Patent Application
20200334598
An enterprise might enter into risk relationships associated with an entity (e.g., as a form of risk management). For example, an insurer might issue insurance policies (e.g., workers' compensation, automobile liability, automobile property damage, general liability insurance, etc.) in connection with an employer and a set of employees. In some cases, the risk relationships may be associated with attribute values (e.g., payroll amounts, employee job classifications, etc.) including a resource value such as an insurance premium.
Note that when an account purchases an insurance policy, the premium may be estimated based on information provided about the business operations and exposure. As changes occur throughout a policy term, your payroll, the actual sales and operations may fluctuate from those initial predictions. A “premium audit” may help ensure that the premium paid to an insurer over the course of the policy term is based on the actual business exposures. The premium audit may involve reviewing information and documentation pertaining to the business during the policy term. In particular, as a policy term ends, the account may receive a communication about a required premium audit. Premium audits may be performed, for example, on workers' compensation policies because workers' compensation premiums are largely based on payroll estimates and employee job classifications which can change throughout the policy term resulting in over or underpayment of premium. After the audit information is submitted to the insurer, the account may receive a Statement of Premium Adjustment indication whether it is owed a refund or if additional premium is due for the coverage period.
Explaining how the actual insurance premium (as opposed to the estimated premium) is calculated, however, can be a confusing and difficult process. An account might be associated with multiple types of insurance policies that cover multiple geographic regions (e.g., U.S. states) further complicating how changes to job classifications, payroll amounts, etc. impacted the actual insurance premium. In some cases, an enterprise might use supporting documents, such as spreadsheet data, to explain how the actual insurance premium was calculated. Such an approach, however, can require an excessive amount of information and allow for minimal or no system integration to help utilize the data efficiently. Moreover, it can be difficult to aggregate and analyze information about multiple types of insurance policies, geographic regions, etc. It would be desirable to provide systems and methods to facilitate the use, summary, and analysis of electronic records associated with a risk management attribute value review in a way that efficiently provides more easily understood and communicated results.
According to some embodiments, systems, methods, apparatus, computer program code and means are provided with an automated summary system computer server associated with a risk relationship attribute value review for an enterprise. A risk relationship data store may contain electronic records representing a plurality of risk relationships with an enterprise and, for each risk relationship, an electronic record identifier and a set of attribute values. An automated risk relationship attribute value review platform may receive an indication of a selected risk relationship from a remote administrator device and access the information in the risk relationship data store associated with the selected risk relationship. An automated risk relationship attribute value review may be performed on the accessed information to generate detailed risk relationship attribute review data. An automated summary system computer server may then receive the detailed risk relationship attribute review data and automatically create summarized risk relationship attribute review information based at least in part on the detailed risk relationship attribute review data. The summarized risk relationship attribute review information may then be transmitted to the remote administrator device.
Some embodiments comprise: means for receiving, at an automated risk relationship attribute value review platform, an indication of a selected risk relationship from a remote administrator device associated with the enterprise; means for accessing, by the automated risk relationship attribute value review platform, information in a risk relationship data store associated with the selected risk relationship, wherein the risk relationship data store contains electronic records associated with the enterprise and, for each risk relationship, an electronic record identifier and a set of attribute values including at least one resource value; means for performing, by the automated risk relationship attribute value review platform, an automated risk relationship attribute value review on the accessed information to generate detailed risk relationship attribute review data; means for receiving the detailed risk relationship attribute review data at the automated summary system computer server; means for automatically creating, by the automated summary system computer server, summarized risk relationship attribute review information based at least in part on the detailed risk relationship attribute review data; and means for transmitting, by the automated summary system computer server, the summarized risk relationship attribute review information to the remote administrator device associated with the enterprise.
In some embodiments, a communication device associated with an automated summary system computer server exchanges information with remote devices in connection with an interactive graphical user interface (such as a spreadsheet application). The information may be exchanged, for example, via public and/or proprietary communication networks.
A technical effect of some embodiments of the invention is an improved and computerized way to facilitate the use, summary, and analysis of electronic records associated with a risk management attribute value review in a way that efficiently provides more easily understood and communicated results. With these and other advantages and features that will become hereinafter apparent, a more complete understanding of the nature of the invention can be obtained by referring to the following detailed description and to the drawings appended hereto.
