Future-proof your underwriting program: Why life insurance carriers need a hybrid approach to EHRs that includes consumer-mediated paths.

The future of the life insurance industry will require the use of electronic health records (EHRs) for life insurance underwriting. Consumer expectations and government mandates pertaining to digital health data and advances in predictive modeling will all move the market toward broader EHR adoption. Yet, most carriers are not using EHRs at scale, and we are likely years away from EHRs being broadly embedded in underwriting workflows. What will it take to get there? And what happens if nothing changes?

In this whitepaper, we analyze the market’s current trajectory and evaluate strategies for the fastest, most viable path to broader EHR adoption. Broad adoption will occur when coverage from EHR data sets exceeds 80% — that is, EHR results are returned for eight of 10 applicants. To get to 80% coverage, the industry needs to adopt a hybrid strategy for obtaining health records. This includes leveraging sources for digital health data that are:

1. Authorized under the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and secured from private electronic medical record vendors and regional Health Information Exchanges (HIEs), and
2. Provided directly from consumers through patient portals or national public networks.

Electronic health records secured through HIPAA authorizations only account for about half of the market. By only using one source, carriers are limiting their access to critical underwriting insights. Additionally, HIPAA networks are only expanding modestly, and signs point to limited future growth. By comparison, government regulation as well as consumer expectations and buying preferences are driving growth in consumer-mediated networks.

By capitalizing on both types of networks, life insurers can return more electronic health data for more applicants – a strategy that will offer a competitive advantage for those that embrace it.