Accident Fund Holdings, Inc. Wins 2013 Technology Innovation Award

HARTFORD, CT--(Marketwired - Oct 8, 2013) - IASA and Ward Group are pleased to announce that Accident Fund Holdings, Inc (AFHI) has been named the winner of the 2013 Technology Innovation Award for the development of a pharmaceutical tracking system that monitors prescribing patterns and alerts claims adjusters to potentially suspect activity related to Worker's Compensation claims. This system has been instrumental in helping AFHI reduce unnecessary claim payouts and identify fraudulent claims.

The Technology Innovation Award presentation took place on Monday, September 30, 2013 at the IASA Executive EDGE Conference in Hartford, CT. Celeska Fredianelli, 2012-2013 CIO for IASA and vice president of financial planning and analysis for QBE North America, and Jeffrey Rieder, partner for Ward Group, presented the award to Jeffrey A. White, director of medical management practices and strategy for AFHI. White was joined in presenting details of the new AFHI system to EDGE attendees by Craig Bilinski and James Rademacher, both of AFHI.

The AFHI team utilized existing data technology to create a system for analyzing claims data to monitor claimant prescriptions and identify trends. Upon implementation, the new system quickly identified and alerted AFHI to suspicious patterns. AFHI is increasingly able to efficiently identify and address fraudulent claims as a direct result of their new data analysis.

"Accident Fund not only made meaningful cost savings with innovative ideas and technology, but they were also able to make a social contribution in the fight against drug abuse," said Rieder of Ward Group.

While each of the three finalists identified during the IASA Annual Conference in June achieved exceptional results through the innovative use of technology, a single winner for this year's Technology Innovation Award, AFHI, was determined by a combination of votes from an industry judging panel and EDGE executive attendees. This year's other two finalist companies were CNA Insurance, represented by Dan Cox, who presented details of the company's agency bill pay project which created a tool through which accounts can be settled faster and agents can accept policy payments directly, and Scottsdale Insurance, represented by Kathleen O'Malley, who presented details of the company's development of a casualty indication tool which aids Scottsdale's underwriters in assessing potential risks. This marks the first time IASA has had Technology Innovation Award finalists present at the EDGE Conference.

"We felt that presenting the breakthroughs being made by the companies nominated for the Technology Innovation Award would be a valuable addition to our Executive Education program," said Fredianelli. "Innovative use of existing technology is a fundamental factor in this award and sharing the finalists' solutions with our EDGE attendees proved to be both informative and inspiring."

About IASA
The Insurance Accounting & Systems Association, Inc. (IASA) is a non-profit, education association that strives to enhance the knowledge of insurance industry professionals, and participants from similar organizations closely allied with the insurance industry by facilitating the exchange of ideas and information. IASA is one of the insurance industry's largest, and most well represented trade associations. IASA membership includes insurance companies of all types (Property & Casualty, Life, Health, Fraternal, HMO and others) as members, as well as companies serving the insurance industry, regulators and also organizations more broadly representative of the financial services industry, including banks and investment brokerage firms. Learn more about IASA by visiting our website at www.iasa.org or by calling (919) 489-0991.

About Ward Group
Ward Group is the leading provider of benchmarking and best practices research studies for insurance companies. The firm analyzes staff levels, business practices and expenses for all areas of insurance company operations to help companies measure results and optimize performance. For more information about Ward Group, visit www.wardinc.com.