The insurance industry is a sector that has found outsourcing data entry useful to ensure timely processing of insurance claims, and streamlined documentation and efficiency. Now, with innovative technological advancements, this industry niche is moving towards automation like many other industries.
Automation – Advantages and Disadvantages
Before going on to automated tasks in the insurance industry, let us consider what automation involves. It uses hardware and software solutions to lighten your workload. It can be an expensive proposition, as for instance when you need to buy or lease a copier that automatically scans your business documents, and performs other functions as required. It can be simple as well, if it involves activating options in software systems you already own.
Automation comes with advantages such as:
- Reduces your involvement in routine clerical tasks such as creating reports and organizing client data
- You get to focus on core business processes you are interested in
- A few employees can perform the tasks of a large number of employees with many tasks automated
- People with lower skill levels can perform higher-level tasks
- Reduces storage space, speeds up retrieval and enables multiple personnel access to the same data
There are disadvantages as well:
- Heavy investment may be needed in equipment and software
- Older employees may find the automated processes difficult to comprehend and operate
- Productivity may be negatively impacted if there is a power outage and you are unable to use manual methods to accomplish the tasks
Automation Prospects in the Insurance Sector
While automation is being increasingly implemented in insurance and other sectors, it doesn’t mean that certain jobs will be totally eliminated. What it means is that workers may find that they need not do repetitive tasks (which will be most likely automated), and that they will have to focus more on people-oriented tasks.
- Recent insights from McKinsey show that many insurance and financial organizations have started offering solutions that automate entering paper and PDF invoices into computer systems, or processing loan applications.
- The financial and insurance sector has the potential to automate tasks that consume up to 43% of their workers’ time.
- Data processing related activities have a 69% probability of being automated in the near future.
- Tasks related to data collection have a 64% of getting automated.
- Tasks involving the managing and developing people and those that apply to planning/decision making/creative work are the hardest to automate. Human intervention is still vital to determine the proper goals, interpret results and provide commonsense checks for apt solutions.
Automation is a likely prospect in the insurance industry. However, many organizations are likely to continue using the services of a data entry company and continue benefiting from the advantages offered.
