Integrating customer-facing systems helps established MPL insurance company modernize portals, stand out in a crowded market
Review Summary
- Insurance
- Design, Development
- Custom Web Portal
- 11-50 Employees
- Hartford, Connecticut
Seamless integration with backend and payment/claims processing platforms ensures enhanced user experience leading to reduction in support calls and increased customer retention and growth
“[The impact of the new portals is] company-wide, in that it will free folks up to service differently across all departments and increase customer satisfaction. Ultimately, I think it’s going to be a really great retention tool.”
—Shelly Ursini, VP of Business Development and Marketing, Integris Group
5/5 CLIENT REVIEW
CMIC, now Integris Group, is a medical professional liability (MPL) insurance carrier that serves physicians as an admitted carrier in Connecticut and Massachusetts and through a Risk Retention Group in 11 other states.
Following the addition of a number of new leadership team members, the company decided if it was going to continue to expand, it would need to change its name and rebrand. This included launching an updated public-facing website and refreshed broker (producer) and member (policyholder) portals as well as building new core insurance claim processing and payment processing systems.
The client’s goal was to seamlessly integrate and simultaneously launch all of these components to coordinate with the announcement of the new name and brand, which they hoped would help them stand out in a crowded market of competitors who tend to have similar services and offerings. They engaged Praxent to design, develop, and improve the overall experience of their portals so customers could retrieve documents, learn about new products and services, file claims, pay premiums, and monitor their loyalty rewards and risk management credits—all in one place, all online.
In addition, the client leaned heavily on Praxent for expertise in project management and integrating the portals’ frontend and backend systems, which were being developed in parallel and involved coordinating with third-party system vendors.
10 months from concept to launch, with ongoing features added every 2 weeks
100% on-time release to correspond with launch of new name, brand, and website
100% on budget
2 systems integrated their backend system and a payment processor
“In our industry, it can be challenging to stand out. When the coverage features and many of the benefits from carrier to carrier are similar, you have to find ways to rise to the top. So how do we make ourselves stand out? Through innovation, through the look of the portals, through the ease of doing business and [members] feeling like we are investing in them and their experience with us.”
Shelly Ursini, VP of Business Development and Marketing, Integris Group
The Problem
Integris Group was seeking to develop new member and broker portals that offered improved functionality and a superior user experience. They wanted their members to complete more tasks with less effort online and their brokers to utilize the portal for standard tasks and inquiries rather than calling the company’s underwriters, thereby reducing operational inefficiencies.
Their biggest challenge was that the previous portals were underutilized and had limited functionality—some users didn’t even know the portals existed. In addition, the company’s legacy systems were running on a custom .NET core system and two custom .NET portals, which needed to be replaced before launching the new frontend and integrating it with the new backend and third-party-developed claims processing platform.
The client’s goal was to launch their new name, brand, website, portals, and platform simultaneously in October 2020, with rollout to users and addition of new features ongoing.
“I was so impressed with their knowledge. I also think it helps that they had had some experience working with other MPL carriers, so they were familiar with our industry terminology. They knew what we were trying to accomplish, which made it so much easier for me because it’s a daunting process to put all of this together.”
Shelly Ursini, VP of Business Development and Marketing, Integris Group
How we Helped
Praxent served as a true partner to Integris Group, which did not have an internal development or design team and relied heavily on Praxent to lead and manage those pieces of the project and also to provide virtual CTO services. The Praxent team worked directly with one of the client’s other vendors—managing both sides of the project—and helped the client to identify risks and dependencies with other vendors. The VP of Business Development and Marketing frequently consulted Praxent on strategic business decisions.
Praxent’s mission was to partner with Integris Group to design, create, and maintain their member and broker portals, which included integrating the frontend with the backend and a third-party claims processing platform.
The approach included:
Design
Development & QA
Project Management
The client plans to re-engage with Praxent in 2021 for feature development to expand the portals and increase the functionality.
Results/ROI
Integris Group launched their new portals on October 1, 2020, in parallel with their new brand launch.
The portals leverage a new claims processing backend and new payment processing system that allow for more functionality, as well as a vastly improved user experience. The updated information architecture should enable users to maximize the self-service aspect of the portals, increasing operational efficiencies by reducing customer service call volume. Adding claims processing functionality alone will allow members to report a claim online 24 hours a day.
Key Features/Deliverables
Research-Backed Decisions
After conducting user interviews, the Praxent team validated that the portals were not being used and recommended adding such functions as viewing basic policy information like expiration, renewal date, and premiums; instantly accessing certificate of insurance and printing insurance card; and requesting policy changes.
User Interface Design
- Creation of digital style guide
- Application of style guide to high-fidelity wireframes
- Wireframes used to create mockups
Payment and Processing Integrations
With so many regulations in the insurance industry, secure payment processing is critical. Praxent integrated a secure payment processor that specializes in insurance payment processing, creating an embedded iFrame that enables them to leverage the platform securely.
New Differentiating Features
One of the key features the Praxent team added to the client’s dashboard was the loyalty rewards and risk management credits. These two areas are historically of great value to Integris Group members.
“The feedback Praxent obtained from our two audiences provided critical guidance in assessing what features were most important to our members and broker partners, so we could ensure the portal redesign was crafted with their needs at the forefront.”
Shelly Ursini, VP of Business Development and Marketing, Integris Group
Ratings
5.0
Overall Score5.0
Scheduling
On Time / Deadlines
5.0
Quality
Service & Deliverables
4.0
Cost
Value / Within estimates
5.0
NPS
Willing to Refer
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