Business News: RiskStream, Sedgwick, Clara Analytics

The RiskStream Collaborative, a consortium of insurers that making a joint investment in blockchain technology, has created a new entity that will work with insurers, non-insurance organizations and governmental agencies that are looking to explore targeted blockchain applications specific to their needs.

RiskStream Labs will serve as a resource for both member and nonmember organizations and will be dedicated to quickly vetting and advancing blockchain initiatives at the proof-of-concept phase, the organization said in a press release. Collaborative leaders Christopher G. McDaniel and Patrick Schmid are heading the effort.

“Our industry continues to innovate across multiple sectors, with the collective goal of bringing new ideas to fruition and ultimately to production,” said McDaniel, who is president of The Institutes RiskStream Collaborative.

RiskStream Labs will enable participants to concentrate on a variety of areas not currently in development by the RiskStream Collaborative, such as surety and workers compensation, as well such future-looking areas as the internet of things and analytics, the collaborative said. Members can also use RiskStream Labs to create proofs of concept.

The RiskStream Collaborative has developed a shared first notice of loss reporting system called Canopy that will allow claims adjusters from different insurers to share data in a block-chain protected database.

Sedgwick Claim Management Services, a national third-party administrator based in Memphis, Tenn., has acquired software provider G&E Enterprises.

G&E Enterprises, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, developed T&M Pro, a billing and data management system for insurance restoration contracting. The software will help enhance Sedgwick’s services by providing stronger commercial property support, estimate review processes and mitigation and reconstruction bill review, Sedgwick said.

G&E’s software also speeds up payments to insurance restoration contractors and gives carriers greater visibility into claims, the carrier said. Through the integration of this software, both carriers and contractors will now have greater transparency of restoration costs by sharing real-time and expense invoices on commercial losses.

T&M Pro is designed to bill time and material, rate and material, cost plus and/or a combination of these methods to complete complex projects. The program measures the exact usage of all components of a job in their separate and multifaceted measurements, meaning it gives a more accurate cost of a claim and provides daily, real-time representation of what is happening on the job site, Sedgwick said.

As part of the acquisition, employees of G&E Enterprises will join the Sedgwick team unify service offerings under the Sedgwick name.

Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies says it adopting Clara Analytics to provide a full suite of workers’ compensation claims management provider.

Homestate will implement Clara Providers, Clara Litigation, Clara Claims and the company’s Medicare set-aside software, Berkshire Hathaway said in a press release. The company said Clara is a leader in artificial intelligence.

“AI offers an unprecedented opportunity to improve the entire claims process by analyzing millions of data points — making connections, spotting trends, and developing meaningful insights in a matter of seconds,” stated Russ Selinger, senior vice president of claims at Homestate.

The carrier said Clara will reduce loss costs incurred in claims handling by keeping claims on track throughout their life cycle. Clara said its platform delivers insights to claims adjusters, “turning them into instant experts who can handle each claim with precision, respect and empathy at scale.”

Clara Analytics is based in Santa Clara, Calif., the heart of the Silicon Valley. Homestate is based in Omaha, Neb., but its workers’ compensation division is in San Francisco.