More than an asset, technology is an indispensable ally of the insurance industry. Technology in all its forms, from tools that streamline operations to innovations that offer people a reprieve from undergoing a series of operations. Technology that saves lives without sacrificing limbs. Technology that spares insurers the cost of irreversible procedures. Technology that spares people the price of a lifetime of little or no mobility. I refer, specifically, to technology that helps diabetics who suffer from foot ulcerations. As a scientist, who also happens to be a diabetic, I refer to an epidemic we can prevent: an epidemic we must prevent, because the technology is available, the intelligence accessible, the results attainable; an epidemic we cannot dismiss unless we shut our eyes, unless we cannot see—unless what threatens us also blinds us—because it is otherwise impossible not to notice the cripples and amputees among us. See also: Using Technology to Enhance Your Agency   The good news is that we can reduce these risks, thanks to technology of the sort like MOTUS Smart Powered by Sensoria: an Optima Molliter boot, with a dedicated patient mobile app and Microsoft Azure cloud technologies. The boot has interchangeable, different density insoles to relieve pressure from the area of ulceration, thereby improving blood circulation and clinical outcomes. Consider this breakthrough a giant step for not only diabetics but insurers, too. Consider this breakthrough an even bigger leap for all mankind, as the alternative is neither fiscally sustainable nor morally sound. Not when the global cost of diabetes exceeds $1.3 trillion. Not when a surgical saw can no more cut costs than it can be something different than it is. Not when insurers can cut costs by covering what covers—literally—patients’ feet. If insurers champion smart technology, the benefits will be universal. From making health insurance more affordable to giving patients the chance to walk in a way they can ill afford to ignore, from bettering the reputation of insurers to changing people’s lives for the better, technology is invaluable. Consider, then, diabetics as the most visible beneficiaries of new technology and renewed support from insurers. Consider these advances for what they are, the product of extensive research and development. Consider, also, what it means for insurers to earn the trust of clients: to keep and strengthen this trust by acts of prudence and policies that act to inspire doctors, scientists and entrepreneurs throughout the world. Take these things into consideration, to be sure. More importantly, take these things as an invitation to lead. Take the time to do these things well, so we may all move forward together. See also: How Technology Is Changing Warranty   With health as our goal and wellness as our right, let us transform the insurance industry into a model of the highest ethics and the best success. Let us achieve this goal. Let us do all we can, which is more than we may believe or know, because we have it in our power to revolutionize the insurance industry. Let us exercise this power with the intelligence we possess and the wisdom we enjoy.

You’ve probably heard the statistics about why Medicare is the largest growth market in insurance: 10,000 people turn 65 every day. In fact, by 2030, one in five U.S. residents will have reached retirement age, and, for the first time ever, adults 65-plus will outnumber children. Considering that over 90% of Medicare enrollees have some form of supplemental insurance, it’s no wonder that this growth potential is attractive to carriers, agencies and investors looking to make big bets in the supplemental health insurance market. But along with this potential comes a curse of riches. During annual enrollment period (AEP) for Medicare, a flood of potential customers request quotes from brand sites and comparison shopping domains. With each passing day, insurance marketers and sales teams take in and call on leads, nurturing existing quotes and ensuring that the customers they’ve acquired make their first premium payment without defecting, all while trying to shield their existing customer base from their competitors. Friends in these positions have told me they’re running for their lives from Oct. 15 to Dec. 7 every year. So how do we seize the sizable opportunity in Medicare without stepping on the landmines: spending time and money on the wrong people, not spending enough time and money on the right ones, missing multi-product sales opportunities, churning more customers than you’re acquiring? The answer is deceptively simple: Know who your prospects and customers are, understand when they are shopping and be ready to meet them in the market at that time with a relevant and timely message that will help them make the most informed decision. How do you do that? Well, more and more, Medicare shoppers are researching their options online, meaning there is measurable insight (i.e., behavioral data) into who is on a buying journey versus who isn’t, who is just starting versus who is accelerating the buying process and who still needs the white-glove treatment post-sale. Teams that harness this data to power their focus during AEP are winning. Instead of spreading their efforts across all consumers, they are successfully addressing only the ones who need attention. This leads to better performance across every stage of the customer buying cycle: acquisition, placement, cross-sell and retention. But these comments are much easier said than proven empirically. So, Jornaya’s data science team set out to do just that. See also: New Phase for Innovation in Insurance   Jornaya’s Research Findings We analyzed more than 1.3 million Medicare supplement consumer-driven online shopping events that occurred during the annual enrollment period in 2018 to better understand the buying journey from start to finish. The results of that research, Understanding the Insurance Consumer Journey: Auto, Life & Health, shine the light on several areas:

