The claimant experience is a critically important consideration for your insurance company to focus on. When claimants have poor experiences navigating their claim journey, that is reflected in your company’s claimant satisfaction scores. And when a claimant has had a negative claims experience, they may choose not to renew their policies with your company, which in turn brings down your retention rates.
It is imperative to take a proactive approach when it comes to this matter. First, consider implementing claimant satisfaction surveys if you have not yet done so. Collecting this data will allow you to analyze it and make changes to your claims adjudication processes as needed.
If you have been collecting claimant satisfaction scores but have not analyzed the data for pain points, this is a missed opportunity. Identifying common areas of dissatisfaction within the claims process will pinpoint the changes your claims team members need to make in order to improve your claimants’ experience.
For example, if your claimants consistently rate their communication with your company on the lower end of the scale, consider ways you might change communication options. One way to ensure claimants feel heard and cared for is to provide a customer care line. This care line should be staffed with friendly yet knowledgeable team members who will assist your claimants with questions and concerns that come up throughout the claims process.
Beyond tracking claimant satisfaction data, you will also want to consider where improvements can be made to existing processes in order to provide a smoother experience for claimants. If you currently require your claimants to pay out of their own pocket for physician prescribed services and submit reimbursement requests, this is an area of opportunity for your company.
Consider partnering with a provider that implements a pre-authorization process on every physician prescribed service and also grants your company access to its network of medical providers that offer contracted rates. This would eliminate out of pocket payments for your claimants, as long as they visit a medical provider within the network. Furthermore, it would eliminate reimbursement paperwork which could cause delays and frustration for your claimants. As an added benefit, the elimination of this paperwork also translates to a reduced administrative burden on your adjusters and examiners.
Northwood is an experienced durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and medical supplies (DMEPOS), pharmacy and ancillary service provider with an extensive provider network. Northwood also implements pre-authorization and provides a customer care line for both claimants and claims team members. Along with many other proven processes and procedures, these benefits add up to satisfied claimants, better claimant experiences, and improved retention rates for your insurance company.
Please call Rosanne Brugnoni at 586-755-3830 ext. 3771 to review how a partnership with Northwood will benefit your company.
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