Andrew
First Notice of Loss for Commercial & Personal Lines
- Don’t Let Your Claims Look Like This – Enlist a Professional
Cost-effective Incident Reporting management is dependent upon capturing accurate information, the first time, whenever an incident occurs. When policyholders call to report a notice, they should be greeted on behalf of your organization by an Intake Specialist, trained to handle worker’s compensation, auto, property, general liability, short-term disability, and long-term disability claims. The Intake Specialist must then capture all relevant data with specialized software, using a best practices workflow. Direct entry of notices into your in-house claims management application via the Internet or secure connection should also be available, as well as Medical Coding, Duplicate Checking, Quality Assurance Reviews and Notice Completion.
After-Hours Reporting Leveraging Specialized Call Centers
Actec specializes in after-hours call centers for claims intake and management. Processing claims in a timely and accurate manner is crucial to effective FNOL. Achieving this requires an internal department trained in such practices, or seamless integration of an outsourced call center. Call centers are often able to provide these services with an increased level of efficiency at a reduced cost. Though there are many such solutions, the integration and customization of outsourcing is imperative in reaching the desired outcome. Actec’s many years of experience and highly skilled personnel serve to enhance the efficiency of a business while minimizing risk. To learn more, ask us.
Absence Management: What You Don't Know Can Cost You
Absence management may seem superfluous, but in reality all corporations without it face a variety of unknowns when it comes to lost productivity. How much time is lost due to absence? How well is it tracked? To what extent can these factors be improved upon? How much room is there to enhance savings for the company, and in what ways can employers improve absence experiences for their employees?
Absence management can improve circumstances for all parties involved by improving knowledge, accuracy, and understanding of absence policies and their effects on the workplace. Though these procedures are complex, they can be performed in-house. But many medium-to-large organizations outsource their absence management programs to ensure efficacy and minimize additional effort and staffing. To learn more about the unknowns of your company’s absence policies and how to improve them, contact Actec.
Outsourced EDI Filing
Mandatory EDI (electronic data interchange) filing may be the biggest of all headaches in Workers Compensation Claim administration. Requirements vary from state to state. Missing or invalid data leads to time consuming resubmission, filing delays, excess staff time, and even fines.
Our Electronic State Filing Program carefully reviews all submissions for both FROI and SROI as well as annual filing requirements. We follow up for any missing or incomplete information making sure submissions received are accepted. Though these tasks can be accomplished in-house, for most organizations it is more efficient and effective to outsource it to experts in the field.
The state of California recently released statistics to all companies filing Workers Compensation (FROI). Actec had a success rate of 99.1% of all reports submitted that were accepted by the state on the first submission. The industry average for the one-year period was 77.4% acceptance on first submission. Actec works diligently to make sure your reports are filed timely and accurately, thus avoiding re-filing and potential fines. To learn more about how an ESF program can improve operations at your organization, contact us.
The state of California recently released statistics to all companies filing Workers Compensation (FROI). Actec had a success rate of 99.1% of all reports submitted that were accepted by the state on the first submission. The industry average for the one-year period was 77.4% acceptance on first submission. Actec works diligently to make sure your reports are filed timely and accurately, thus avoiding re-filing and potential fines. To learn more about how an ESF program can improve operations at your organization, contact us.
What Is Absence Management?
Absence management plays a crucial role in a wide variety of corporate environments. It can enhance organizational processes and employee satisfaction while reducing costs. But what is absence management? It is the facilitation of speedy and sustainable return to work of individuals on leave.
Most businesses have employees who go on leave for a variety of reasons. Tracking the dates, reasons, and methods to aid in their return are important and often complex tasks requiring time and attention to detail. For most businesses, this falls outside the realm of their expertise, and is best left to absence management professionals. For more information on absence management and how an effective program can improve your bottom line, contact us.
First Notice of Loss Key Terminology
There several important terms when discussing first notice of loss. Though many are unfamiliar with the concept, it stands as a crucial component of many successfully operated large businesses.
- FNOL – Abbreviation for First Notice of Loss, the initial report of a claim or incident resulting in loss of an insured product. A crucial element of insurance coverage.
- FROI – Abbreviation for First Report of Injury, the initial report of a claim or incident resulting in injury to an employee. A employer practice required by law.
- Claim Management – The conveyance of an insurance-related claim through a system of communication and investigation to ascertain the appropriate compensation. The more adept and timely the claim management, the less shrink for insurers and the higher satisfaction for clients.
- Incident Reporting – A system of documentation for FNOL in which specific details must be thoroughly recorded to ensure proper claim management. Well-trained personnel and a modern, sophisticated incident reporting medium significantly reduce costs due to slow resolution, shrink, and other organizational issues.
- Claim Intake Specialist – Personnel cross-trained in claim management and incident reporting to deliver maximized resolution for client and insurer with minimized investment of time and resources.
Numerous other components comprise a comprehensive FNOL program, but familiarity with the basic terms makes it much easier to understand the process of first notice of loss and the benefits of leveraging FNOL in large businesses.
Top Absence Management & Claim Intake Blogs
Absence management through effective claim intake is a vital service for a wide variety of medium-to-large organizations around the country. These services can be performed in-house or outsourced to a professional dedicated call center, and serve to dramatically enhance efficiency and streamline operations. Learn more about how Absence Management can help you in some of our recent blogs:
FNOL Technology Supports Uninterrupted Operation
When leveraging FNOL (first notice of loss) operations, it’s crucial to stay ahead technologically, harnessing all available venues to maximize the client experience. Data must be integrated across all contact methods, including telephonic, e-mail, fax, and direct web entry, for consolidated reporting and may be filtered by contact method if needed. Individual notices should immediately transmit via automated e-mail or fax to any number of recipients, based on the location, type of report and other criteria. Scheduled summary reports must also available, allowing regular electronic distribution of reports daily, weekly, monthly, or by custom period to multiple recipients based on level of management within your organization.
VoIP solutions are invaluable in enhancing telephonic intake by quickly connecting intake specialists with policyholder account information. Call switch statistics must be available for management reporting by individual incoming number. With these tools, complete call statistics and all associated time tracking may be summarized and archived down to thirty-minute intervals.
To maintain quality standards, Actec trainers and supervisors monitor daily, listening to live calls and recordings in conjunction with remote observation of FNOL intake. We record all calls, which are stored as .wav files and readily accessible. Using RightFax, we are also able to log and distribute in- and out-bound faxes and e-mails for efficient and fully accountable document management. Thorough, advanced organization is key to achieving FNOL success.
Incident Reporting and Claim Intake Best Practices
Cost-effective incident reporting management is dependent upon capturing accurate information, the first time, whenever an incident occurs. When policyholders call to report a notice, they should be greeted on behalf of your organization by an Intake Specialist, trained to handle worker’s compensation, auto, property, general liability, short-term disability, and long-term disability claims. Intake Specialists capture all relevant data using a best practices workflow developed over years of first notice of loss (FNOL) experience. Alternatively, enter notices can be entered directly into your in-house claims management application via the Internet or secure connection. Providing Medical Coding, Duplicate Checking, Quality Assurance Reviews and Notice Completion in addition to streamlined and skilled services keeps Actec Intake Specialists ahead of the curve.