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Risk Management Information Systems (RMIS) are instrumental for managing claims. However, often times RMIS are difficult to use, as they are fraught with many iterations of work around and modifications. This makes for a poor user experience for the people in the field reporting claims into the system and for the adjusters working daily to process the claims. These costly inefficiencies must be eliminated by either overhauling or replacing the RMIS. This article will discuss some important considerations when deciding whether to overhaul the existing RIMS or replace it completely. There are some drawbacks and benefits to both overhauling and replacing your RMIS.
When overhauling the existing system, it is sometimes difficult to unwind the tangled mess of years of disjunctive modifications. It is like deciding to fix up an old house where the previous owners hacked their way through ten years of DIY projects—the doors do not close flush, the moldings are not straight, and the ceiling fan keeps falling down. Moreover, when you start one repair it uncovers other problems that need to be addressed. On the other hand, the benefits of overhauling the existing system include less cost in the short term and it allows for gradual changes without having a large disruption in service.
Conversely, the benefit of replacing the RMIS is that you get to tear the whole house down and rebuild it exactly how you want it with the newest materials and design features. The downsides of switching include creating more of a short-term disruption than overhauling and incurring the up-front cost of implementation and legacy data migration.
Both overhauling and switching systems can be time intensive but it is preferable being stuck with inconvenient workarounds, system limitations, and other problems that require time and cost the company’s money. With that, when searching for solutions it is important to first identify your pain points and envision what an optimal workflow and user experience would look like. Below are some general points to consider when deciding whether to replace or overhaul the RMIS:
Workflow Efficiencies: Can the folks in the field click an app on their phone, quickly and completely submit the necessary information and photos, and receive confirmation the incident report was received? In addition, how easy is it for the adjuster to work the claim? How many different screens do they need to access, how many clicks does it take to get to where they need to be? Are useful and actionable reports autos generated or do they require a lot of manual work?
Overall Options: More mature and sophisticated Risk Management Departments will want to utilize the RMIS for efforts beyond claims management, such as ERM, ESG, Health & Safety, and Business Continuity. Does the RMIS have these capabilities?
Integration: How easily can the RMIS connect with other applications? Can you easily tie your accounting system to the financials section, submit claims to your TPA, or upload employee and location information from your HRIS?
Ease of Modification: If you need to add or subtract afield or create or modify a simple mail merge, can you do it yourself or do you have to use pricey service hours. For example, some RMIS use the Salesforce platform that many people are familiar with.
Experience of RMIS Team: If replacing the RMIS, how much experience does the implementation team have with switching folks from your current RMIS to the new platform? If overhauling, does your current RIMS team have the capacity and willingness to make all the changes you require?
Contract Timing: This is applicable if you are replacing the RMIS. Oftentimes, RMIS contracts are three-year deals that auto-renew. And some contracts have cancelation dates that are months before the contract anniversary date, meaning you must give notice of cancelation by that date or potentially be stuck for another three years. If replacing RMIS, adequate time will be needed to assess all your options and fully implement the new system including migrating all the legacy data.
More generally, it is helpful to consider both quantitative and qualitative measures. On the qualitative side, for example, there might be significant implementation cost with switching to a new system, but that might be offset over time with workflow efficiencies. The new RIMS provider might have a higher hourly rate for support personal but could require substantially less ongoing support. On the qualitative side, are you satisfied with what the system looks and feels like? Do new users require substantial training and is the system intuitive? These are just some of the many things to contemplate when deciding to replace or overhaul the RMIS.
In closing, the goal is to make the reporting, claims administration, and management as easy and seamless as possible. The person reporting the claim should be able to submit the claim report easily, quickly, and completely. The adjuster should not be bogged down with navigating the system and the manager should have accurate and actionable reports readily available. The decision to overhaul your existing system or replace it completely should not be taken lightly. Are you going to fix your house or tear it down?