• The Journey Begins Early: The buying journey begins well before a quote is requested. Of the 1.3 million shopping events that were analyzed, 46% of consumers were shopping in the Jornaya network before they requested a quote, and the average consumer began shopping on health insurance domains 72 days before asking a brand about Medicare supplement insurance. Another 18% began shopping more than 90 days before ultimately filling out a lead form.
• Consumers Shop Around: On average, consumers initiated 3.4 health insurance shopping events before submitting a request-for-quote. 93% visited a different health insurance web domain than the site where they ultimately requested a quote. Those consumers visited 3.5 different sites before requesting the quote, beginning their shopping journey 72 days before they filled out a lead form.
• Consumers are comfortable shopping on multiple devices, including mobile. 53% of consumer shopping events that Jornaya analyzed were initiated on a mobile device. And, while only 16% of consumers began their journey on one device and requested their quote on another (e.g. started shopping on their phone but requested the quote via desktop), this segment shopped almost twice as frequently, on twice as many sites, as their counterparts who began shopping on one device and requested the quote on the same device.
• Shopping activity intensifies once consumers request quotes: More than half, 59%, continued to shop after they requested their first quote (versus the 46% who were shopping before the quote). On average, they returned to market 26 days after the initial lead submission. And of those who returned to market within the first 30 days, the average shopper initiated 2.7 additional health insurance events post-quote. A quarter of consumers continued shopping more than 90 days post-quote, averaging 3.2 health insurance shopping events during that time.
• Consumers are shopping for multiple insurance products at once. Of the 1.3 million leads that we analyzed, 21% of consumers were simultaneously shopping online for life insurance, and 30% of consumers were in-market for a mortgage.

Implications for Carriers Knowing that these trends exist, what can insurance marketing and sales teams do to improve? How does this information change their engagement strategy? Here is a high-level summary of the playbook that insurers are using to capitalize:

• Know who your customers are. Use the data and tools available to you to segment your portfolio. Craft plays for each of these segments and be ready to run them when the consumer exhibits buying signals. If you feel ill-equipped to do this with your current infrastructure, explore data and technology vendors who can help you with this.
• Market to your segments as early as you can. This research shows that consumers are beginning their Medicare supplement buying journey several months in advance of AEP. You must comply with the marketing guidelines set out by CMS. That said, you need to meet your prospects and customers in the market when they are interested in learning about their options throughout the year, not only during AEP, when your prospects and customers will be inundated with marketing messaging. Being first in line and top-of-mind when the consumer begins the journey has proven to substantially increase conversion likelihood.
• Assume your prospects are getting more than one quote. Given that the price of supplemental plans is highly regulated, insurance providers must primarily compete on customer experience. Jornaya’s research indicates that consumers are educating themselves, across multiple devices, prior to requesting quotes. Differentiate yourself by using behavioral data to understand where the consumer is in her buying journey and creating value as an adviser to her during that stage. Clearly explain what makes your offering different from other providers she may be considering. Provide consumers with a direct number to call should they have any questions. Tell them you will be following up with them (and when) to help them make the most informed decision.
• The sale is only just beginning post-quote. Jornaya’s research shows that shopping activity intensifies after the initial request-for-quote. 59% of consumers returned to market post-lead. They are doing so for two reasons: 1) They have not yet made a decision, or 2) they made a decision that they are now unsure of. Either scenario is an opportunity/risk that must be considered. A winning strategy takes a data-driven approach to creating multiple touch points over weeks (not days), even post-sale, to ensure a complete and optimal customer experience.
• Identifying parallel buying journeys can differentiate your marketing from your competitors. Consumers are looking for guidance on all major life purchases; not just Medicare supplement insurance. Use behavioral data to identify opportunities to assist them with more than just Medicare. Ask questions that prompt the prospect to think about all his needs. What else is going on in his life that is worth considering? Having this data allows marketers to create personalized offers that appeal directly to the buyer, which trickles down to more positive interactions for agents and the brand over time. Those who take the time to truly help their clients feel at ease about life’s big decisions are much more likely to secure multiple policies per customer, at the point of initial sale and throughout the customer lifecycle.

See also: 8 Questions on Medicare Set Aside   Consumers now spend as much time engaging with digital content as they do sleeping. It’s no wonder they expect brands to personalize their shopping experiences, across multiple devices, especially for major life purchases like insurance. To seize the substantial opportunity in Medicare supplement, insurance firms must seek to better understand their prospects. Leveraging behavioral data to drive early, timely and relevant interactions with prospects and customers is the key to winning (and keeping) a consumer’s business.

