Josh Emke

Welcome back to another segment of the OCS podcast. Again, Josh Emke, the co-founder and general counsel to One Claim Solution. Today, we’re going to kind of touch base more specifically on processes with One Claim Solution and kind of dive a little bit deeper into those processes that we have developed and that we use and continue to develop to help drive our performance for our contractors.

So when discussing our processes that One Claim Solution uses or has developed, you kind of want to think about or at least it’s logical to think about, how do we develop these processes? Are we being responsive to problems that we encounter? Are we being more proactive? And the answer to that question is both.

We definitely try to be proactive in developing our processes to help drive efficiencies, drive our performance for our contractors, but at the end of the day, very difficult to be able to forecast all problems that might come up. And so some of the processes that we do develop and create are definitely more related to, okay, that broke, how do we fix that and make sure that we don’t do that again?

And so Jeremy, my partner at One Claim Solution, is amazing at being able to develop processes. He’s one of the best people managers I’ve ever seen and system drivers. And so he’s fantastic at being able to establish rhythms. And a lot of our processes are related to that, is to be able to establish these rhythms that our people follow in order to drive our efficiencies, whether it’s the amount and timing of communication with insurance companies. It’s about the follow-up and touch points that we have through maybe electronic communications like emails with these insurance companies and adjusters, or whether it’s being able to get the right information from our contractor so that we can increase the amount that we’re able to help get paid from the carrier.All of these processes have come from either being proactive or from solving a problem that’s happened in the past, right? And trying to prevent that from happening again.

And so, as you can imagine, with the company that’s been in existence since 2016 and processed literally thousands upon thousands of claims, we’re in a very unique position to be able to put together key processes on this side of the insurance claim process. Those processes have existed on the other side with the carriers for years and years.But as we start to develop this program and this idea surrounding billing for contractors and doing it on a larger scale, it’s fun to be able to be involved and see these processes created and implemented in order to drive efficiencies. And as we continue to work with our people too and use their feedback to be able to help create these processes to combat and level the playing field on behalf of our contractors in order to create a situation where our contractors are being able to be paid a more reasonable amount for what they do.

And that’s, ultimately, the goal, right, is to be able to level that playing field for our contractors and really fight fire with fire. Insurance companies are amazing with their processes, been developed by time and a lot of experience. And so for contractors to be able to have something like that in their corner, too, fantastic opportunity. And we take that very seriously and enjoy being able to create the reciprocal processes to counteract what the carriers are doing.

So when OCS is looking at its processes, we’re going to look at a few different factors, right? And a few different things that we’re developing processes for. We’re developing processes that our people will follow in order to help drive ultimately the efficiencies, time to pay, the amount paid, turnaround time from getting information from our contractors to help justify the invoice for the services. And so as we look and develop these processes, we definitely want to track and monitor is this process working? Is this process accomplishing the goal that we need it to accomplish?

And there’s a few different ways that we can track that. Obviously it’s, okay, are people meeting their requirements that our processes have established for communicating with adjusters? How frequently are we communicating with those adjusters? And what’s the quality of those types of communications?

Part of those processes are, you know, as we add in the technology aspect of it too, based on the data that we have, we’re able to establish, hey, for this specific adjuster, this is the best time possible and best part of the week to be able to contact that adjuster.

Again, we’re able to do that because of the sheer data that we’ve been able to create over the years that nobody else can really do. And so these are efficiency gains that we’re trying to help put in place through our processes with our people.

And so as we develop a process, yes, we’re absolutely going to make sure is this process really accomplishing the goal that we need it to accomplish? And the way that you do that is to literally monitor it, right? Are people following this process? Is the process a process that our people can follow? And is it actually gaining us what we need it to gain?

And so there’s definitely different key performance indicators, different KPIs that we can follow and look at there with our people to make sure that that process is accomplishing the goal that we need, whether it’s again going back to, you know, days to payment, the amount that we’re able to get from insurance companies on our contractors invoices, the success of the different types of communications we’re having with the carriers, are those being productive communications? All of these things are things that we’re going to look at in order to make sure that our processes are working.

