Streamline Underwriting and Overcome the Challenges with AI-Powered Medical Chronologies

Underwriters today face many challenges; luckily DigitalOwl has the solution.

In the ever-evolving world of underwriting, DigitalOwl simplifies the medical record review process through easy-to-use summarized reports and emphasizing the most meaningful data points in hours vs. days. In a recent webinar, Jennifer Richards, VP of Life Insurance at DigitalOwl, and Sterling Brody, Underwriting Consultant at DigitalOwl, discussed three major challenges underwriters face today and how AI can be a useful solution.

Challenge #1: Changing Consumer Demand and Increasing Competition

Today, the pressure is on the underwriters to find creative solutions to streamline the underwriting process. Many face problems with flat to declining sales, pressure from new entrants, and difficulty with mortality and morbidity management.

Technology as a Force for Change

The challenge of reducing costs and cycle time without compromising quality is an issue confronting many underwriters. The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technology can provide solutions to help insurance carriers thrive in today’s highly competitive market.

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Challenge #2: Increasing Complexity of Underwriting

The workload for underwriters continues to increase. Compared to ten years ago, underwriters now manage 2-3x the amount of data. The job continues to be more complex, facing issues with the proliferation of new data sources, conflicting methods of underwriting, and EHR complexity. Mike Fitzgerald, Senior Analyst at Celent said, “Insurance underwriters today are bombarded with a vast array of data sources, ranging from traditional insurance application data to emerging sources”.  The influx of data presents both opportunities and challenges for underwriters, as they must analyze and interpret vast amounts of information to make informed decisions and stay competitive in the ever evolving market.

Streamline Your Underwriting Analysis

You’ve probably heard about the rise of AI in insurance recently. AI is an incredible tool that can help streamline tasks and summarize information and is a powerful tool for underwriting analysis. These AI programs were not built to eliminate underwriters but rather to empower the underwriter in their decisions. Medical record summaries generated by these AI programs help reduce information overload by reducing page count by 90% and without compromising the quality of the work. DigitalOwl empowers underwriters to make better decisions.

Challenge #3: Hiring and Developing Scarce Underwriting Talent

The hiring challenges companies currently face are not going away any time soon and carriers need to find new solutions. An interesting quote from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics states, “8,400 openings for insurance underwriters are projected each year, on average, over the decade. All of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to other occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire”. It can be difficult to find experienced underwriters and to meet the increasing cost demands of holding onto established ones. The technology also continues to evolve making it difficult to train new and experienced underwriters.

Built for Underwriters, By Underwriters

The current solutions to solving the hiring gap in the underwriting marketplace are retention strategies (e.g. remote work), increased salaries, contract underwriters, reinsurance support, and APS summaries. DigitalOwl can fill gaps in these solutions by automating some of the underwriting process.. Automation will not only save you 50-70% of your time but will also help cut down costs as well. AI will never replace the role of a human underwriter but is a game changing tool in the underwriting process.  DigitalOwl’s AI was built for underwriters by underwriters. Our technology can help underwriters be more efficient and accurate. It can also give assistance to newer underwriters, helping them identify significant information for each applicant.

How DigitalOwl Can Help Solve These Underwriting Challenges

DigitalOwl’s product has been designed to fit the needs of Underwriters. Each summary begins with an overview of the key impairment on the case plus a summary of habits such as alcohol and tobacco use, family history and preferred underwriting factors. .Other sections include recent history and findings which includes information on diagnostic tests, lab results and medications. And in the  impairments rundown, the underwriter can find all the relevant date to review key  medical impairments including medications and relevant lab or diagnostic tests.

One unique feature of the DigitalOwl product is all information is linked to the original medical record for seamless and speedy reference. DigitalOwl can help underwriters solve the difficult challenges they see every day by both streamlining the review and ensuring they don’t overlook key information.

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