Healthcare Insurance Case Study

Noridian Mutual Insurance Company, a healthcare insurer administering approximately $1 billion in annualized claims, is using the BoardVantage board portal to manage communications with its 13 directors. Noridian is well-known for its focus on operational excellence and continuous improvement. The company was an early adopter of BoardVantage, and has since gone paperless with its board communications.

Objectives

Michael Hamerlik is the CEO of Noridian Administrative Services and the corporate secretary of Noridian Mutual Insurance Company. In 2001, he began exploring the concept of a board portal to improve board communications. Hamerlik wanted a solution that would provide directors with easy, online access to board documents. He also wanted a secure repository where directors could get both current and archived materials. And, he wanted a system that included secure email capabilities with the ability to enforce document retention policies. Another reason Hamerlik was interested in a board portal was because many of his directors were geographically dispersed throughout North Dakota. Weather conditions, especially in the winter months, often made it difficult for directors to meet in person for board and committee meetings. Hamerlik initially considered developing a board portal solution in-house, but then discovered that BoardVantage provided a secure, hosted service for managing communications that fully met his needs. In addition, the BoardVantage solution was immediately available, and also significantly more cost effective.

Solution

We decided to go with BoardVantage given its ease of use, rich functionality, and high level of security, said Hamerlik. We were also impressed with the company’s deep understanding of board processes, which they had clearly incorporated into their solution.

For the implementation, Hamerlik elected to take a staged approach because his directors had varying levels of technical familiarity. He began with using basic functionality first, then introduced additional functionality over time.

Results

Today, Noridian has gone paperless with its board communications and is no longer sending out printed board books. In addition, for board meetings, Noridian is using BoardVantage to project materials onscreen, rather than handing out printed copies.

Noridian is also using Web conferencing as necessary for board and committee meetings, particularly during winter months. Directors can simply log in to BoardVantage, and then have immediate access to materials under review.

Furthermore, Noridian is using BoardVantage to manage consents automatically, as well as to conduct surveys among its directors.

The organization has also implemented digital certificates. With digital certificates, directors are able to authenticate themselves on the BoardVantage board portal in a single step.

According to Hamerlik, BoardVantage has changed the way directors interact, and is a terrific resource for communication. The portal is simple to use, and directors now rely on it. The process of board book creation, revision, and distribution has also gotten dramatically easier.