Even though the process might be a good process in theory, if our people aren’t able to follow that process, or it’s not an easy process for them to follow, it might not be the best process. And so we’re constantly monitoring each of those to make sure that everything that we do is setting our people up for the best chance of success for our contractors.

So I’ve touched a little bit on data, right? That OCS has access to, or that we’ve been able to create and maintain based off of the different softwares that we’ve used and the experience and history of OCS. And so we’re able to use that data because we’re so adamant on maintaining that data and keeping it. It’s not just keeping it and maintaining it; are we able to use that data? Are we able to gain and glean knowledge from that that helps create better processes?

So when our people are actually using the processes, we’re able to use data to be able to see, okay, this person might be struggling a little bit more with this process, they’re not hitting their KPIs quite as well as this person over here. So that helps us be able to manage our people too, to be able to see, okay, this is the right person, but is this the right seat for that person? They excel at doing this specific task. Is there a better place for them where we can emphasize that strength and maximize what we can get from that person versus this person over here might be better at something different.

And so based on the data that we’re able to collect and monitor with these processes, we can really help get the most out of each one of our employees to, again, drive the efficiencies. I keep saying that as drive efficiencies, but that’s really what it’s all about.

That’s our goal, is to drive those efficiencies for our contractors because they’re expecting a certain outcome on these types of things within certain amounts of time. And that’s ultimately our goal, is to provide that to our contractors. And the way you do that is the processes, right? And being able to use those processes and the data from those processes in order to make sure that they’re working.

Like I’ve discussed previously with processes, you can have the best process in the world, but if your people aren’t using it correctly, is it really the best process in the world? So your processes are really only as good as your people are using those processes.

And with the data that we have and can create and monitor and our managers are there making sure that people are using the processes correctly, finding where their strengths are, and all of that, we really can help put each one of the people that we have here at One Claim Solution in the best possible situation to make them successful and to feel successful and to empower them that way to really have that confidence that they need in order to deliver the human touch into the entire claims process, which as much as AI is developing and different technologies, again, the human touch, I’m just a strong believer that that won’t ever entirely go away.

And so our managers are very good at being able to identify the that human strength in each one of our employees and make sure that they’re the right person in the right seat, not just the right person in a spot. So we’re very big on that and being able to develop our people based on processes and even technology. So it all works together, but the processes are huge.

And any company that wants to be successful, especially when it comes to like a service type of an industry, definitely needs to be able to develop processes that its people can both use and benefit from in order to drive the outcome that the company is seeking.

When looking at processes and the right process to develop, one of the key things that we try to keep in mind is, are we trying to get to a final outcome through this process or is this a process that we’re using to help get us to a certain point in the claim process?

And one of the things that we drive constantly here is while we do have these processes and we’re looking at the constant communication and regular communication and quality touch points with the adjusters in order to help drive our efficiencies, our key goal is still the final outcome.

So if we have different processes that we’re going to try to follow and have our advocates follow for our contractors, we still want to enable our people to feel like, hey, at any point in this process, we can actually get to the final outcome. That is still the goal. It’s not just checking off a box.

And so I think where processes can fall short and often do fall short is when people start becoming more task-oriented instead of goal-oriented. What’s the point in the process? Is it to just check a box and say, I’ve completed my task on that for today and I’ll look at it again in the next couple of days when my task comes up again? Or are people using the processes in order to enable them to arrive at the final outcome sooner?

And so I think that’s important is when a company or when OCS specifically is establishing a process, that’s what we’re going to look at, right, is are people going to use this process just as a box to check or are they going to use this process to feel empowered to be able to arrive at that outcome in a more timely way?

And so that’s something that we’re constantly mindful of with our processes as well as we don’t want to fall into that trap of just becoming a task-oriented type of a process. We actually want that process to become a goal-oriented process or an outcome-driven process.

