By John Riedel
Over the years the insurance industry has always looked to new technology to improve the way we do business, and National Life has often been a leader. We’re still looking for new ways to use technology in underwriting, and to do so we’ve called in the doctor.
Dr. Arthur DeTore has been with National Life for three years as Medical Director. He’s had a black belt in karate for more than 50 years, practices tai chi every morning, and provides medical consultation to underwriters and claims staff at National Life.
On a day-to-day basis Dr. DeTore looks at how the company’s claims and benefits criteria may apply to a case, and helps determine what the premium for a customer may be.
“I review many different cases and I provide consultation,” he said. “I look at what is the nature of the risk and what should the premium be for this person.”
Dr. DeTore’s role doesn’t just stop with claims cases. He also provides his experience and knowledge in medicine for bigger projects.
“There’s currently a big I.T. project because underwriting is being automated,” he said. “You can think of the underwriting process as having many different levels.”
The majority of applications these days are sent electronically and underwriters review the information submitted. “A number of underwriters are not in the home office,” Dr. DeTore said.
To help underwriters with this, Dr. DeTore is working on a way for applications to be reviewed automatically before they get sent to an underwriter.
The customer would answer a series of questions, and the information given would help determine what questions an underwriter might have and how the process would move forward. This process makes reviewing cases a lot more efficient and less time consuming for underwriters.
“Ten to fifteen years ago that was the process with paper in the home office but now it has changed,” Dr. DeTore said.
Photo at top: Dr. Detore is pictured with members of the underwriting team at the Vermont campus. He’s in the back row, to the left of the sign.