New York Life Takes Another Step Forward

New York Life thinks* its the first US life insurer to use electronic health records to accelerate and improve its underwriting process through a new agreement with Epic health records system.

“The length of time it takes to complete the life insurance application process can deter people from getting the life insurance they need to protect their loved ones. Transitioning to a digital model for health record processing will significantly reduce application processing time, easing the process for new clients and delivering a better experience for our customers.” – SVP and Head of Retail Life, Alex Cook.

Life insurers use medical records to help inform underwriting decisions. Until now, medical records were shared with life insurers as scanned or faxed copies, a labor-intensive process for gathering and reviewing the necessary documents. New York Life will use Epic’s Chart Gateway to connect with healthcare organizations to retrieve electronic health records for life insurance applicants, with their consent. The new process will allow New York Life to securely and efficiently get the information required to process applications faster, while lessening the administrative burden on healthcare providers.

“This is another step forward in New York Life’s strategy to make life insurance more accessible and easier to understand and purchase . Every investment we make to improve the process for purchasing life insurance will help streamline consumers’ ability to obtain the coverage they need.” – Cook.

Bottom Line: *last year USAA announced a similar initiative with Cerner (you can read on ‘Cerner v. Epic’ on Capterra).

The article has been updated on Nov. 29 with the following comment from New York Life:

“In working with Epic, New York Life is the first U.S. life insurer with a direct integration to retrieve EHRs. USAA’s implementation of Cerner involves a patient portal solution that requires a consumer to enter a login ID and password.”