Companies that want a fulfilled, resilient workforce are making well-being a comprehensive part of their culture. The line between professional and personal lives continues to blur, and companies can use this as an opportunity to differentiate by moving beyond the traditional benefits package. Well-Being Trends According to a recent study conducted by the National Business Group on Health, midsize and large employers are expected to spend an average of $3.6 million on well-being programs in 2019. Well-being is expanding and evolving, driven by trends that include:

• A focus on financial wellness and the adverse impact that debt, low savings and a lack of planning can have on productivity, engagement and health
• A realization that mental health requires increased attention after the prolonged silence, and in some cases stigmatization, that have made it difficult to connect needs with treatment

Financial Wellness Financial wellness is one of the most popular well-being initiatives. According to Wellable’s 2019 Employee Wellness Trends Report, more than 68% of employers say they will be investing more into financial wellness. Employees are looking to employers to provide financial wellness tools that will increase their overall well-being. The Wellable report also finds that over 70% of millennials say they’ve delayed major life decisions due to their student loan debt, indicating the value of student loan assistance programs. Globally, over the past two years, 27% of workers report suffering from stress, anxiety or depression due to their finances, which diminishes employee productivity, engagement and health. With education costs skyrocketing, this issue isn’t going away. Expect participation in financial wellness programs – that address debt management, budgeting and financial planning – to grow considerably in years to come. See also: Why Financial Wellness Is Elusive     Mental Well-Being and Mental Health In recent years, the spotlight on mental health and mental well-being has intensified. According to a 2017 national survey by the APA, the workplace was the third-leading cause of stress (61%), after money (62%) and the future of the nation (63%). Supporting mental resilience by reducing stress needs to be a key focus for well-being in the workplace. Mental well-being is all about prevention and skill-building. Most of us never learned how the brain works or about the importance of training our brain for ultimate vitality. Instead, we are conditioning our brains to be distracted and overstimulated. The good news is that the latest neuroscience research proves that we can train our brain to perform more optimally. While adoption within the employer population remains slow, brain training apps are increasingly commonplace. Solutions like Total Brain apply the latest brain optimization research to help employees learn skills, but the responsibility rests on employers to offer these types of solutions for mental fitness and mental optimization training to help employees improve brain health. There are also hundreds of apps, websites and online courses designed to enhance mental well-being. In addition to providing mental well-being training to your employees, it is critical to focus on mental health benefits and interventions. Millions of Americans need additional support and resources for the mental health disorders that continue to plague our society. The good news is that, like other chronic diseases, mental health disorders are treatable, and employers have a unique opportunity to improve the mental health of the 157 million U.S. adults who spend more time working than doing any other activity apart from sleeping. The key is that employers must take a comprehensive approach, including:

• Access to care: No matter how much we do to create a culture of mental well-being, employees have to be able to access and afford treatment. To prevent higher co-pays and out-of-pocket costs, employers need to ensure that employees aren’t forced to access out-of-network providers for mental health care.
• Comprehensive coverage: Employers must view a high frequency of claims in behavioral health as favorable instead of trying to mitigate these visits like with ER or specialist visits. Weekly therapy can be a very effective treatment for many, and employers should not be concerned about the number of visits an employee has if the employee is seeing qualified specialists.

The Way Forward If organizations want to thrive in the next decade, they need to invest in the well-being of their employees. There is an opportunity to innovate, set yourself apart with a commitment to the health of employees and create a culture that talented individuals want to be part of for many years to come. See also: Employee Wellness Plans’ Code of Conduct   Take time to evaluate your ecosystem – culture, leadership, management, benefits, employee resources, third-party solutions, workplace environment and communications – then devise a plan, execute and make refinements when data exposes gaps. The result will be a safer, higher-performing workplace driven by empowered individuals who are committed to the well-being of the company that employs them.

Workers' compensation fraud creates a financial and administrative burden for employers, while increasing hardship for injured workers with legitimate claims. The early identification of potential fraudulent cases and quick action by workers’ compensation third party administrators can help make sure workers’ compensation programs run as efficiently as possible in providing needed help for injured workers.

The following are some best practices employers can implement to reduce fraud, as well as guidance on what to do if a claim is “not quite right”:

Identify Questionable Claims

Here are some of the “red flags” that may help identify fraudulent claims:

• The employee does not immediately report the injury to his/her supervisor.
• Information indicates the employee was injured somewhere else (auto accident, playing sports, etc.).
• The facts of the injury do not align with the type of injury or disability.
• The employee misses doctor appointments related to the claim.

Follow the Process

Even if an employer suspects a claim could be fraudulent, the employer must still follow the process to ensure the claim is submitted appropriately and the worker obtains medical treatment.

• The employee still must complete a Claim Form (DWC-1).
• The employer still must provide medical treatment within one day of notice of injury.
• The administrator has 14 days to issue a delay letter, during which no temporary disability will be paid.
• The administrator then has 90 days to either accept or reject the claim, during which time the administrator may solicit additional information.

See also: Real or Fake? Finding Workers’ Comp Fraud  

Investigate Promptly

Once a potential fraudulent claim is identified, it is imperative that investigations are initiated promptly. Investigations should be thorough, impartial and preventative. Using an outside party that specializes in workers’ compensation fraud investigation will ensure that the case is handled in accordance with all regulations and will hold up in court if there is a trial. Remember, only a court of law can determine fraud – not the examiner or the employer. These investigations can include:

• Interviews with the injured worker
• Interviews with coworkers
• Witness interviews
• Manager/supervisor interviews
• Surveillance of injured worker

Upon the conclusion of the investigation, any relevant findings and evidence should be presented to the district attorney’s office as well as the Department of Insurance.

