Risk management executives are counting on a Risk Management Information System (RMIS) more and more – and expecting more from their provider – in a continued effort to streamline processes.
Technology is allowing this to happen, but some RMIS vendors are able to able to adopt advances easier.
A global call to more than 10,000 buyers of insurance yielded nearly 500 responses, which comprise the 2014 RMIS Review by Dave Tweedy. This user-based approach is a change of pace from past RMIS Reviews written using results from RMIS provider questionnaires.
Of the respondents, 80.8 percent said they were RMIS users, 11.4 percent said they just use an Excel spreadsheet and 7.7 percent admitted they aren’t RMIS users. According to the chart below, public- and private-company participation in the survey was almost even.
Top industries represented in the survey include insurance agents, brokers and service; variety stores; semiconductors and related devices; accounting, auditing and bookkeeping; and are and water resource and solid waste management.
Why is a RMIS system used? The reasons are wide – from “To keep my job” to “As an organized way to manage massive amounts of data, crunch numbers, provide reporting, analyze data, manage claims, collect property values, produce allocations, manage policies [and] executive reporting.”
Passionate RMIS users are as eager to share negative views about their system as others are to say something positive.
Tweedy said most vendors that have been in the RMIS business for a long time are part of large insurance organizations. This may allow them to evolve with technology. He said some vendors (especially in the unbundled arena) can’t adopt quickly enough and leave the market.
Tweedy said unbundled marketplace will be extremely competitive in the coming years. He said to look for more data analytics, predictive modeling, business intelligence reporting and benchmarking analysis from bundled and unbundled vendors.
“I am aware of several high-profile TPAs and insurers that are contemplating major overhauls and improvements to the systems,” he added. “The RMIS is the one thing that touches the client every day. It is a great marketing tool.”
Chad Hemenway is Managing Editor of Advisen News. He has more than 15 years of journalist experience at a variety of online, daily, and weekly publications. He has covered P&C insurance news since 2007, and he has experience writing about all P&C lines as well as regulation and litigation. Chad won a Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Single Article in 2014 for his coverage of the insurance implications of traumatic brain injuries and Best News Coverage in 2013 for coverage of Superstorm Sandy. Contact Chad at 212.897.4824 or [email protected].
