(Image source: Conduent homepage.)
Conduent Incorporated, a Florham Park, N.J.-based provider of diversified business services with leading capabilities in transaction processing, automation and analytics, announced that it has joined the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA), the world’s largest open source blockchain initiative. The firm characterizes the move as an expression of its commitment to use of distributed ledger technology to benefit its clients in insurance and other industries.
As a member of the EEA, Conduent says will collaborate with industry leaders in pursuit of Ethereum-based enterprise technology best practices, open standards, and open-source reference architectures. Ethereum is an open-source, public, blockchain-based distributed computing platform and operating system featuring smart contract functionality. The platform is relevant for Conduent’s work on digital payments, claims processing, benefit administration, automated tolling, regulatory compliance or distributed learning.
“Blockchain promises to drastically transform digitized business processes, making them more efficient, agile, secure and transparent,” comments Carol Kline, CIO, Conduent. “Distributed ledger and blockchain technologies can address a number of pain points for our clients, such as reducing fraud in claims management, computing accurate payments and simplifying data sharing in the public sector. We are committed to learning from and building upon industry standards through our EEA membership.”
The EEA has more than 500 member companies, which represent a wide variety of business sectors globally, including insurance, technology, banking, government, healthcare, energy, pharmaceuticals, and marketing. The EEA’s industry-focused, member-driven working groups are each tasked with creating and delivering specific advancements to the development and use of Ethereum-based technologies.
Realizing the Potential of Blockchain for Claims Management
Robbie Willet, General Manager, Healthcare & Insurance, Conduent.
The EEA will help Conduent realize the potential blockchain could have on claims management for insurance companies, including medical, property/casualty, and life insurance claims, according to Robbie Willet, General Manager, Healthcare & Insurance, Conduent.
“Currently, claims processing is a notoriously lengthy and complicated process, requiring participation and verification from multiple intermediaries before a payment can be made to the claimant,” Willet notes. “Blockchain will enable smart contracts in which a form can be distributed across involved participants in the chain—from the claimant to the intermediaries to the payer. The smart contract would securely enable all the steps involved, in the end-to-end value chain — from notice of loss, through coverage verification to claims validation and ultimately payment.”
“The applicability of the claims platform pervades healthcare and non-healthcare insurance,” Willet adds. “The value proposition for all stakeholders involved is that the process is faster, more secure and less costly.”