Westfield Insurance Selects IBM to Transform Claims Processes; Leverage Analytics to Improve Customer Service

New Claims Handling Process Provides a Seamless Customer Experience

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Dec 22, 2014, 09:00 ET

ARMONK, N.Y., Dec. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that Westfield Insurance, a provider of personal, commercial and surety insurance, is working with IBM to transform their claims operations. In their transformation, Westfield is using business analytics to increase flexibility, operational efficiency and effectiveness, enabling Westfield to keep pace with its evolving customer base and business growth.

According to a study conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value, leading insurers are leveraging cloud, analytics and social technologies to stay ahead of the competition. Specifically, more than 60 percent of identified leading insurers are focused on advanced analytics to improve their claims handling in order to improve processes and increase customer satisfaction. Westfield's multi-year claims handling transformation initiatives, including process, organizational and technology changes, focuses on using data and analytics to better serve customers.

IBM's deep end-to-end capabilities allow the company to improve customer service though an integrated claims solution that standardizes operations. IBM brought together the best of IBM, from software to its strategy and analytics services, to deliver several of the major components of the program. IBM developed a new protocol to migrate data for use with predicative models and uses simulation models to evaluate bottlenecks in the claims process and develop a strategy for expedited workflow. This simulation helped expedite organizational changes. The new claims system will also utilize a suite of IBM counter fraud capabilities to detect suspicious activity.

"We've been working with IBM for years on multiple initiatives, in order to become a data-oriented company," said Robert Bowers, National Claims Strategy Leader, Westfield Insurance. "Our new claims platform will enable our employees to make quicker decisions, with greater insight. We anticipate lowered costs and improved customer service, all while streamlining operations throughout the country to enhance the customer experience."

"Analytics are the most visionary element to drive a competitive advantage. Since 2007, Westfield Insurance has been working hard to build an enterprise view of their data across their business," said Patricia Hamilton, Vice President, Insurance Strategy and Transformation, IBM. "This new claims platform is the next step in their transformational journey to build a structured process around data governance. By consolidating and standardizing its claims handling systems, Westfield is able to increase operational efficiencies, benefiting employees and customers."

IBM has optimized Westfield's current claims handling process to provide a seamless, fully-integrated customer experience. Westfield's claims system with Guidewire is now consolidated to ensure efficient operations across its network. Through industry leadership, technology expertise and proven practices, IBM was able to evaluate current processes and determine a roadmap to develop an optimized business model, including:

A fully integrated solution to enable paperless processing, decreasing errors and increasing efficiency. Customers are also able to communicate with Westfield electronically, shortening the lifecycle of a claim.

Systems integration with third party providers to allow for automated actions throughout the claims process, improving the customer experience and creating adjuster efficiencies.

Controlled and secure access to applications, functionality, and data. Additionally, IBM's advanced analytics solutions and services are used to analyze millions of data points and identify and predict suspicious claims and activity in real-time.

Conversion of data from legacy claims system to ensure existing claims are still open and that a record of closed claims are accessible to agents throughout the country.

For more information on IBM Insurance, please visit www.ibm.com/insurance.

About Westfield Insurance
Westfield Insurance is a part of Westfield Group, a customer-focused insurance and banking group of businesses headquartered in Westfield Center, Ohio and in business for more than 166 years. Westfield Insurance provides commercial insurance in 21 states, personal insurance in 10 states and surety services to customers in 31 states. Westfield is one of the nation's 50 largest property and casualty insurance groups, represented by a network of more than 1,000 independent insurance agencies. Westfield Insurance was named to the 2014 Ward's 50 list of top performing insurance companies and as a Top Workplace in Northeast Ohio. Westfield Bank provides banking solutions for businesses and individuals, and Westfield Services provides service and training support for independent insurance agencies. Learn more about Westfield Group at www.WestfieldInsurance.com and www.Westfield-Bank.com.

Contact Information
Suzanne Aronowitz
IBM
617.693.1811
[email protected]

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SOURCE IBM