The present invention provides significant technical improvements to facilitate electronic messaging and dynamic data processing. The present invention is directed to more than merely a computer implementation of a routine or conventional activity previously known in the industry as it significantly advances the technical efficiency, access and/or accuracy of communications between devices by implementing a specific new method and system as defined herein. The present invention is a specific advancement in the area of electronic record attribute update, utilization, and/or analysis by providing benefits in data accuracy, data availability, data comprehension, data analysis, and data integrity and such advances are not merely a longstanding commercial practice. The present invention provides improvement beyond a mere generic computer implementation as it involves the processing and conversion of significant amounts of data in a new beneficial manner as well as the interaction of a variety of specialized client and/or third-party systems, networks, and subsystems. For example, in the present invention information may be processed, updated, and analyzed via a back-end-end application server to accurately improve the exchange of information, thus improving the overall efficiency of the system associated with message storage requirements and/or bandwidth considerations (e.g., by reducing the number of messages that need to be transmitted via a network, by improving response times by automatically creating and summarizing information, and/or by creating more complete and/or accurate documents). Moreover, embodiments associated with collecting accurate information might further improve risk values, predictions of risk values, allocations of resources, electronic record processing decisions, etc.
In some cases, a resource value associated with an enterprise system may depend at least in part on attribute values of electronic records representing a plurality of risk associations with an enterprise system. For example, the resource value might tend to increase when a specific type of attribute value increases (or decrease when another type of attribute value increases). Explaining how various factors impact a resource value, however, can be a time consuming and difficult process for a client, especially when a substantial number of electronic records, geographic locations, and/or other attribute variables may influence the behavior of the system. To address this issue,
The risk relationship attribute value review platform 150 and/or the other elements of the system 100 might be, for example, associated with a Personal Computer (“PC”), laptop computer, smartphone, an enterprise server, a server farm, and/or a database or similar storage devices. According to some embodiments, an “automated” risk relationship attribute value review platform 150 (and/or other elements of the system 100) may facilitate updates and utilization of electronic records in the risk relationship data store 110. As used herein, the term “automated” may refer to, for example, actions that can be performed with little (or no) intervention by a human.
As used herein, devices, including those associated with the risk relationship attribute value review platform 150 and any other device described herein may exchange information via any communication network which may be one or more of a Local Area Network (“LAN”), a Metropolitan Area Network (“MAN”), a Wide Area Network (“WAN”), a proprietary network, a Public Switched Telephone Network (“PSTN”), a Wireless Application Protocol (“WAP”) network, a BLUETOOTH™ network, a wireless LAN network, and/or an Internet Protocol (“IP”) network such as the Internet, an intranet, or an extranet. Note that any devices described herein may communicate via one or more such communication networks.
The risk relationship attribute value review platform 150 may store information into and/or retrieve information from the risk relationship data store 110. The risk relationship data store 110 might, for example, store electronic records representing a plurality of risk associations, each electronic record having a set of attribute values. The risk relationship data store 110 may also contain information about prior and current interactions with parties, including those associated with various account platforms 120 and remote devices 180. The risk relationship data store 110 may be locally stored or reside remote from the risk relationship attribute value review platform 150. As will be described further below, the risk relationship data store 110 may be used by the risk relationship attribute value review platform 150 in connection with an interactive user interface to update electronic records. Although a single risk relationship attribute value review platform 150 is shown in
Note that the system 100 of
At S210, an automated risk relationship attribute value review platform may receive an indication of a selected risk relationship from a remote administrator device associated with the enterprise. For example, an insurance policy that needs to undergo a premium audit may be selected. At S220, the automated risk relationship attribute value review platform may access information in a risk relationship data store associated with the selected risk relationship. The risk relationship data store may contain, for example, electronic records associated with the enterprise and, for each risk relationship, an electronic record identifier and a set of attribute values including at least one resource value (e.g., an insurance premium amount). At S230, the automated risk relationship attribute value review platform may perform an automated risk relationship attribute value review on the accessed information to generate detailed risk relationship attribute review data. The attribute value review might include, for example, updating employee information, owner information, payment information, business information (e.g., general ledger data, sales journal data, cash receipts, and/or sales tax records), etc. associated with the account.
