Consumer demand to drive tech change
Technological change will be primarily driven by consumer demand and not by internal initiatives, says John Spears, vice president, business development and marketing at Global Excel, a provider of healthcare risk management solutions.
Spears, who will speak at the FIDES conference on the application of technology to claims, warns that the re/insurance industry isn’t taking enough advantage of new technology.
“There are any number of reasons: legacy systems, regulatory requirements, risk aversion, competitive advantage/disadvantage, tradition, etc.
“We face these reasons all the time when we talk to clients about adopting new solutions and/or technology,” he says.
But, even when presented with hard facts about how something could provide better service and reduce costs, there remains a hesitancy, explains Spears.
“There is movement but it’s very slow. Certainly, when you look at other industries you can see a difference regarding the early adoption of technology and change,” he says, adding that this extends not only to the products being developed, but in how services are being provided and delivered.
The re/insurance industry continues with its traditional approach although there are “glimmers of hope emerging from the quagmire”.
Some of these glimmers are small startups that are coming with new ideas and new ways of doing things, while other innovations stem from within the industry behemoths that see the need for change.
“Some changes are coming from pure necessity, a realisation that if they don’t do something differently they’ll be out of business. Naturally, change is also being driven by the end consumers who are demanding the same transformations they’ve seen in other parts of their lives,” he concludes.
