The Case for Advanced Case Management Software
A Better Way to Manage Litigated Claims
Claims organizations face numerous pressures, including an increasingly difficult legal landscape, increased expectations from C-suite leadership, and rising per-file legal costs. Sophisticated claims organizations recognize the need for advanced case management software to address these pressures. We explore how below.
Why Do Claims Organizations Need Advanced Case Management Software?
The current legal landscape:
- Unfavorable legislation promoting litigation and favoring consumers
- Aggressive and powerful plaintiffs’ attorneys
- Unpredictable judges, social inflation, and runaway juries
Claims systemic litigation challenges:
- Difficulty using data to control litigation costs and track litigation trends
- Systems that struggle to measure litigation effectiveness
- Claims systems operate independently of the systems used by counsel
- Reporting tools make it difficult to see the forest for the trees
- Insurance defense lawyers’ misaligned incentives and expensive hourly rates
Continual pressure from the C-Suite:
- Litigation costs are frequently an insurance carrier’s highest controllable cost
- C-Suite executives are searching for data analytics and business intelligence
- Continual pressures to decrease ULAE mean higher litigation caseloads
The claims litigation industry has realized that traditional legal e-billing and stand-alone matter management systems have failed to address these challenges. They are incomplete solutions, with a continual focus only on the invoice after the work is done. Such reactive tools lend no assistance with controlling indemnity costs.
Benefits of Advanced Insurance Claims Case Management Software
Armed with more advanced, collaborative claims litigation management software, these same claims organizations can transform their litigation departments, reduce cycle times, improve case outcomes, and increase efficiency and cost savings.
Some benefits of advanced case management software over traditional claims systems are outlined below:
Quality litigation process control
Traditional litigation management software enforces billing guidelines and ignores litigation process guidelines. Software that does both is much more effective at implementing best practices and workflows that positively impact case outcomes and legal fees.
Automated litigation efficiencies
Many activities by both the claims professional and counsel in a litigated case are routine and low-value. Software that can automate many of these tasks frees up time for the claims professional and reduces inefficient, but sometimes billable, time for counsel. Task management, alerts, and reminders of the next steps on a case – are all activities that can be automated.
Bringing counsel and the claims professional together
Having both parties work together in a unified, shared platform (with appropriate security permissions) means that information is available to both parties in real-time. This eliminates a dramatic range of activities on both sides. Traditionally, claims professionals and their counsel spent excessive time moving data into their platforms (claims system notes, summarizing next steps, documenting). By being on a shared platform, the need for many of these activities is eliminated.
Creating actionable, transparent data analytics
Traditionally, counsel sends information to the claims organization in unstructured formats (documents, emails, reports). By having counsel share the same information in a new manner within the software, this data becomes structured. This means it can be reported on. The result is a vast array of new KPIs, new reports, new analytics, and new data sources upon which to execute successful claims strategies.
Improved and more predictable settlements and legal expense
We learn from our history. Predicting litigation outcomes and costs is only possible by examining prior results. With solid reporting in place, claim leaders can identify the cases most likely to settle quickly, those requiring a solid defense, and those requiring more information. By aligning the appropriate tasks to these three categories of cases, the best litigation software enables claims organizations to close cases for optimal legal fees and settlement amounts.
The limitations of traditional case management software
Traditional e-billing software for claims organizations and traditional matter management software for defense counsel have done little to improve litigation outcomes, reduce cycle times, or enhance efficiencies.
Traditional solutions generally involve sending emails and uploading Word documents containing communication from lawyers. Meanwhile, lawyers and executives aimlessly sift through emails and Word documents without any clear vision of the claim organization’s most pressing issues. The focus of these tools can be best described as matter administration, data entry, and documentation. They do nothing to improve processes or uncover topics regarding efficiency or results.
Why Insurers Need Case Litigation Management Software That is Advanced
When leading insurance companies commit to creating an efficient and results-driven litigation management program, they realize the importance of focusing on litigation claim best practice processes and workflows and doing the suitable activities on the right cases. They seek to communicate in real-time with their counsel and drive actionable performance measurement through predictive analytics tools. The benefits are unparalleled when combined with sophisticated e-billing and invoice review tools.
The ability to ensure that the best activities are being conducted on the right cases, and that the activities should differ by the strategic direction of the case, is fundamental to most claim executives. Rather than adjusting an invoice after the work has been done, a more proactive solution is to ensure that only the right work is done in the first place. Advanced software can automate that.
Replacing unstructured emails and PDFs with check-the-box and fill-in-the-blank collaboration portals eliminates busywork, frees up time, and allows everyone to focus on which cases can be resolved the fastest or defended the most. Advanced software can automate that.
Capturing every key insurance litigation component as data and using it to power actionable analytics to help insurers choose the right staff counsel, and outside counsel, with advanced attorney Scorecarding and performance data. Advanced software can automate that.
Giving counsel an advanced set of tools that create one-step, automated, high-quality legal documents can save up to 40% of the time usually spent by firms on such activities. Advanced software can automate that.
Analyzing internal claims professionals with an eye toward understanding which gets the fastest resolutions, the most appropriate settlements, and the most efficient costs is advantageous for every claims organization. Advanced software can automate that.
Summary
The benefits of adopting an advanced case management platform like CaseGlide are numerous. Many leading insurers have reduced their indemnity and lowered case cycles by utilizing CaseGlide. The ability to proactively manage the case and spend with real-time transparency into their attorneys’ work allows them to close more cases more efficiently through their best practices litigation workflow. Likewise, communicating, storing critical files and documents, and ensuring all parties involved have complete visibility in one collaborative platform, have changed how they do business.
CaseGlide provides leading claims organizations visibility into attorney performance by tracking key performance drivers, including costs, duration, case closure success, etc. Insurers can now make critical attorney assignment decisions with clarity. Additionally, senior litigation leadership has immediate access to the data through advanced dashboards and analytics to help them make informed decisions and drive successful strategies.
To learn more about CaseGlide and how it can help your organization increase efficiency, streamline processes, and control costs, request a system demonstration here.