At S240, the detailed risk relationship attribute review data is received at an automated summary system computer server. At S250, the automated summary system computer server may automatically create summarized risk relationship attribute review information based at least in part on the detailed risk relationship attribute review data. The summary process may be performed in accordance with any of the embodiments described herein. According to some embodiments the automated summary system computer service utilizes a spreadsheet application, such as the EXCEL® spreadsheet application available from MICROSOFT® CORPORATION, to help summarize the data. At S260, the automated summary system computer server may transmit the summarized risk relationship attribute review information to the remote administrator device associated with the enterprise and/or the account.
In this way, a system may let users create summary information associated with a risk relationship review or audit for an account of an enterprise. According to some embodiments, the “risk relationships” are associated with insurance policies and at least some attribute and resource values are associated with insurance programs. For example,
The premium audit tool computer server 350 may process, according to some embodiments, information via a summary system 354. A user may then review the summary information and transmit updated information to the premium audit tool computer server 350. Based on the updated information, the premium audit tool computer server 350 may adjust or utilize data in the insurance policy data store 310 and automatically generate appropriate documents or summary reports. According to some embodiments, the premium audit tool computer server 350 may transmit information to an email server, workflow application, or calendar function (e.g., to generate reminders when an account needs to perform a certain action).
Based on the received information, the spreadsheet application 450 creates audit summary information. For example,
The embodiments described herein may be implemented using any number of different hardware configurations. For example,
The processor 1210 also communicates with a storage device 1230. The storage device 1230 may comprise any appropriate information storage device, including combinations of magnetic storage devices (e.g., a hard disk drive), optical storage devices, mobile telephones, and/or semiconductor memory devices. The storage device 1230 stores a program 1215 and/or a risk evaluation tool or application for controlling the processor 1210. The processor 1210 performs instructions of the program 1215, and thereby operates in accordance with any of the embodiments described herein. For example, the processor 1210 may access a risk relationship data store containing electronic records that represent a plurality of risk relationships with an enterprise and, for each risk relationship, an electronic record identifier and a set of attribute values including at least one resource value. The processor 1210 may then receive an indication of a selected risk relationship from a remote administrator device and perform attribute value review (e.g., a premium audit) to generate detailed risk relationship attribute review data. The processor 1210 may then automatically create summarized risk relationship attribute review information based at least in part on the detailed risk relationship attribute review data. The summarized risk relationship attribute review information may then be transmitted to the remote administrator device.
The program 1215 may be stored in a compressed, uncompiled and/or encrypted format. The program 1215 may furthermore include other program elements, such as an operating system, a database management system, and/or device drivers used by the processor 1210 to interface with peripheral devices.
As used herein, information may be “received” by or “transmitted” to, for example: (i) the automated summary system computer server 1200 from another device; or (ii) a software application or module within the automated summary system computer server 1200 from another software application, module, or any other source.
In some embodiments (such as shown in
Referring to
The policy identifier 1302 may be, for example, a unique alphanumeric code identifying an insurance policy (e.g., workers' compensation, automobile liability, automobile property damage, general liability insurance, etc.) to an account identified by the account name 1304. The audit status 1306 might indicate that a premium audit is pending for that insurance policy, is in process, is complete, etc. The audit date might indicate when the premium audit was complete. The audit details 1310 might comprise data or a link to data generated by the premium audit, and the audit summary 1312 might represent information that summarizes the audit details 1310 in a simple and easy to understand fashion.
The following illustrates various additional embodiments of the invention. These do not constitute a definition of all possible embodiments, and those skilled in the art will understand that the present invention is applicable to many other embodiments. Further, although the following embodiments are briefly described for clarity, those skilled in the art will understand how to make any changes, if necessary, to the above-described apparatus and methods to accommodate these and other embodiments and applications.
Although specific hardware and data configurations have been described herein, note that any number of other configurations may be provided in accordance with embodiments of the present invention (e.g., some of the information associated with the displays described herein might be implemented as a virtual or augmented reality display and/or the databases described herein may be combined or stored in external systems). Moreover, although embodiments have been described with respect to particular types of insurance policies, embodiments may instead be associated with other types of insurance policies in additional to and/or instead of the policies described herein (e.g., business insurance policies, health plans, etc.). Similarly, although certain attributes were described in connection some embodiments herein, other types of attributes might be used instead. Still further, the displays and devices illustrated herein are only provided as examples, and embodiments may be associated with any other types of user interfaces. For example,
The present invention has been described in terms of several embodiments solely for the purpose of illustration. Persons skilled in the art will recognize from this description that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described, but may be practiced with modifications and alterations limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
