Insurica Insurance Management Network began in 1959 with a single employee in a small office in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Driven by core values of integrity, attitude, and purpose, the agency has become one of Oklahoma’s largest privately held independent insurance agencies. Today they are recognized as one of the most respected agencies in the region. Located in ten cities with over 200 associates across six states, Insurica has been acknowledged as a “Best Practices Agency” by IIABA and Reagan Consulting several times including 2007.
With continuous commitment to excellence, Insurica has experienced an increase in expertise and recognition, paired with significant growth, making them an industry leader. In 1992, the agency was invited to become an Assurex Global Partner and remains the only agency with this partnership in the state of Oklahoma. The agency’s continued growth and success, however, led to workflow complications. Processes were paper intensive with little consistency across departments.
The Search for a Solution
For several years Insurica investigated document management solutions in hopes of finding remedies to four primary issues: reduce the amount of time spent on retrieving client information and scanning items into their agency management system, prevent the loss or misplacement of client data, provide a reliable disaster recovery system, and allow provisions for more economical storage possibilities. In searching for a solution that would help in these key areas, it was also imperative to find an option that was capable of integrating with their current agency management software. The primary operating software used by Insurica was TAM along with two in-house applications utilized by their Claim Indemnity Services and Commercial Insurance Services divisions. After looking at an array of possibilities, Insurica chose PaperWise.
A Perfect Fit
“We chose PaperWise because we felt it best fit our environment and business model,” explained Director of Operations, Terry Parrino, “We needed a system that could easily integrate with TAM from Applied Systems, but could also work standalone or with our proprietary applications.”
“PaperWise comes with such easy-to-use integration tools that we are able to integrate our core applications with minimal assistance fromPaperWise,” said Director of Technology, Jeff Nickles, “It is definitely a better solution for us as we are able to use the same document imagining system for all of our different departments and companies, even for those that do not use TAM.”
Easy integration was just the beginning of the needs met by PaperWise. As a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, PaperWise was a good fit with Insurica’s Microsoft-based technology infrastructure. The agency had also found a solution that would support their remote offices, and if necessary, could support other agency management systems. Another fundamental need PaperWise was able to meet was the provision of a great staff. “In our early discussions, we were very impressed with the professionalism, attitude, and expertise of everyone we talked to,” expressed Nickles, “Fortunately, this has continued even after we completed the purchase!”
Exceeding Expectations
After implementation took place, Insurica discovered additional unexpected benefits. The solution helped develop more consistent mail workflows, creating better processes of delivering mail to the appropriate person and then tracking how it is handled. An increase in document consistency within and between departments and reduction in the amount of lost or misplaced items heightened efficiency and saved time previously devoted to searching for documents. The agency’s PaperWise solution also enhanced their ability to work remotely, allowing colleagues to work from home in bad weather or during a time of need. “Once all of our staff becomes proficient with PaperWise they will be able to access client information from home, the client’s office, or elsewhere, which will allow them to be more responsive to requests,” said Parrino. Managing client problems and requests has been simplified with easier access to information, allowing issues to be addressed in a timelier manner.
Redefining Workflows
In July 2007, Insurica went live. The biggest challenge encountered was found in changes that occurred in workflow processes. “Document imaging (front end scanning) required us to rethink our workflows and this upset routines and eliminated the comfort most of our colleagues had in handling paper and writing on the mail received,” explained Parrino.The learning curve for staff members varied, but by redefining how activities were documented they were able to reduce Activity options from 200 to 30, creating consistency across departments. This simplified their ability to follow and file items for requests tremendously.
Workflow processes were more complex in nature for Claim Indemnity Services as they involve workers compensation and automobile liability claims. Parrino outlined the process, “Invoices have to be routed through a few people before they are approved for payment, and most medical invoices have to be consolidated and sent out for fee schedule evaluation.” However, PaperWise specialists were able to condense processes through customizing shortcut buttons and automating essential functions.
Beyond Current Usage
Since their initial install, Insurica has implemented PaperWise across departments at their headquarters with a total of 70 users. Implementing PaperWise has forced the agency to evaluate how they work, store, and access information; as they continue to learn more, workflows continue to improve. Plans to extend PaperWise use to remote offices and to begin utilizing the WebWise application are in motion. According to Nickles, the agency plans to integrate WebWise with Windows SharePoint Services so they can create extranet sites for clients and then display documents directly from PaperWise on these sites. “We have already done some feasibility testing with the assistance of the staff at PaperWise and feel confident that together we can make this work,” said Nickles.
As Insurica grows, Nickles and Parrino anticipate PaperWise will continue to grow as an asset for the agency. “The flexibility of PaperWise and its great integration tools have allowed us to integrate our existing applications with PaperWise according to many of our current workflows without having to make major changes; we were able to customize PaperWise to meet our needs,” said Nickles. Having such a valuable tool in the future will allow them to offer a single imaging platform that will be easy to integrate with a variety of management systems.
“Corporately, this is a valuable service to offer our existing and future agency partners,” stated Parrino. The partnership between Insurica and PaperWise has much to look forward to with numerous positive possibilities on the horizon.