The People Behind Davies: Interview with Susan Arsenault, Senior Vice President Audit Solutions

Rich with inspiring speakers and highly interactive discussions, the 31^st Annual Davies Medical Excess Claims Conference is just shy of a month away. We sat down with Susan Arsenault, Senior Vice President, to discuss the incorporation of innovation and technology in Davies Audit Solutions as well as the background and design of the upcoming conference.

Now that you’re juggling both the Accident and Health and Property and Casualty sides of the business, what are your future visions for both?

At Davies, regarding Audit Solutions, we really pride ourselves in giving the industry the depth of experience that we have. The Accident and Health division has an average of 21 years of experience per auditor. On the Property and Casualty side, we’re around 15 years of experience per auditor. We see all entities at all levels within the Accident and Health and Property and Casualty sides as far as risk partners go and we use that leverage of experience throughout our auditing services. Because we have carriers that issue coverages on both sides of the scale, the long-term vision is to take both the Accident and Health and the Property and Casualty divisions and blend them to bring a more well-rounded offering to the industry.

How do you see innovation and tech playing a role in this vision?

Innovation is playing a huge role in the auditing industry. Artificial intelligence and other technology will play a big part in efficiencies. Currently, we are actively developing a new product line for policy compliance using artificial intelligence. This is a really needed service in the industry and no one else is currently doing this. We are taking regulated policies by Departments of Insurance and we are comparing them against the issued policies to verify that the carrier’s partners are in compliance with the Department of Insurance regulations. Artificial intelligence is something that is going to really be leveraged on all different types of auding services we provide.

Artificial intelligence is a great driver of efficiency but lacks the human touch. Can you talk a little bit about efficiency, human error, and sentiment in terms of the new artificial intelligence technology?

When talking about auditing, emotion is the last thing that you want. That’s why artificial intelligence fits so well in this space. For example, there may be a policy that has 20 pages to it and currently those in the industry that are doing them by eye, manually, their human capacity to have the necessary focus and detail throughout all those pages is limited. Identifying a missing period or a change in wording that drastically changes the implications of the content throughout many pages, is something the human eye can’t do with precision and accuracy. When you have an artificial intelligence tool that doesn’t have those restraints that human faculty does, it’s able to work efficiently and carefully to a far greater extent.

The 31st Annual Medical Excess Claims Conference is fast approaching. Can you speak on the background and overall goals of the conference?

Our primary goal in organizing this conference is to have the content be diversified and speak to different areas in the industry that are relevant and are of interest in current day. We have a session addressing the staffing shortage, because finding experienced talent is a topic that everyone is struggling with. We also have a session on controlling high-cost claims, which is an interest to everyone. We have different educational sessions for multiple areas of the industry, so attendees have varied exposure to content that speaks directly to their area. We have an overview session addressing how to have best practices in a medical management program for an MGU, which is a critical topic because the medical management program will bring down the costs of the programs. We also have a moderated round table that shares information with the industry, so attendees will leave the conference with knowledge that they did not previously have.

Can you speak to the design behind the conference?

The format of this conference is really designed to facilitate networking opportunities and the sharing of information. We normally have 50 plus MGUs, carriers, and reinsurers represented and we have 8 sessions, the round table, and evening events, all of which are designed to educate our industry. They will leave the conference with tools that they can employ in their everyday professional life.

Learn more about 31^st Annual Medical Excess Claims Conference and Register Today!