In our industry, the efficient exchange of documents plays a pivotal role in ensuring seamless operations and superior customer service. Recognizing this need, the Centre for Study of Insurance Operations (CSIO) has introduced standardized electronic document (eDoc) codes and descriptions.
What Is CSIO?
CSIO is Canada’s solution for data and electronic document delivery. It is a nonprofit organization committed to advancing technology standards for the Canadian insurance industry. CSIO has long been at the forefront of innovation, driving initiatives to streamline processes and enhance communication within the industry.
The eDoc Initiative
CSIO's latest initiative — the updated eDocs codes and descriptions — represents a significant step forward in streamlining communication processes while continuing to uphold the highest standards of data security and privacy.
What Do eDocs Entail?
- Secure Transmission Protocols: CSIO's eDoc delivery standards prioritize the use of secure transmission protocols to safeguard sensitive information during transit.
- Standardized Data Formats: Another key aspect of CSIO's standards is the promotion of standardized data formats for eDoc delivery. By adopting common formats, insurers and brokers can ensure compatibility across different systems and platforms.
- Integration With Existing Systems: CSIO's standards are designed to seamlessly integrate with existing IT infrastructures and systems used by insurers and brokers.
- Compliance and Regulatory Considerations: CSIO's eDoc delivery standards align with industry regulations and guidelines, ensuring compliance while harnessing the benefits of electronic document exchange.
What Prompted the Need to Update eDocs Codes?
CSIO identified inconsistencies between insurers in the labeling of eDocs in broker management systems (BMS), causing inefficiencies. Brokers often had to manually relabel eDocs, resulting in wasted time and resources. Additionally, some insurers were bundling multiple documents under one eDoc code, leading to confusion. To address these issues, CSIO launched the Updated eDocs Initiative in early 2023.
How Did CSIO Prepare?
CSIO collaborated with industry stakeholders, brokers, insurers and BMS vendors to identify and update unclear eDocs codes and descriptions. This involved conducting discovery sessions, hosting focus groups and surveying brokers across Canada. The result was the Fantastic 40 — a list of refined eDocs codes and descriptions capturing all industry use cases. An eDocs working group reviewed and approved the finalized list, ensuring it met the needs of all parties.
Implementation in Applied Epic
Applied has updated its systems with the new eDocs codes and descriptions. Previous codes are still available to ensure brokers receive all documents throughout the transition period while insurers adopt the new codes.
Epic allows for configuring eDoc downloads to automatically create activities. With CSIO’s new robust set of codes and descriptions, organizations can create unique activity codes to trigger specific actions based on the type of document received. For instance, upon receiving an eDoc for a credit card expiry notice, an activity can be routed to the appropriate team for handling. Conversely, if no action is needed for a payment schedule, it can simply attach to a client file. Brokers will no longer need to review all billing eDocs.
As the configuration is tailored for each company, it's possible to create different activities and actions. For instance, a cancellation with an option to reinstate might be handled by team A for group carriers, while team B manages the same for retail carriers.
Applied also allows further customization of eDocs by enabling organizations to override the carrier’s description and create their own file names, incorporating variables such as policy numbers. This customization can enhance the customer experience for organizations using CSR24.
Additionally, if configured, eDoc descriptions can display in either English or French, based on the official language of the account.
The Benefits of CSIO's Updated eDocs Codes and Descriptions
The standardization of eDocs codes and descriptions will enhance efficiency, save time and improve data accuracy. Brokers will no longer need to manually relabel eDocs, leading to cost savings. Each eDoc will be assigned an activity code, which opens up a plethora of reporting opportunities. Overall, CSIO's new eDocs standards represent a significant development in the insurance industry, promoting efficiency, transparency and security.
Source: Home | Centre for Study of Insurance Operations (csio.com)
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Christie Smith, implementation specialist, held a few roles at OTIP Insurance Brokers in Ontario, Canada, before beginning her current position of implementation specialist in January 2023. She spent several years managing interface services such as eDocs & Messages, and download & suspense. As an Epic admin, she enjoys the behind-the-scenes system work of all things Epic!