The NEW Way to Gather Medical Records for Underwriting
The COVID-19 pandemic has undeniably changed the world and the way many businesses operate. Life insurance underwriting has long relied on insurance exams and physicians’ medical records to evaluate mortality. The restrictions resulting from the nationwide “shut-down” are shining a light on many inadequacies in this process and forcing the industry to find better, more client-friendly ways to satisfy underwriting requirements.
Now, more than almost any other time, it is imperative that we explore more efficient ways of collecting medical records data for the purposes of underwriting. The current process of retrieving Attending Physician Statement (APS) information can be mired with complications, delays, inconsistencies and unusual expense. On average, it may take four to six weeks to get the necessary records and, once received, we frequently discover they are incomplete! It is a tremendous bottleneck in the underwriting process and one that companies industry-wide are attempting to alleviate.
AgencyONE is constantly vetting third-party digital tools in our efforts to expedite this process and find the best available solution for our AgencyONE 100 Advisors and their clients. We frequently collaborate with our carrier partners to determine which platforms they believe are best suited to the industry, carriers, advisors and clients.
AGENCYONE & HUMAN API
Starting in 2020, AgencyONE contracted with Human API, a consumer-controlled health data platform. This technology provides your clients with the capability to SECURELY CONNECT their personal health data from their physician’s patient portals with AgencyONE in just MINUTES! The steps are very simple:
- Records are easily accessed through the Human API SECURE website via AgencyONE’s Human API custom link which will be provided to all applicable clients.
- Once linked to Human API, your clients will enter their first name, last name, and email address on the initial page.
- Your clients will then be prompted to search for their healthcare system(s), hospital system(s) or medical provider(s) and then enter their patient portal credentials (username/password). Please note: if your clients do not have an active patient portal with their physician, medical provider or healthcare system, they will be required to set one up first.
- When the portal opens, your clients will click “Connect Account”.
It is as simple as that! Once the above steps are successfully completed, your clients’ records appear on AgencyONE’s Human API dashboard and are downloadable for review and submission to carriers.
If your client is NOT tech-savvy, don’t worry! Human API offers an entire support team dedicated to answering your clients’ questions during the authorization process via Live Chat which is available every day from 9:00 AM to 8:00 PM EST. The medical information is shared solely for the purposes of underwriting and, upon request, can be purged from Human API’s system once it is no longer needed. Clients can easily obtain a copy of their medical files during this process as well.
CASE STUDY
Mr. Smith, a 46-year-old male, applied for $1.5MM of life insurance coverage through one of our carrier partners’ accelerated underwriting programs. On the telephone interview, Mr. Smith admitted to a sleep apnea diagnosis, which is being treated with the use of a CPAP machine. A sleep apnea diagnosis REQUIRES an APS at this carrier, which could result in disqualifying Mr. Smith from the accelerated underwriting program and add up to a month to the underwriting process.
Enter Human API (HAPI). AgencyONE provided Mr. Smith with our AgencyONE link to HAPI. He easily located his primary care physician on the HAPI portal and connected all of his medical records IN MINUTES! The records contained the necessary sleep study and compliance information AgencyONE needed to negotiate a PREFERRED risk and obtain an APPROVAL WITHOUT EXAM LABS. With the help of HAPI, the turnaround time from the APS request to policy approval and ELECTRONIC delivery was 3 BUSINESS DAYS!
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many of us out of our comfort zones and required that we adopt practices in order to remain productive. Completing a face-to-face exam has become an even greater challenge for your clients given the current social distancing requirements. Carriers are exercising flexibility, where possible, and satisfying exam requirements using approved digital tools and information found in the clients’ APS’. Human API is a tool “whose time has come” and represents an extremely worthwhile step toward obtaining the necessary information to expedite underwriting decisions NOW AND MOVING FORWARD.
Each technical and system innovation AgencyONE adopts serves to help YOU deliver the financial security your clients need in a timely and efficient manner. Human API is a CRUCIAL tool that will continue to make a significant impact on the lives of your clients and the value of your business.