Increase Awareness

One of the best tools for fraud prevention is to let employees know that false claims will not be tolerated and that there are stiff penalties. It also helps to provide employees with easy ways to report any potential fraud that they see.

• Post the penalties for filing false claims on your new hire pamphlet.
• Hang a poster in the break room letting employees know how to report fraud anonymously.
• Share stories about fraud convictions to deter abuse.

One recent example of identifying, investigating and prosecuting a fraudulent claim was in the conviction of a school bus driver in San Mateo County in California in July. The claims examiner identified numerous inconsistencies in the medical reports versus the statements provided by the employee. There were alleged migraines and double vision, but tests did not support these symptoms, and it appeared that they were exaggerated.

Investigations were initiated, and the employee was observed participating in activities that were not consistent with any claimed injury. The investigative evidence was forwarded to the San Mateo County district attorney’s office, which obtained a conviction; the defendant was ordered to serve 60 days in the county jail and pay restitution of $60,000 to his employer.

See also: Workers’ Comp Issues to Watch in 2019  

Organizations must implement a comprehensive strategy to curb fraud. Vigilant fraud prevention programs and investigative efforts can save a company hundreds of thousands of dollars by preventing the filing of fraudulent claims and prosecuting those who take advantage of the system.

After witnessing the Cal football team's disheartening loss to Oregon State on Saturday, I spent an hour having a beer (okay, two) at Pappy's in the heart of Berkeley, decompressing... and thinking about what the busy sports bar had to say about insurance.

I didn't intend to ponder insurance, but I guess watching SMU complete its smackdown of Temple on the TV screens didn't exactly absorb all my attention, and my somber mood probably made me more likely to notice two glitches that reminded me of inefficiencies that still plague insurance, despite all the investments in technology and attempts to reinvent processes from the viewpoint of the customer.

The big glitch occurred when, at the height of the post-game frenzy, there was a shift change behind the bar. One bartender kept serving drinks, but all the others just focused on closing out tabs and ignored all the customers stacked up several deep, trying to catch the attention of someone—anyone—behind the bar to place an order. 

During the shift change, the bar-backs came out to clean up and replenish supplies, which was surely necessary but which amplified the frustration among customers. These assistants can't serve drinks, but how is a customer supposed to tell the difference between a bartender and a bar-back? From the standpoint of the customers jostling for attention, the bar looked like it had twice as many bartenders as it had had minutes before, yet almost nobody could get a drink. 

If the shift change had come just half an hour later, it could have gone smoothly, because the crowd had thinned out so much by then. But the change came hard on 4, not 4:30. Pappy's management likely didn't notice how many people walked out the door in frustration after giving up on getting a drink, or realize how many will decide next time that they should try one of the many bars just down the street. After all, the place did a booming business among Cal fans drowning their sorrows. But a tiny change in process would have led to more business Saturday and more repeat business from happy customers on future weekends.  

Yes, delivering an insurance policy is far more complicated than sliding a Sierra Nevada across the bar, but I'd bet that, off the top of your head, you can think of several tweaks in insurance processes that would remove frustrations for customers. We're making progress as an industry, but, given all the paper we still shuffle around, insurance remains a target-rich environment for those trying to kill inefficiency, and many tweaks are as simple as moving a shift change back a half-hour.

My second observation reinforces the first. The Pappy's bar was a machine when it came to churning out pints and pitchers of beer and at least three drinks—Moscow Mules, Jack and Cokes and Margaritas. (Man, people drank a lot of Moscow Mules, so many that Pappy's ran out of copper mugs.) But woe unto you if you ordered something out of the ordinary, like a Manhattan cocktail. The bartenders were pros and were running around so fast they were sweating, but an unusual order threw them completely out of rhythm. 

The vast majority of insurance policies have to have a fair amount of complexity to them, but not every piece of a policy or every process needs to be such a one-off, and, the more we can turn into the equivalent of a Jack and Coke, the more efficient we can be.

Have a great week. And Go, Bears.

Paul Carroll
Editor-in-Chief

The adage says, "What gets measured gets managed." What does that mean for workers’ compensation? What can we measure to truly improve outcomes for everyone in the workers’ compensation system, from injured workers, to employers, to insurers and others? Are we measuring the most important metrics, or are we as an industry spending too much time measuring less relevant issues and excluding those that can have a real impact? How can we drive optimal outcomes by adjusting what we measure and the analytics we use to measure success? Finally, what should we measure as the industry moves forward? There is certainly no shortage of data in the workers’ compensation system, but what we do with it, how we measure it and, most importantly, how we apply it are key. Four prominent industry thought leaders joined us to discuss this important issue during our most recent Out Front Ideas webinar, which also served as the opening keynote session for the 74th annual Workers’ Compensation Educational Conference in Orlando:

• Anna Hui, director of the Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations
• David North, president and CEO of Sedgwick
• David Stills, vice president of global risk management for Walmart
• Joan Vincenz, managing director of risk management for United Airlines

