SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - May 1, 2013) - Mitchell, a leading provider of technology, connectivity and information solutions to the Property & Casualty claims and Collision Repair industries, today announced the availability of its Industry Trends Report (ITR), for the second quarter of 2013. The report presents expert insight into evolving industry regulation and current events, and leverages Mitchell's sophisticated data sets to track inflationary trends in parts use. Mitchell's quarterly publication has served the auto physical damage, collision and casualty industries for more than a decade and provides deep visibility into data-driven trends in the Property & Casualty (P&C) market.
The Auto Physical Damage edition
Written by Greg Horn, Vice President of Industry Relations at Mitchell, the feature article, "Parts Price Index 2003 - 2013: Inflation & Its Impact on Severity," taps into 10 years of Mitchell-owned data to track and compare inflationary trends by part type and vehicle nameplate country of origin. For the first time, Mitchell data showed a decrease in the indexed price for the market basket. A more granular review revealed that the domestic vehicle parts market basket experienced such a decrease that it offset the moderate increases in Asia and Europe.
"The Mitchell Collision Parts Price Index (MCPPI) was created to track inflationary trends in parts use over select time periods. For this ITR, we were able to pull 10 years' worth of data, looking at 2003-2012, for the 20 most frequently-replaced collision parts," said Greg Horn, Vice President of Industry Relations at Mitchell. "Our data revealed that the impact of the expansion of competition parts price-matching programs from the domestic OEMs is driving the decrease in the overall index. This is due to the larger number of domestic vehicles in the US car park, and the overwhelming dominance of new OEM parts selected on the average repairable estimate. It will be interesting to watch this development unfold as we continue to track the number of variables that affect these trends."
The Auto Casualty Solutions edition
The feature article, "Readiness with ICD-10," by Michele Hibbert-Iacobacci, VP, Information Management and Support and Vidya Dinamani, VP, Product Management and Marketing, highlights the benefits of the new ICD-10 classification system to the P&C industry. It outlines key areas for carriers and providers to consider in light of the changes. The deadline for ICD-10-CM and PCS to be fully implemented in the US is October 2014. All P&C providers and carriers are required to use ICD-10 code sets by then, for all inpatient and outpatient visits. For providers, this means a decreased administrative burden, better coordination of care and efficient billing and ERH access. For P&C carriers, benefits include better documentation, streamlined information processing and a deeper understanding of injury encounters.
"The deadline for ICD-10 readiness was extended by one year, but that doesn't mean providers and P&C carriers can put off preparing for this major industry shift in medical classification," said Hibbert-Iacobacci. "The benefits of the new classification system are clear, but it's also critical to identify that there are challenges around the implementation and the coordination of all aspects of readiness for ICD-10. Readers of this ITR will have a greater understanding of the challenges associated with the transition and be better positioned to build a successful ICD-10 conversion program."
Insights and perspective from the several editions of the ITR focus on the data-driven, technology-enabled innovations impacting the insurance claims handling marketplace. The complete report is available at www.mitchell.com/industry-trends-report. First published in April 2001, Mitchell's ITR now reaches more than 33,000 collision and casualty industry professionals.
Mitchell also offers a webinar, Industry Trends Live, on the Auto Physical Damage edition of the report. Greg Horn will provide a deeper look into the trends, information and studies highlighted in this quarter's ITR on May 14, 2013. To sign up for the US or Canadian trends webinars, visit http://www.mitchell.com/pubs/industry-trends-live/schedule.asp
For continuous collision repair and property casualty industry updates and perspectives, follow Mitchell on Twitter @MitchellClaims and @MitchellRepair.
About Mitchell
Mitchell empowers clients to achieve measurably better outcomes. Providing unparalleled breadth of technology, connectivity and information solutions to the Property & Casualty claims and Collision Repair industries, Mitchell is uniquely able to simplify and accelerate the claims management and collision repair processes.
As a leading provider of Property & Casualty claims technology solutions, Mitchell processes over 50 million transactions annually for over 300 insurance companies/claims payers and over 30,000 collision repair facilities throughout North America. Founded in 1946, Mitchell is headquartered in San Diego, California, and has 1,700 employees. The company is privately owned primarily by the Aurora Capital Group, a Los Angeles-based investment group. For more information about Mitchell, visit www.mitchell.com.