What is RPA in insurance?
Robotic process automation (RPA) in insurance uses bots and AI to help companies automate and, in some cases, eliminate repetitive tasks, as well as augment and extend human capabilities. RPA software bots can do much more than eliminate manual data entry. Bots can be configured and trained to handle a wide range of cognitive activities and to make decisions. For example, in the insurance industry, RPA is beginning to be used in underwriting, claims processing and analytics. Given the capability of bots to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs, RPA adoption in insurance is increasing quickly.
What are the business benefits of RPA in insurance?
Robotic process automation provides many business benefits in the insurance industry, including:
- Cost reduction: Using RPA in insurance eliminates or reduces many repetitive, manual tasks that add little value. By using software bots to dramatically reduce errors and the time required to complete these tasks, insurers can reduce costs and boost efficiency.
- Reduced cycle time: RPA in insurance can reduce cycle times, especially for challenging, lengthy processes like claim processing and policy underwriting. These processes require the gathering of large amounts of information from customers and are often plagued by missing information and slow turnaround times, especially if the process is paper-based. RPA speeds the gathering of information and centralizes data in a digital file that can be easily accessed. As such, significant cycle time reduction can be achieved through RPA in insurance.
- New business opportunities: Many insurance companies are already increasing their competitive advantage by deploying RPA applications that use artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve decision-making and identify new opportunities. Compared to humans, bots are able to analyze more data much faster. As a result, analytics can be used to uncover new opportunities or bottlenecks in business processes.
- Easier compliance: Insurance is a heavily regulated industry, and rules and requirements are continually changing. It is typically very challenging to keep employees trained and updated on the latest regulations and difficult to ensure they comply with them all. RPA in insurance makes this process easier by relying on bots, so providers can reduce the risk of fines and bad publicity from non-compliance.