Our speakers did not necessarily agree on which specific metrics are the most important to measure. But they were unanimous on what they considered the most important element of any program – treating injured workers well and getting them back to health and work as quickly as possible. Anything measured should be considered a tool to accomplish that in the most caring and efficient ways possible. Process Versus Outcome Measurements It is easy to get absorbed in our processes and to overlook the most important thing – helping the injured worker. The definition of "success" may differ for an adjuster, the employer and the medical provider. Collectively, we need to be creating measurements that will ensure a focus on providing the best outcome for the injured worker. Defining success and deciding what to measure is not a black-and-white issue in workers’ compensation. As one speaker said, “It’s not as if we are counting widgets; these are individuals, all with different issues and backgrounds.” Processes and outcomes must go hand in hand. While optimal outcomes are the goal, the processes used to get there are important. Measuring each, to a certain extent, is important. For example, measuring the timeliness of first reports of injury is valuable if it helps a large number of injured workers. Commonly Used Metrics Three-point contact, adjuster caseloads and the speed of communicating with the injured worker all are metrics that are, or have been, extensively measured. But are these still relevant? Does success for these measurements lead to better outcomes, or should they evolve? There is no definitive answer except that measurements are important if they ultimately lead to better outcomes. For example, two of our speakers disagreed on the importance of the adjuster orally communicating with the injured worker within the first 24 hours. One believed it is absolutely critical to the employee’s experience and the outcome of the injury to speak with the adjuster quickly because the contact shows that the employer cares. Also, injured employees have a tendency to say things that they might not write in an email or text, and they are more likely to remember events of the incident closer to the timing of it. However, another panelist viewed 24-hour contact as an “age old requirement” that does not fit with the adoption of mobile technology. In addition to possible logistical problems, such as being unable to contact the injured worker as he is getting medical attention, there is little, if any, information to share with him at that early point. Allowing metrics to evolve with advancing technology is important, the speakers explained. For example, the first communication with the injured worker (whenever it occurs) may be a very different conversation than it was just a short time ago. Some employers can now view employer video footage within hours of a claim being reported. That means the first conversation with the injured worker does not need to focus on discovering exactly what happened, because that is already known. See also: Social Determinants of Workforce Health   The number of cases per adjuster is another metric that may be losing its importance. Despite some calls for an industry standard, many feel it is less relevant than it was several years ago. Technology has made medical-only claims much easier to handle. Also, factors such as the skill level of the adjuster and the complexity of each claim should dictate the number of cases each adjuster handles. Measuring savings from managed care may be less significant than it once was. Savings from bill review, and looking at a 12-month rolling average, do not show how well an organization is doing as opposed to a comparison over time or to another benchmark. Some employers are investing heavily in onsite clinics to make sure injured workers get quality medical care as soon as possible. One panelist said the most important metrics to measure are those that focus on these core factors:

• The speed with which the claim goes through the system.
• The quality of the medical care.
• Efforts around return to work.
• Keeping a balance on the metrics measured.

Using Metrics Appropriately A criticism of the workers’ compensation system is the inability to make certain measurements meaningful, collecting all sorts of data but not using that information to improve. One panelist pointed out that, while the industry extensively measures first report of injury, it does not measure or adequately discuss the small percentage of disputed claims that actually go to trial. They noted that the number of settlements has gone up dramatically, while the number of awards is decreasing. While that may indicate improvements in the workers’ compensation system, the information is not being used to improve processes. According to the panelists, sharing data is one of the biggest opportunities to improve the system. Safety information and workers’ compensation data are being gathered in the same building but not shared among the departments collecting them. Breaking down the silos within the regulatory side of the industry has also been a major focus as this can result in more aggregate information available to all stakeholders. Regulators are also providing more data to the industry, which can allow employers and injured workers to explore trends and see types of injuries by county, injury type and industry. Understanding what is being measured, and relating it back to how the system functions, can improve performance and outcomes. Finally, the panel explained that maintaining actuarial predictability is very important for employers. If you are making significant changes to your program, be sure to discuss these with the actuaries so they can adjust their modeling. Employers should meet with actuaries frequently to monitor trends that are affecting their program. It is important to show actuaries how all the metrics work together to see the whole story, rather than looking at any one metric in isolation. See also: Bridging Health and Productivity at Work   The Future The industry will need to learn to trust the metrics more, the speakers said. Sometimes the data that is captured through predictive analytics and other new tools contradicts what we think is correct. But it is time for stakeholders to rely on the technology, rather than what their guts are telling them. At the same time, it is crucial to make sure the customer is happy, regardless of what the measurements show. Measurements do not matter if the injured worker has a bad experience. There is no single measure that will guarantee success. The metrics can lead to positive outcomes as long as they are viewed as one factor in the overall injury management program and organizations are willing to evolve and change with technology and the experiences of injured workers. At the end of the day, it is how well we care for injured workers that is the most important thing. You can view the complete presentation at https://www.outfrontideas.com/archives/.

