electronic medical records

Munich Re Life US Accelerated Underwriting Survey Confirms Commitment to Electronic Health Records (EHRs)

Electronic Health Records (EHR) are the hottest trend in life insurance underwriting today. The growing accessibility and innovation by solution providers is transforming the life underwriting process.
 

Jennifer Thoreson, R.N., AALU, Executive Director, Underwriting Services, U.S. Mortality Markets, RGA, provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of EHRs, how EHRs now compare with attending physician statements, and the benefits and challenges both bring to risk assessment in ReFlections.
 

​For decades medical records, a.k.a. APSs, have been known as the gold standard for life insurance underwriting data, though the  acquisition of medical records remains largely an inefficient paper process. Since the introduction of electronic health records (EHR) in the health field, life insurance labeled them the Holy Grail and vendors of this data as potential disruptors.

The marriage between technology and faster underwriting is a union the life insurance industry has encouraged for many years. Progress has been slow, but MIB Group is making headway, recently signing an agreement with Epic to utilize its electronic health records system.

Many life insurance carriers have implemented some type of accelerated underwriting program for life insurance. As promising as some of these programs are, however, there is still a balance between efficiency and risk management that needs to be maintained to facilitate continued growth.

Slides from presentations given at the 48th annual M.U.D. Conference have been posted at their website. Presentations include:

• The Population is Abusing Drugs, but Are Drugs Abusing Insurance? 
• Update from the Cuckoo’s Nest: Mental Health Underwriting  
• Electronic Medical Records - State of the Union Update
• The Rise and Fall of Liver Biopsy
• Prostate Cancer- To screen or not to screen that is the question 
• Through Thick and Thin – Red Blood Cell Disorders
• Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy: Evaluating Those with a Big Heart 
• Using Third Party Scoring in Accelerated Underwriting
• Data Analytics & Underwriting: Are 20th-century regulations still appropriate for 21st-century underwriting? 
• Anti Aging, Youthful Medication, Longevity/HGH 
• Mind the Gap- Understanding the influence of anti-selection and various holes in the underwriting process of accelerated versus traditional underwriting 

The advent of electronic health records (EHRs) brings to mind a story I like to tell. I was developing a ruleset for an automated underwriting rules engine 20 years ago when the IT director brought up a point during dinner. He said, “You underwriters really like your medical records. Well, I need them in an electronic data format with a dedicated field containing diagnostic codes. Then I can use those codes to assign an automated risk class.”

Even though paper records for most medical practices have evolved to digital, all of that data currently resides in silos, where consumers attempt to reconcile data among their providers and health payors. This can be challenging, as there is no single source that identifies where all of an individual’s health data resides, let alone the order in which it was entered.

Much is said about blockchain technology, and how it will change how business operates. As with any new technology, a gap exists between understanding the theory and seeing the practical applications. But it should be no surprise that blockchain technology is already being used to secure the digital electronic health record (EHR) of large numbers of people in Europe.