Why Secure Storage is Essential for Claims Documentation

Claims documentation is the key to a successful claim that goes through simply. To make sure that happens, you need secure, easy-to-use storage Here we explore the consequences of bad document storage, and how you can have the most efficient storage possible.

The Key to a Successful Claims Process? The Right Documentation

For a claim to be successful, it’s important to have all key documentation, these can include:

• A police report
• Medical bills
• Policy documentation
• Photographs

An insurance claim without documentation is like a bicycle without wheels. It’s not going anywhere. 

Collecting paper documents manually takes a huge amount of time. It’s also inefficient. Your key evidence can easily become damaged, lost, or corrupted. It all needs to be correctly filed, backed up, and well organized. All this organization requires time and space– two things that insurance companies often don’t have to spare. 

The Impact of Inadequate Documentation on Claims Management

Any documents that are not handed in, incorrectly filled in, misplaced, or damaged slow down the process.

Often the client misses a key document, so the insurer has to wait for that. However, when your company loses a form, invoice, or piece of evidence, it can become a serious issue. Your client is already in a stressful situation, any delay increases their frustration with your business. The claims experience hugely impacts a client’s loyalty to you.

McKinsey reported that 40% of customers who switch insurance companies do so because their policy didn’t provide value. According to the same report, 20% of customers would switch insurance companies if their advisor left. So providing a smooth experience that provides value is key to retaining clients. 

Data Breaches and Losses: Challenges of Claims Documentation

In 2023, there were 3,205 data breaches in the USA alone. If we look worldwide, the average cost of a data breach was $ 4.45 million in that same year. Those figures represent what insurance companies risk by not storing claims documents securely. 

At n2uitive, all recorded statements are stored on enterprise-grade security systems that are compliant with SOC 2 Type I & II.

Any documentation that is stored on hard drives risks getting lost or corrupted. The same goes for cloud systems that aren’t updated or protected. Losing recorded statements can represent a serious issue if sensitive information is at risk of being leaked. It can also affect your company’s reputation on the market. Losing documents can make you seem unreliable and untrustworthy to both customers and prospective clients.

In March 2024, Fidelity Investments had the personal data of 28,000 customers leaked via a third party. To avoid facing a similar situation, ensure that you use trustworthy providers. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) published "Principles for Effective Cybersecurity: Insurance Regulators Guidance" which can help you.

Improve Security and Efficiency: Advantages of Secure and Organized Documentation

Managing documents efficiently, and sharing them among all stakeholders who need secure, transparent access is key to having a faster, more secure claims process. It can also help your clients, as your claims processing can become faster by having all your documents in one single, secure place. Clear documentation also improves the accuracy of your insurance decisions, which is important for your reputation.

The insurance industry is also very regulated to protect sensitive information. Your business must comply with all necessary, applicable legislation.

• In the USA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects medical information. There are also other Data Protection Acts that apply to insurance.
• In the UK and EU, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) secures customer information
• In Canada, The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) is also important to the insurance industry

This article on cybersecurity and data privacy in the insurance industry provides a deeper dive.

Meeting Compliance Aspects of Claim Documentation

To protect your claim files, you need to have the correct documentation stored and shared with the necessary parties. Your documentation should show:

• Only the facts of the accident or issue
• Have photographs if needed
• Retain the recorded statement and all important documents.

To make audits or appeals easier, you should keep all your documents stored together for each case. By doing this, you will be able to find the documentation quickly and easily. 

Having secure, easy-to-use storage makes all the difference in meeting the compliance requirements of claims.

Don’t Waste Precious Office Space: Shifting to Online Documentation Storage

Having all your documents online provides you with 5 key benefits:

1. Find documents faster by having them online, saving you time
2. Use your precious office space better by not having huge filing cabinets
3. Improve collaboration and transparency by easily sharing documents
4. Make audit compliance simple with digital storage
5. Have documents backed up safely in the cloud, so they can never be lost or corrupted
   

How to Move from Physical to Digital

Moving to online document storage can seem overwhelming. These 3 key steps will help you do it smoothly.

1. Start by planning what will go digital and when. With a good plan, it will become easier. You also need to loop everyone into the plan, you should start with the leadership team, but everyone in the organization needs to be aware of what will happen.
2. Don’t try to cut all paper at once. Some documents may need to have hard copies, ensure that you work with different teams to decide what must remain on paper.
3. Create online forms and files. By moving your processes online, and creating new forms, folders, and files digitally you’ll make it easier for the whole organization to change.

What to Check in Document Management Providers: A Checklist

When you analyze different document management systems, you need to look at 5 different areas to ensure that the management software will be used and loved by the whole team.

1. Security: As we mentioned above, having software that’s secure to protect against hackers is important. You should ask if it’s encrypted, has access control, and does regular backups.
   
   
2. Ease of use: You need to have a system that is easy to use. That should include being able to search and move documents easily. It should also have a logical layout and be simple to navigate. 
   
   
3. Integrations: Think about the other software that your business already uses. Adding another system that doesn’t link with your existing ones won’t help you. You need to ensure that your new document management program integrates with them.
   
   
4. Support: You should ask the provider if they give their customers onboarding and ongoing training and support. If it has a help center with documents and step-by-step articles and videos to help you when you need them.
   
   
5. Cost-Benefit: It’s important to consider your budget, you need to think about upfront and continuing costs. These can include monthly subscription fees, additional features, and set-up fees. 

n2uitive: Securing and Supporting Your Claims Documentation 

Give your claims organization the most comprehensive, easy-to-use solution with n2uitive’s document storage and recorded statement lifecycle management (RSLM).

With n2uitive’s RSLM you can record, review, store, share, analyze, and transcribe all your recorded statements. We are fully integrated with Guidewire to make your claims process smoother. We also integrate with Allegis so that you can transcribe statements with a single click.

Discover how we can make your claims documentation more secure, accessible, and fully compliant with a short demo.