Despite major advancements in technology, the global approach to cybersecurity has remained the same for decades: Respond and recover. The same vulnerabilities are repeatedly exploited in similar ways, and this trend shows no signs of slowing because current security tools do not actually address the roots of attacks. Even new artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques have mostly been aimed at improving response efficiency – as though there is nothing we can do but prepare for the worst and recover as quickly as possible. To slow the frequency of dangerous and costly cyberattacks, companies should be shifting their efforts toward focusing on disrupting adversaries. In May 2000, one unwitting user on a computer in the Philippines used Microsoft Outlook to open an email message with the subject line “ILOVEYOU” and an attached file named “LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.txt.” The attachment contained malicious code – a worm that moved through the user’s computer, overwriting random files and sending an email with a copy of itself to every address in the user’s Windows Address Book. Just 10 days later, the ILOVEYOU worm had spread around the world, infecting over 50 million computers. Far from spreading love, the worm caused more damage than any previous cybersecurity incident: an estimated $5.5 billion to $8.7 billion worldwide. See also: Quest for Reliable Cyber Security   Seventeen years later, Microsoft announced a vulnerability within a resource-sharing protocol in widespread use across versions of the ubiquitous Windows XP operating system. The company quickly released a patch to fix the vulnerability, but countless systems had not been patched by the time the WannaCry ransomware attack began two months later. WannaCry eventually affected more than 200,000 computers across 150 countries and caused estimated damages ranging from hundreds of millions to billions of dollars. Despite significant changes to the state of technology and the internet between 2000 and 2017, these two cyberattacks were very similar. Both propagated by using relatively simple vulnerabilities in Microsoft operating systems, and both were successful because of a lack of proactive cybersecurity. Not only do the same kinds of attacks continue to work, responses to cyberattacks have not changed much, either. Despite all our advances in technology, cybersecurity is generally still focused on response and recovery: Identify the infected computers, take them offline, rebuild or replace them, file a data breach disclosure... rinse and repeat. Is it impossible to defend against these vulnerabilities? Are hackers just too smart? Not necessarily. Response and recovery treats cyberattacks like natural disasters – inevitable, unstoppable and caused by forces outside our control. Meanwhile, adversaries continue to enjoy the fruits of their illicit labors. Popular methods of attack remain consistently successful because cybersecurity has failed to evolve to a posture of true prevention. A needed evolution The continued success of these cyberattack methods (and others) hinge on exploiting a limited number of key vulnerabilities that are commonly known to good and malicious actors alike. So, why are they still effective? The answer is that standard cybersecurity methods are designed to respond to incidents but rarely, if ever, actively disrupt the adversary’s attempted attack. For example, cyberattacks or intrusions are generally handled via alerting after a breach has already occurred. The alert triggers a cybersecurity team to go in and clean up the affected systems, then set up or modify a firewall to block future attacks. Afterward, companies are required by law to file a data breach notification. The most common approach to blocking attacks involves analyzing past and current threats, then distilling the results into indicators of compromise (IoC), such as IP addresses, domain names or hashes of known bad files. These IoCs are fed into available cybersecurity tools, which are wielded like a giant hammer, blocking or denying any traffic associated with them. This method aims to prevent attacks that are exactly like prior attacks. This perpetuates the problem, however, as hackers know about these protection methods and adjust. Subsequent attacks are designed to differ just enough from prior attacks to elude being blocked and ensure they avoid the new protections. This process is repeated time and time again. The cybersecurity industry is almost entirely locked in this detect-respond-recover approach, with little to no effort being made to actually prevent cyberattacks in the first place. Embrace a new approach to stem the flow of cyberattacks Rather than treat the cyber threat like a natural disaster, the cybersecurity industry needs to embrace a fundamentally new approach. Instead of relying solely on insufficient incident response and recovery methods that have been used for many years, a more sophisticated approach is needed to prevent current cyberattacks and to predict and prevent future ones on a meaningful scale. At Trinity Cyber, for instance, we provide this preventive assurance by invisibly monitoring threats outside a network’s perimeter and adapting to the adversary’s techniques to intercept and neutralize cyberattacks before they get in. Operational challenges in the cyber realm have been exacerbated by an ever-growing landscape of disparate endpoints, heightened sophistication of cyber-attackers and an increasing number of cybersecurity tools. While these challenges led to the development and implementation of SOAR platforms, which add efficiencies, most tools remain inherently reactive. See also: Best Practices in Cyber Security   Cyberattacks or attempts at compromising a system are human-made events within a human-made environment. By focusing on disrupting the adversary’s methods, analysts can determine tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP) and then use those to develop solutions that provide truly preventive cybersecurity.

