Claimstrainer Blog

Time Management Tips For
The Claims Professional
Here are 10 practical claims time management tips by Robert Carper

1. Write things down
A common claims time management mistake is to try to use your memory to keep track of too many details leading to information overload. Using a to-do list to write things down is a great way to take control of your projects and tasks and keep yourself organized. Keep a claims “to-do” list and you will be amazed by the results.

2. Prioritize your list
Prioritizing your “to-do” list helps you focus and spend more of your time on the things that really matter to help you resolve claims. Rate your tasks into categories using the ABCD prioritization system. Areas such as 1st contact, telephone calls, file review/recall, follow-up, email mail replies, paperwork, new claim file reviews etc. are usually at the top of the list.

3. Plan your day, week and month
Spend some time at the beginning of each day to plan your schedule. What are the things you need to do to accomplish your claims closings goals? Taking the extra time to do this will help increase your productivity and balance your important long-term claims objectives with your more urgent tasks. All you need is fifteen to thirty minutes each day for your planning session.

4. Make notes
Have you ever thought about a claims issue (while away from your desk) and thought I will implement this. If so, carry a small notebook with you wherever you go so you can capture your thoughts. If you wait too long to write them down you could forget. Another option is to use a digital device.

5. Learn to say no
The “superman syndrome” dictates that we think we can do it all, when in reality, we simply can’t. Many people become overloaded with too much work because they over commit; they say yes when they really should be saying no. Learn to say no to low priority requests and you will free up time to spend on things that are more important like serving customers and settling claims. Let’s face it, you can’t say no to your claims job responsibilities but you can focus only on the items that contribute to successful claims outcomes.

6. Think before acting
How best to approach the claim to resolve it in a customer service focused and efficient manner, is a question you will want to ask yourself. How many times have you committed to something you later decided was not the most efficient approach? Before committing to a new task, stop to think about it before you commit. Simply ask yourself “can I do this in a effective manner”. This will help with timely claims resolution.

7. Continuously improve yourself
Make time in your schedule to learn new things and develop your natural talents and abilities. For example, you could take a class, attend a training program, or read a book. Continuously improving your knowledge and skills increases your effectiveness, can help boost your claims career..

8. Stop the Claims productively killers!
Claims productively killers warrant recognition and elimination. It is a good idea to evaluate regularly how you are spending your time. In some cases, the best thing you can do is to stop doing an activity that is no longer serving you so you can spend the time doing something more valuable. Consider what you are giving up in order to maintain your current activities.

9. Use a claims time management system
Using a time management system can help you keep track of everything that you need to do, organize and prioritize your work, and develop sound plans to complete it. An integrated system is like Microsoft outlook or in some cases, you can use a company provided proprietary time management system that offers claims time management solutions.

10. Identify bad habits
Make a list of bad habits that are stealing your time, sabotaging your goals, and blocking your success. After you do, work on them one at a time and systematically eliminate them from your claims work model. Remember that the easiest way to eliminate a bad habit, it to replace it with a better habit.