What is InsurTech?

In an over-simplified world, many see InsurTech as being the technology behind insurance. In the real world, however, InsurTech is a term applied to the many segments of new technology that are disrupting the insurance space: smartphone apps, consumer activity wearables, claim acceleration tools, individual consumer risk development systems, online policy handling, automated compliance processing, and more.

InsurTech is not just an increase in the way that technology is disrupting the insurance industry, but is also changing consumer expectations and demands. Take for example the way that Uber has changed consumer travel preferences and demands, while uprooting a well established and once thriving industry.

Last February, InsurTech startup ChronWell raised $4.5 million in a Series A funding round which the company said “will be used to fund the first phase of the company’s platform which covers triage, on-site care, care coordination and personalized assistance service.”

The Fort Lauderdale based company has now launched a pilot program in California which is aimed to disrupt the state’s workers’ compensation system with technology-enabled triage and care coordination services.

The mobile platform for workers’ compensation will be used by California Farm Management (CFM) to help injured farm workers in the state.

CFM started in August of 2005 to serve the farming community throughout California. It is a collective of farmers who have pooled their resources to successfully self-insure. The CFM collective provides workers’ compensation coverage to approximately 90,000 employees.

ChronWell’s application is being deployed with one of CFM’s largest employers, Cream of the Crop Companies, which employs 5,000 to 7,000 workers, depending on the season. The pilot program will use ChronWell’s Recovry solution, which  addresses on-site injuries and direct care for the best results.

“Our mission is to bring empathy back into healthcare and help injured workers recover faster by providing transparent, patient-centric services,” said ChronWell CEO Joe Rubinsztain. “Partnering with SIS for our pilot program is a perfect fit. Self-insured groups can truly benefit from innovative solutions that optimize recovery for injured workers.”

ChronWell’s AI-powered platform covers triage, on-site care, care coordination and personalized assistance service. If an employee gets injured on the job, they can go to the ChronWell platform and consult with a healthcare professional who, backed by AI, will determine the best course of action by recommending self-care, on-site care or a healthcare facility. The service also provides follow-ups with the worker and manages the claim.

“The workers’ compensation system is broken,” according to Rubinsztain, who said a complex healthcare system, overloaded claims adjusters, legacy technology systems, stringent bureaucratic requirements and mountains of paperwork are just some of the issues compounding to slow claimant service, which triggers poor customer satisfaction and a high litigation rate.