It’s almost inevitable. Spend your working life identifying, analyzing, quantifying and ascribing monetary value to risk, and you’re likely to have a fairly strong aversion to it. More accurately, an aversion to undertaking new endeavors with inadequately understood consequences. The insurance industry is, on any number of levels, the very definition of risk-averse. Yet, for all the commentary suggesting otherwise, insurance still has an appetite for innovation. If the insurtech sector is any indication, then an interest in and requirement for new solutions is being recognized and slowly addressed. Insurance may not employ the language of disruption that runs through the wider fintech market, may be short a few unicorns and may be unable to boast some of the record-breaking funding rounds, but a quiet tech evolution has been building in insurance, nonetheless. Hence the advent of automated underwriting facilitated by more advanced algorithms and data analysis. Where insurtech does overlap with its more vocal fintech counterparts is in the greater use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to solve age-old problems around data analysis and interpretation. It’s about five years or so since AI first became a topic of conversation in insurance. Since then, despite the intensity of the debate, it has often felt like a reality that is always just over the horizon – a destination that kept moving even as more and more efforts were directed toward it. But recent research suggests that the journeys made so far have not been in vain. We are at a point where embracing AI is about to step up a gear. The global value of insurance premiums underwritten by AI has reached an estimated $1.3 billion this year, as stated by Juniper Research; and they are expected to top $20 billion in the next five years. As a destination, AI is closer and more attainable than ever before. See also: Untapped Potential of Artificial Intelligence   However, AI is not an island. Its promise of $2.3 billion in global cost savings to be achieved through greater efficiencies and automation of resource-intensive tasks will not be achieved in isolation. AI remains part of a more complex ecosystem of data gathering and analysis. It can apply new technologies to get the best out of the already established and still-emerging data sources that feature in underwriting offices around the world. It emphatically does not require these existing investments to be ripped out, replaced or downgraded. It is more helpful, therefore, to see AI as the differentiating factor in the latest generation of insurance IT: augmented automated underwriting, or AAU for short. AAU lets underwriters spot patterns and connections that are, frankly, either invisible to the human eye or that take normal, human-assisted processes unfeasible amounts of time and resource to identify. Whereas earlier generations of automation were able to pick up the low-hanging fruit of insurance markets – the individuals whose driving history fit into clearly delineated boxes, for example – AAU can take into account all of the rich complexity of the human experience. It can spot the nuances and individualities that populate the life market, for example, and translate those into accurate policies. That’s good news for both underwriters and their customers. AAU can significantly reduce the need for separate medicals, repeated questions, and lengthy decision-making processes and drastically increase the speed at which a potential insurer can get a quote and cover – while continually improving the way risk is calculated and managed. AAU can make sure the decision-making process remains in the hands of underwriters rather than IT departments, enabling them to set and update the rules and parameters as befits their preferred business model. It consequently makes advanced, complex and precise decision-making available to a broader range of underwriting businesses – which is good for those businesses, good for customers and ultimately good for the entire industry. See also: Strategist’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence AAU – augmented automated underwriting – is an example of the realization of AI’s promise. As such, it’s set to become one of the key talking points and disruptive technologies of the insurance industry. And this time, AAU is both a journey and destination that all progressive insurance organizations need to be considering.

There is a misconception in the healthcare field that technological innovation is opposed to the philosophy of holistic care. Tech is viewed as artificial, manufactured and impersonal — it values human experience only for the sake of developing better algorithms and treats the physical body of the patient without care for their personhood. In contrast, holistic care is seen as organic and natural, elevating the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of an individual and seeing, not a patient, but a person with a particular and unique social and cultural background. It is easy to see why those invested in whole person care have resisted the march of innovation or flat out rejected it. But to see these two things in tension is to ignore the character of technology — that is, as a tool rather than an end in itself. Take the smartphone. It can be used to ignore interpersonal connections, while endlessly scrolling through social media feeds or web content — but it has also provided the means of keeping up and strengthening interpersonal connections, through video chat, text messaging, phone calls and countless other forms of communication. The lesson of the smartphone generation? Tech is what you make of it. And that lesson should be applied to tech’s role in healthcare. Tech is not a threat to holistic care, but rather a means to scale its interpersonal experiences, and we need to start viewing it in that light. Tech overcomes the real threat to holistic care — human limitation. In an ideal world, caregivers would be available 24/7 to hand deliver personalized care to their patients. In a tech-enabled world, we can come close to realizing this vision, as digital tools provide the means to extend care into a person's home while overcoming the physical obstacles of distance and time exacerbated by the shortage of caregivers. See also: Can InsurTech Make Miracles in Health?   Of course, the philosophy of holistic care is not based solely on interactions between patient and caregiver. In fact, if holistic care is successful, the need for a caregiver drops away, as the goal is to create independent individuals who can sustain and manage their own health. Tech can foster this independence through delivering accessible educational content to patients right where they are, enabling them to take an active role in their own health and become self-reliant. From this angle, the patient is not just another diagnosis, but an individual who with the proper means can be empowered to control their own health and wellness. Tech can aid that patient to learn about and be encouraged to pursue healthy lifestyle choices that fit their individual needs, and can keep them off medications and out of the hospital: a primary goal of holistic care. This type of individualized care plan is made possible by “big data” — the very algorithms that at first glance seem so impersonal, reducing the patient to a statistic. Far from depersonalizing care, these are at the heart of driving the shift from diagnostic to preventative care, revealing novel insights and helping to create plans that are tailored to the individual person and encourage patients to view themselves as uniquely structured individuals whose care management should reflect that, and not be delivered through a one-size-fits-all approach. See also: Social Determinants of Workforce Health   Imagine a world where the human connection of whole person care isn’t limited to physical touchpoints, where, instead of reaching five or 10 patients in a day, a care provider can reach hundreds. A world where hospitals are empty from preventable admissions and the drug industry unnecessary except in exceptional cases, where redundant protocols don’t exist. This is the promise that technology has fulfilled in other industries, and it’s time that the champions of holistic healthcare set aside their skepticism to take a second look

