Consulting firm Health Strategy Associates recently completedtheir first annual survey of workers’ compensation claims systemsto find out what insurer front-line staff and executives arelooking for when considering technology purchases.

To learn more about the company's results,PropertyCasualty360.com spoke with HSA Associate Sandy Blunt, whoalso is vice president of insurance services at Medata. Formerly,Blunt served as the COO of the Ohio State Workers’ Comp Fund andCEO of the North Dakota State Fund.

In this podcast, Blunt discusses HSA’s survey findings based oninformation gleaned from interviews conducted with more than 100respondents, and explains how software providers will have torespond to these concerns to be relevant moving forward. He alsoanalyzes the top tech providers in the space and offers up insightsfor vendors looking to increase their presence.

Here are a few quotes from Sandy Blunt, made during thepodcast:

• “Seventy percent of [survey] respondents had 11 years or moreexperience in workers’ comp, and over half had 15 years or more,”he said. “A third had more than $150 million in premium sales peryear. Additionally, we learned that respondents’ current systemshave been in place for about five and a half years, and they expectto replace or significantly modify the system in next 2-3years."
  -
• “One of the most significant findings was a large disconnectbetween the front-line staff and the executives on whether or nottheir current system was fully integrated with their bill reviewand utilization review system,” he said. “While 80 percent offront-line users were clear that there was no full integrationbetween claims and bill/utilization review, 60 percent ofexecutives said they were integrated.”
  -
• “Both front-line staff and executives were very clear: Theywant a better full integration — not pieces and parts— but a fullintegration and no more smoke and mirrors.”
  -
• “When we asked respondents, in their view, who was the leadingclaims system vendor, the number one answer was, ‘I do notknow.’”

To listen to the full interview, click the play buttonbelow.