From our user survey, subscriber interviews, and system demonstrations, we have concluded that the bundled vendor community continues to exhibit the following trends:
- Reliance on proprietary software rather than a private-label-system option
- Aggressive focus on developing core functionality (i.e., claims management, data analytics)
The third-party administrator (TPA) subindustry is more likely to move toward private-labeled vendors (i.e., Gallagher Bassett and York) than is the insurer subindustry. The latter tends to be more proprietary-software oriented because the departments to whom the RMIS function reports are less likely to invest large-scale dollars into a brand-new system.
TPAs
In last year’s RMIS Report, we commented on how technologically aggressive the TPAs had become. It was clear, and still is, that significant investment continues to be made in their client-facing claims and risk management technology.
That is evident with Gallagher Bassett (GB). Its Luminos system has continued to expand in a fashion that is starting to approach the full functionality of its private-labeled system from Origami Risk. In January, GB embedded its Interactive Luminos Dashboard to allow for visualization of analytics and scorecards. It is also making good investments in the size of its support team to deliver Luminos’ capabilities throughout its client base.
York’s FOCUS (another Origami private label) continued to make functional improvements as well, such as adding OSHA and the absence management database. It also added a new data analyst position. This year, it plans to add policy management.
Insurers
Since last year’s RMIS Report, there have been no significant changes in how insurers are using their client-facing RMIS. Continued functional improvements to align with insureds’ desires were the primary focus of these vendors.
The Travelers’ eCARMA platform has been reimagined to be even more user-friendly than its predecessor. Travelers continues to invest in its predictive modeling function and added score carding and a new “configure” widget.
AIG’s IntelliRisk 7 was released in 2018. It has also added an analysis database function and improved its data-mining capabilities.