Short-term insurer Santam has outsourced its claims document management and storage to Metrofile, the business content management specialist in the MGX group, to speed up document retrieval and clear up a backlog that arose due to the inherent weakness of its legacy system.
A major player in the South African short-term insurance arena with a gross written premium of R4,6 billion per annum, Santam serves direct clients as well as brokers, and is represented by most leading brokers including Prestasi and Alexander Forbes.
"The statutory requirement that all original legal documents be kept for a period of five years presents all insurance companies with an operational challenge," says Santam project leader Chris Meyer. "Apart from the original, signed policy documents, claims documents represent the most important legal documents that insurers need to keep on record."
Historically, Santam managed its claims documents through a microfiche system. In 1999, it decided to migrate to an electronic document management system (EDMS) and chose the FileNET Panagon software system, running on a Compaq server. Scanning was done centrally at the company`s head office. However, claims volumes fluctuated from year to year and soon a backlog developed as the scanners failed to keep up with the volume of incoming claims.
This created a major problem at customer service level as a failure to scan and then file documents timeously resulted in an inability to find documents when claims queries came through.
"Although only 3% of all documents are ever requested, the importance and urgency of meeting the requests is underlined by the fact that most of the requests arise out of court cases or when clients are not satisfied with claims settlements," says Meyer. "Failure to find a requested document impacts seriously on customer service levels."
Because of the scanning backlog, staff could not find requested documents electronically, and the search process was further held up as scanning staff were forced to search for the requested documents by sifting through the mounting piles waiting to be scanned.
The merger with Guardian National Insurance in May 2001 put additional pressure on the system with a 30% increase in claims volumes causing serious delays in meeting requests, and negatively impacting service levels and staff morale.
A request for proposals to solve the problem was sent out and seven companies responded. MGX and MCS proposed the scanning process be outsourced in a scan-on-demand model. The rest all proposed alternative in-house scanning systems. "Although it is not Santam policy to outsource its IT requirement, it does outsource certain non-core activities such as printing," says Meyer. "The decision to outsource to Metrofile came after a costing exercise revealed that outsourcing would save Santam 70% of costs over a five-year period. The savings would accrue from reduced staff requirements, reduced floor space, saving in hardware costs and maintenance, eradication of software support and licence fees. We chose Metrofile because it is a well established company with good reference sites and is the local market leader in its field."
Metrofile has taken over management of Santam`s entire claims scanning and document storage requirement. All claims documentation is now sent offsite to Metrofile`s regional storage facility in Cape Town. There each document is given a barcode that corresponds with its claim number. The barcode is then scanned and filed to Metrofile`s internally developed, in-house MOPS document management system, which uses barcode scanning of documents to enable random rather than sequential filing. When the filing clerk stacks the documents into a storage box and places them in the shelving system, the shelf barcode and file barcode are also scanned thereby logging the position of the file onto the system.
When requests for stored claims documents come in, Metrofile staff need merely type the barcode/claim number into the system to establish where the document has been stored. The retrieved document is then copied and scanned and the copy faxed or image mailed to the client.
As part of the contract, Metrofile also agreed to take over management of Santam`s microfiche and FileNET systems, physically moving the Cape Town based FileNET server to its own premises at Airport Industria. As a result it is able to supply retrieved documents from its own scan-on-demand system, and from scanned records in the legacy FileNET and microfiche systems.
Metrofile has converted all the indexes of the microfiches and the FileNET systems to its barcode numbering system to ensure easy document retrieval. By keying in the corresponding claim/barcode number, Metrofile staff members are immediately able to identify whether the document is stored in FileNET, microfiche or on MGX`s own system.
Santam and MGX are currently setting up a control sheet to record each claim-set sent for storage and measure how the request was met to ensure service levels are maintained.
"Off-site document management and storage is a key Metrofile offering and Santam has given us an excellent opportunity to display the efficiencies of our services," says Paul Mullon, marketing director at Metrofile. "The benefits of rapid retrieval of documents and cost savings of the system will more than pay for the investment."
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Metrofile, a company in the JSE Securities Exchange-listed MGX group, is the South African market leader in the management of business content, and is geared to help customers reduce costs and improve productivity in processes that are centred around documents and corporate records.
All companies have a combination of paper and electronic documents, and are forced by law and customer requirements to secure the availability of the documents for the duration of their lifecycle. For most organisations, the volume of documentation is growing at an exponential rate, and is becoming increasingly difficult to manage.
Metrofile, which also has an international presence, is uniquely positioned to help customers through the following value-based offerings: Metrofile Storage Centres, Metrofile Conversion Centres, Professional Services, Solutions, and Support Services.
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