So being able to identify which processes are being used by our people to just be a task-oriented process versus a goal or outcome-driven process. Definitely something that is constantly evolving as well through OCS and our people are good at being able to recognize when that’s happening very quickly.

So when OCS is looking at its processes, we’ve talked about this a little bit already and in other segments, but really our processes are something that we try to include everybody in. We want all of our people here to feel like they have a voice or when they recognize a problem, be able to offer a solution to that problem. And so our processes are definitely trying to be developed in that way, whether it’s our people on the front line who are dealing with the carriers every day, or it’s our managers who are monitoring KPIs of each different employee, we’re able to identify and drive those process and those process changes through monitoring what type of result we’re getting from a specific process or the lack of a process.

Definitely something that’s been developed since the beginning, constantly with the eye on the goal of getting better. Being the best that we can possibly be for our company, possibly be for our customers, so that we can drive that efficient outcome in order to level that playing field for our contractors.

And being able to implement the right processes at the right time in a speedy way and make sure that those processes are being followed. OCS is definitely in a unique position to be able to put in these types of processes into the whole claims process for our customers based on our history, based on the data that we have, based on the sheer volume of claims that we have and that we process through OCS. It really helps put us in a unique position to be able to meet our customers’ goals.

So when we get some of this feedback that we’re talking about, it depends a lot of times on where that source is coming from and what the urgency of the feedback is. Did a process break? Is it something that’s just, “Hey, look, this process is working, but it might be able to be improved upon a little bit if we just make this one little tweak.”

And so we definitely want to enable and empower our people to feel like they have that type of a voice in our customers to be able to come back to us and give us that feedback. And once we receive that feedback, we will immediately jump on it and put it through a review through our management team and our process and development team to make sure that number one, it’s a process that is needed or it’s a process that needs to be tweaked and how can we do it. And so we do have a team on place that kind of monitors all of that and will help develop these processes as they come through.

So while we have our people here internally at OCS that help drive our processes and specifically with the carrier and how we’re doing it, we also rely heavily on our contractors to our customers to be able to give us feedback and say, “Hey, look, this process right here isn’t really working for us on how we do it. Maybe there’s a couple ways you guys can change it or modify it or better it.” And so we do rely on our contractors, really feedback from people internally, feedback from our contractors, feedback from everybody, any feedback that we get is fantastic.

When we develop our processes, it’s not something that we just leave to the higher-ups at the company. It’s something that we feel is, again, a better way to create these processes when we involve everybody, whether it’s people that are on the front lines, whether it’s our contractors, maybe even feedback from adjusters or even appraisers that we get. And so definitely the more knowledge you have and the more feedback you have, it makes you in a better, it puts you in a better position to be more responsive and create a better product.

When considering processes, a lot of people automatically just relate it to technology, right? And say, “Well, it’s a technology and that implements the process for you.” A lot of processes can be technological in nature, but a lot of processes aren’t. It’s establishing the certain type of rhythm, and while technology can be used to help establish those rhythms and that cadence for your people to follow, it’s not just about the technology. It’s about making sure that the people have a specific process that they understand and understand the benefit or why we have that process in place.

And a lot of processes can’t be driven by technology. And the processes can’t just be forced upon people. They have to be a process that people can use and follow in that way that helps them feel like they’ve got the best tools and the best, that they’re placed in the best situation for success.

So recapping kind of what we talked about today with OCS’s processes, definitely, definitely something that’s been developed since the beginning, constantly with AI on the goal of getting better, being the best that we can possibly be for our customers so that we can drive that efficient outcome in order to level that playing field for our contractors.

And being able to implement the right processes at the right time in a speedy way and make sure that those processes are being followed. OCS is definitely in a unique position to be able to put in these types of processes into the whole claims process for our customers based on our history, based on the data that we have, based on the sheer number of volume and the sheer volume of claims that we have and that we process through OCS really helps put us in a unique position to be able to meet our customers’ goals.

Hey, thanks for joining us today on this segment of the OCS podcast on looking at processes and how we kind of develop our processes and use those processes in order to drive success for our customers. Appreciate you being here today.