Business process outsourcing (BPO) is an effective way to streamline operations, especially in circumstances where organizations are experiencing overload. Companies that use BPO stand to increase employee productivity and focus because they are not spending valuable time completing menial tasks.
As more insurance companies shift to a microservice architecture for policy administration, they should keep in mind that human “microservices” (such as outsourcing of manual administrative tasks) can play an instrumental role in building that nimble forward-thinking insurance organization.
BPO can help insurance providers recover from legacy platform paperwork overload by outsourcing many functions like creating quote shells, performing OFAC checks, and direct bill payment processing to a trusted third party.
There are several steps organizations can take to improve business process outsourcing leading to more organizational success.
How to Ensure an Efficient BPO Operation
Many companies struggle with a large insurance paperwork backlog. This struggle often snowballs into a larger problem, forcing companies to put out fires down the road, impeding their progress from bigger goals. Eliminating backlog starts with proper documentation of processes, clearly-defined turnaround times with strict QA procedures, and having a solution that is scalable.
Next, centralize, standardize, and streamline your administrative processes. Traditionally, the different departments within an insurance organization would each have their own processes and standards. This often led to miscommunications, unrealistic expectations, and more dissatisfied customers.
Centralizing administrative processes to one unit creates consistency in turnaround times and customer service as well as greater responsiveness. A modern BPO solution like Solartis Administer can enter policies within 24 hours at 100% accuracy.
Employee turnover rates are another factor hurting existing BPO operations. Administrative roles are more costly than they were previously, as people are commanding higher salaries. Solartis estimates that the cost to replace someone in an administrative position earning between $30-$40,000 is $8,000, or 20% of their annual salary.
In addition, many hired for administrative positions will grow out of the role within 6 months, and a new hire will have to replace them. This constant turnover leads to a cycle of onboarding and training that happens all too frequently for any chance of sustained success. An effective way to combat employee turnover is to outsource insurance operations to a team of seasoned insurance administration professionals.
Concerns With Business Process Outsourcing: Are They Founded?
However, there are some that are skeptical of outsourcing, and some of the ”horror stories” have validity. Although some skepticism is warranted, modern BPO approaches place transparency, accountability, and security at the top of the list.
Carriers that originally were hesitant to outsource, now embrace the model and are reaping its benefits. Our suggestion to the skeptics is to start slow: Give BPO a try for one business process, a process that experiences chronic problems like poor quality or slow turnaround time (e.g. issuance of certificates of insurance). Once the BPO process is in place, assess the results and see if outsourcing is a good fit for your organization.
A third-party BPO provider like Solartis Administer delivers accurate execution of administrative processes and tasks. This results in a streamlined process for greater output, and ultimately efficiency leaving customers satisfied, and coming back for more.
"They are fast, simple, and cost-effective. Their team is an extremely reasonable group of people who care, really care, about your success. Every launch has some bumps - they worked above and beyond to make sure those bumps didn't disrupt our launch or our ability to write new business. Without Solartis, I wouldn't be projecting a 30% increase in topline growth."
said Cameron Linder, CEO, Western Bowling Proprietors Insurance (WBPI), Rednil Insurance Brokers, Inc.
Consider downloading our Solartis Administer Overview document to see a complete list of services and how transaction-based pricing can save you time and money.
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