According to home insurance provider Hippo, over half of insurance customers would rather go to the dentist than communicate with their provider. This type of sentiment provides a big business opportunity, however, as insurance increasingly becomes a direct-to-consumer (D2C) business. In the next few years, many believe that the large amounts of marketing and ad dollars traditionally spent to drive traffic to mobile apps and websites will struggle to turn web visits into customers. Insurance carriers, now more than ever, are afforded the opportunity to address friction within the customer journey as customers expect a transparent and more intuitive experience. Today’s insurance consumer embraces the right engagement at the right time. Providing certainty and clarity to customers reduces anxiety and hesitation and drives success for the customer and the business. In 2013, Geico’s marketing budget topped $1 billion, with a majority of spending on advertising. Not much has changed. D2C newcomers have acquired early customers with design-first thinking, an emphasis on lower prices and more modern policy terms. But the approaches are meant to acquire customers; neither focuses much on engaging the customer. According to a recent Watermark customer experience survey, CX leaders outperformed the broader market, generating a total return that was 45 points higher than the S&P 500 Index. And customer experience leaders generated a total cumulative return that was nearly three times greater than that of the "Customer Experience Laggards." Those are numbers any CEO of a traditional insurance company or founder of a major insurtech can rally behind. How insurance can embrace a different type of customer acquisition For legacy insurers and a more D2C model, customer experience represents a fundamental and essential shift in mindset. By providing the lower-friction, more customer-centric experience that today’s consumers prefer, legacy insurers and insurtechs can modernize their position in the market. This can all be done by guiding the customer’s experience online through engagement. See also: How to Earn Consumers’ Trust   Tom Super, director of J.D. Power’s insurance practice, recently noted that, “According to our 2019 J.D. Power Digital Experience Study, 37% of consumers have never spoken with their agent, and one in 10 consumers report they have never interacted with their insurance company at all.” This clearly leaves a lot of room to grow customer engagement, and the insurance industry should look more closely at how it calculates customer lifetime value (CLV). There is an opportunity to understand where exactly customer engagement produces sales. For insurtechs and legacy providers alike, the question has become: How do you think about engagement when your customers don’t really want to be there or don’t understand exactly where to go? This is a lot different than typical direct-to-consumer marketing and brand challenges. Creating a more direct customer experience To win in this fast-evolving insurance marketplace, providers of all types will need to move quickly beyond branding and focus on the customer experience. The first few seconds are critical—as are all the seconds that follow. Customers will need constant reassurance that things will be explained, the next steps will be clear and the company is there for you. The key to Guided Digital Commerce is automation for the majority of contacts and preserving your live channels for more complex inquiries. If you can give the customer the right answer to a concern the overwhelming majority of the time, you can deploy a profitable engagement solution that can reach all of your customers instead of just a few. In sometimes opaque insurance products, this is key to building effective customer engagement that supports money spent on the brand. In practical terms, this means providing relevant guidance to help customers complete their onsite journey quickly and easily. Site design and golf tournament sponsorships are only the beginning. From the moment the customer lands on the home page, the provider should watch for signs of hesitation, struggle or opportunity. Site analytics can help the insurer understand the nature of hesitance as well as how to address it. If visitors tend to get stuck at a given point in the process, offer relevant information in context, explaining what to do and what to expect next. Keeping the customer within the digital channel and increasing self-sufficiency is good for the customer and good for business. Anticipate and act on customer behavior in real time. In a sense, be the best possible kind of insurance agent: one who’s clear, helpful and attentive to the customer’s needs but never pushy. See also: How Insurtechs Can Win Consumers’ Trust   Branding, data science, risk-pricing, terms, customer reviews—these are all part of the mix for competitive success. But none of it matters if you can’t keep customers on your site long enough to see what sets you apart. By offering a new and better kind of engagement experience, insurance can start changing customer perceptions from the moment they arrive. When customers are guided to the information they need to make confident buying decisions, they’re more likely to bind policies, give accurate information to enable accurate risk calculation, update their coverage and generate revenue for the business. And that sure beats a trip to the dentist.