Using DXC Insurance RISKMASTER™ to improve productivity and customer service at Claims Associates

Claims Associates, an independent claims-adjusting company and third-party administrator to insurance customers and self-insured groups, has been using DXC Insurance RISKMASTER^TM software since the company first opened its doors in 1996.

Completely different from when we started

“It’s so completely different from when we started,” observes Jennifer Andrisen Selzler, multi-line claims adjuster and workers' compensation claims manager at Claims Associates. Andrisen Selzler has been with the Sioux Falls, South Dakota-based company since its founding. “We use many of the DXC Insurance RISKMASTER tools so differently, and there are many more tools now. I’m proud that we’re able to maintain a solid level of growth and meet expectations within our own company as we continue to upgrade through the process.”

Giving customers self-service access to account information, supplying field agents with browser-based mobile devices or using advanced data analytics to optimize business processes wasn’t on anyone’s radar back in 1996. “We chose DXC Insurance RISKMASTER because it was very user friendly, and the training that was offered was very service-based and a good fit for a small business just starting up,” recalls Andrisen Selzler.

Growing with Insurance RISKMASTER

“As DXC Insurance RISKMASTER has evolved, we have grown and evolved with it,” she says. Claims Associates has moved into a variety of lines of business — including property, casualty, workers’ compensation, medical and rehabilitation management, and physical damage and heavy equipment claims — as well as third-party administration. The company has grown from five to 30 claims adjusters.

And Insurance RISKMASTER, a comprehensive risk-management information system that automates risk management and claims processes, has grown as well, continually adding new modules.

Claims Associates relies on Insurance RISKMASTER across all lines of business and use cases, including the unique requirements of workers’ compensation claims and integration with medical bill review solutions. Insurance RISKMASTER helps adjusters, managers and administrative personnel do their jobs more efficiently and ultimately deliver higher customer satisfaction.

Priorities: Mobility, web access and analytics

Andrisen Selzler says her three major focus areas today are mobility, improved web access for third-party administrators and data analytics in order to:

• Make it easier for mobile field adjusters to do their work, whether at a claimant’s site or in the field. That entails collecting data, which can include forms, reports, photos and video, as well as maintaining and digitally storing that data.
• Continue enhancing customer service by allowing third-party administrators to have easy, interactive web access to customized loss reports and claims data.
• Leverage predictive analytics so the company can gain additional insights from the data it already collects.

Long-standing partnership

The long-standing relationship between DXC Technology and Claims Associates is about more than just software: DXC consultants have become trusted friends and partners of the company.

“To me, you can have all the bells and whistles you want, but if you don’t have the people that are willing to work with you and that you’re willing to work with and have a good relationship with, it doesn’t matter,” says Andrisen Selzler.
Noting that she is not “an IT person,” she appreciates that DXC consultants have “stuck with us through our problems and our growing pains, and have helped us succeed in our business and serve our clients better.”

The community connection

Claims Associates values being part of the Insurance RISKMASTER user community that DXC has created. Andrisen Selzler regularly attends DXC's insurance conference. “At conferences we learn what is next on the horizon, what the goals are and what the timeline is for the next level of upgrades,” she explains.
Also important to Andrisen Selzler is the community aspect of these meetings. “I enjoy networking with the customer community and bouncing ideas off each other, asking, ‘What do you do in this situation?’” she says.
Another benefit of attending conferences is being able to connect directly with DXC software developers. “We spend a lot of time in the lab talking to developers,” she says, both troubleshooting specific problems that Claims Associates might be having, as well as requesting specific enhancements to the product.
Typically, enhancements work like this: DXC releases a new module for its broad list of insurance offerings or upgrades an existing module, and Claims Associates decides whether the new tool is relevant and how soon to adopt it. Claims Associates typically upgrades within 6 months to a year of the initial release. In terms of the latest releases, Andrisen Selzler says she particularly likes the new documentation options with Insurance RISKMASTER and the new MailMerge options.

The next 20 years

Andrisen Selzler points out that both Claims Associates and DXC have evolved quite a bit in the past 20 years, and the relationship has developed into a two-way street. “DXC has to make us better, but we have to want to be better, too,” she asserts.
To Andrisen Selzler, that means keeping focused on the customer. “Whatever we do on the horizon, whether it’s technology or how we can best operate within our company, we always keep in mind, ‘Is this necessary for how we serve our customer?’”