Computers and Technology in the Disability Insurance Industry

Today I’m going to talk about the function of computers in the disability insurance industry. I have worked in the industry for five years now, and computers have been used since I was hired in 2018.  I know that in the past, there was such a thing as paper claims, but I have no experience with those. My specific job in claims is an “office job” and requires desk work on a computer. On my computer, I am required to use two different job specific applications, email, Microsoft Office, and general computer knowledge. As of March 2020 (COVID-19), our company became 100% work from home. This caused the reliance on computers to be even greater. Things that used to be done in person in the office, such as training and meetings, now had to take place online. It is very important for employees in my industry to be computer literate because your entire job takes place on the computer. If you do not understand the basic functions of a computer, or general computer knowledge, such as how to write an email, it will be much harder for you to learn how to use the specific systems for your job.

I believe that our jobs in the disability insurance industry will continue to rely more and more on technology in the future. A lot of my job is repetitive tasks that I believe could be automated away. For example, I put the same notes in each claim and send specific letters or notices based on the type of claim. We have templates for the notes, and some portions are already automatically filled in using our system. I believe that these notes and notices will be system generated more and more, requiring less work on my behalf. This will also require less workers because the workers will be less consumed with tedious, time-consuming tasks and one worker can work more claims. Claimant contact automation has also already begun; we have in place an IVR (interactive voice response) system for our phones and the system sends automated text messages as well.