Pacific Life Re and the online comparison service UnderwriteMe are collaborating on a system which combines text mining and machine learning techniques to process unstructured medical textual data, such as doctors’ reports on life and health insurance applicants and claimants.
With the emergence of electronic medical reports, the ability to improve customer service through faster automated processing has become more feasible.
Text mining streamlines the information that the underwriter or claims assessor needs to review and offers the option to fully automate decisions. Cost savings are potentially significant, leading to better value for the end customer.
The system, currently under development at the University of Manchester, has reportedly progressed to match human outcomes when identifying pertinent information from health records.
The finished product will be accessible from UnderwriteMe’s suite of technology, now adopted by insurers in the UK, Ireland and Australia, and Asia.
“This is an exciting project, which truly reflects our ethos of investing in digital technology to intelligently automate business processes,” said Martin Werth, Chief Executive Officer, UnderwriteMe.
“By removing existing inefficiencies, we will deliver a superior experience for customers, intermediaries and insurers.”
Professor Sophia Ananiadou, Director, NaCTeM, School of Computer Science at the University of Manchester, commented, “We have specialised in developing text mining tools for analysing unstructured medical data, informed by cutting edge research in text mining and machine learning for over 10 years.”
“Pacific Life Re and UnderwriteMe are innovative organisations at the cutting edge of using technology to improve their industry. Our collaboration is showing great potential and we look forward to delivering the first system.”
Warren Copp, Chief Underwriter, Pacific Life Re, added, “Our focus is on making life and health insurance simpler, faster and fairer through supporting insurers with UnderwriteMe’s transformational digital capability.”
“The text mining module component will be another exciting addition to UnderwriteMe’s technology suite.”
