Let Go of Workflows-Let Epic Do the Work
Transcription
Let Go of Workflows-Let Epic Do the Work
SESSION HANDOUT Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic Do the Work SESSION HANDOUT Applied Client Network www.appliedclientnetwork.org SESSION HANDOUT Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work Prepared for Applied Client Network Applied Client Network 2340 S. River Road, Suite 311 Des Plaines, IL 60018 Phone: 220-220-1444 Fax: 224-220-1443 Copyright 2014 by Applied Client Network, Inc., 2340 S. River Road, Suite 311, Des Plaines, IL 60018. Protection claimed in all forms and matters of copyrightable material and information now allowed by law or hereafter granted including both electronic and conventional distribution of herein products. Reproduction or transmission unless authorized by Applied Client Network is prohibited. All rights reserved. Specific product information regarding Applied Systems’ The Agency Manager and Vision, as well as other products copyrighted and mentioned within (ex: Microsoft, Excel, etc.) are the product of the individual company and no endorsement or ownership of product should be implied by its mention and use. All workflows are suggested and common workflows. Users of this material agree that Applied Client Network cannot be held liable for any omissions or errors within the guide. Original Author: Jacqueline Glick Beneficial Insurance Services, Philadelphia, PA Target Audience: Accountant/Bookkeeper Producer CSR Trainer Carrier Vendor X IT Manager/Systems Coordinator ALL X Operations Other: (describe) X Principal/Owner Seminar Type: Servicing & Workflows Seminar Level: Intermediate: An Intermediate level class takes the concepts originated from a basic level course, and adds more layers or parallel concepts. For functional courses, these classes will require the participant or attendee to have some basis to work from as they are learning new facets of the agency management system or software program. Class Description: This session will review how workflows can be greatly simplified with proper Applied Epic Setup. Greatly reduce your activity usage and focus your staff back on the client and not on documenting. Learning Outcomes: • • • Understand Epic’s capacity to automate workflows Review Configuration and setup options which impact workflow development Gain knowledge on how to simplify current workflows to better utilize staff time. Assumptions: Epic Version 6.0 and above Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work // PAGE 2 Applied Client Network | www.appliedclientnetwork.org SESSION HANDOUT Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work Table of Contents Set up Epic to eliminate extra steps, extra documentation you do not need. ................ 4 SETTING A DEFAULT DESCRIPTION ........................................................................ 5 TASK EXAMPLES: ..................................................................................................... 6 TURN OFF EVENTS (please!) .................................................................................... 9 USING CATEGORIES .............................................................................................. 10 USING POLICY ACTIONS ....................................................................................... 11 Work “holistically”, not transactionally ........................................................................ 12 Transition Staff work from system documentation to “customer focused” service ...... 13 Additional Items to Consider: ..................................................................................... 13 Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work // PAGE 3 Applied Client Network | www.appliedclientnetwork.org SESSION HANDOUT Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work Set up Epic to eliminate extra steps, extra documentation you do not need. GOAL: Program as much of your workflow as possible into Epic thru CONFIGURE options. Activities (Event, Category, Activity Code) programming/Set-up contributes significantly to streamlining workflows UNDERSTAND • • • • • • • • • System Events can be turned on/off based on need. Do not need to use them all. Associate the preferred processes (activities) with the event and create a default when appropriate. Activities – can be required/not required – don’t force completion unless you need. Default activity descriptions can be set up to facilitate quick documentation and standardization. Default Activity settings/behaviors to save staff time and manual keystrokes. (Default activity as open or closed – default closing options successful/unsuccessful/blank) Use Tasks to build tracking of a “service cycle” . System-Generated Attachments – consider turning off manual documentation (i.e. activity completion) for items that Epic documents automatically for you. Don’t forget Categories – you can group workflows together quickly by either the types of processes (sales, service, operations, etc.) or by department/service group (Personal, Commercial, Claims, Producers, etc.). Benefits ease of reporting, but also great for presenting activity codes to specialized teams/ groups (Claims, Producers). Set up User Field Defaults Review Policy Actions and how they can be reported. (Can cut down on use of activity requirements.) BENEFITS: • • • • • Cuts workflow training dramatically. Reduces staff time spent documenting Epic Automates some of the worksteps, removing the need for human touch. Use of Tasks will allow multiple team members to be involved and work concurrently on a service item. Creates uniformity, guides your staff through the preferred process. Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work // PAGE 4 Applied Client Network | www.appliedclientnetwork.org SESSION HANDOUT Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work SETTING A DEFAULT DESCRIPTION Example: Binding Activity Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work // PAGE 5 Applied Client Network | www.appliedclientnetwork.org SESSION HANDOUT Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work TASK EXAMPLES: NOTE: You can kick off these pre-programmed renewal tasks from a report of your expiring policies using the POLICY LIST REPORT. Remember: • Tasks can have different owners by type (role) or person • Start and Due Dates for tasks can be set to run consecutively or concurrently. COMMERCIAL RENEWAL WORKFLOW Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work // PAGE 6 Applied Client Network | www.appliedclientnetwork.org SESSION HANDOUT Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work EXAMPLE: TASKS – BENEFITS RENEWAL WORKFLOW Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work // PAGE 7 Applied Client Network | www.appliedclientnetwork.org SESSION HANDOUT Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work EXAMPLE: TASKS – PERSONAL RENEWAL WORKFLOW Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work // PAGE 8 Applied Client Network | www.appliedclientnetwork.org SESSION HANDOUT Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work TURN OFF EVENTS (please!) EXAMPLE: Auto ID Card Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work // PAGE 9 Applied Client Network | www.appliedclientnetwork.org SESSION HANDOUT Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work USING CATEGORIES Present more manageable lists of activities for specialized groups EXAMPLE: Producers (Prospecting) Consider using for claims, risk management, Personal Lines, etc. Don’t forget to set up USER FIELD DEFAULTS for ease of use …. Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work // PAGE 10 Applied Client Network | www.appliedclientnetwork.org SESSION HANDOUT Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work USING POLICY ACTIONS EXAMPLE: Generate Agency Reports NEW BUSINESS Action: Stage: Policy Status: New Submitted or Issued New Entry Required POLICY SOURCE – WHERE DID WE GET THIS POLICY? PREMIUM REVENUE EPIC FIELD SOURCE on Policy detail Estimated Premium on Policy Tab Estimated Revenue on Policy Tab PRODUCER PRODUCER on PRODUCER/Billing tab DESCRIPTION OF RISK BOUND Service Summary Row Description Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work // PAGE 11 Applied Client Network | www.appliedclientnetwork.org SESSION HANDOUT Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work Work “holistically”, not transactionally GOAL: Have one activity for entire service item. Document the service item, rather than all the individual steps UNDERSTAND: Ability to add multiple attachments, notes to one activity. BENEFIT: One place to track (and retrieve!) the entire service process and all related items instead of having to look at all of the transaction steps. EXAMPLE: Endorsements (Change request) TRANSACTIONALLY - A Few of the Possible Activities – many of you use a combination of these. • Insured request • Request attached (if received via email) • Request submitted • Endorsement Received • Endorsement Attachment (if received via email or scanned) • Endorsement Confirmation to Insured (emailed) • Endorsement Confirmation Attachment HOLISTICALLY • One Activity code for the change – all emails, etc. attached to this item. All notes in one place. When endorsement is received/checked in, notation made, and it is closed. (Your challenge will be to determine all the possible ways that people can do changes in your agency – and make sure that the workflow presents a CHANGE activity. The activity codes will not be the same.) Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work // PAGE 12 Applied Client Network | www.appliedclientnetwork.org SESSION HANDOUT Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work Transition Staff work from system documentation to “customer focused” service GOAL: Every workflow should meet one of these 3 criteria (or scrap it, and replace it with one that does). • Does it bring value to the client? • Is it needed for critical agency reporting? • Does it help us manage our risk of doing business? (E&O) UNDERSTAND: • Adapting what you did in other systems will not allow you to take full advantage of Epic. • Epic CONFIGURE Options are critical, and should be reviewed in depth on a regular basis. Are there features turned on you do not need? (Vice versa..did you turn something off when you first went live, that you could use to track info..) • Many workflows can be handled effectively with MINIMAL use of activity codes • Review how many workflows can be started automatically without staff having to log in an activity.. (Great example is renewals) • Know the different functionality available in and EX REPORT vs. a POLICY LIST REPORT. HUGE BENEFIT: Keep Staff focused on tasks that bring value to the agency. Free up time to focus staff on new tasks that add value to the client relationship – and/or generate revenue to the organization. Additional Items to Consider: • Use the ON DEMAND Activity Timeline to build the service cycle to schedule out and meet service agreements/standards, e.g. 120 day renewal review cycle. Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work // PAGE 13 Applied Client Network | www.appliedclientnetwork.org SESSION HANDOUT Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work • Define Further Actions to allow Epic to perform some of the workflow steps, e.g., send a communication (email, fax or mail), send a 2nd request, kick off another workflow and more. • Visit Applied University at https://www.appliedsystems.com/media/epictraining/home.asp for live and recorded educational sessions on workflow configuration. • If you want to send a text message to your client’s cell phone and have a record of it in Epic – use their Cell phone number as their email address with the following extensions based on their provider. • • • • • • • • • AT&T – [email protected] Verizon – [email protected] T-Mobile – [email protected] Sprint PCS - [email protected] Virgin Mobile – [email protected] US Cellular – [email protected] Nextel - [email protected] Boost - [email protected] Alltel – [email protected] Let Go of Workflows- Let Applied Epic do the Work // PAGE 14 Applied Client Network | www.appliedclientnetwork.org