Mitchell Issues First Quarter 2016 Industry Trends Report

SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - Feb 9, 2016) - Mitchell, a leading provider of technology, connectivity and information solutions to the Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance industry and their supply chain partners, today released its Industry Trends Report (ITR) for the first quarter of 2016.

In this edition, experts discuss the inflation rate driving car repair prices and the industry-wide success of ICD-10 implementation.

The Auto Physical Damage edition

Getting to the root of the common phrase that 'Cars cost more to repair than they used to,' Greg Horn, Vice President of Industry Relations at Mitchell, analyzes repair cost inflation rates as reflected by total loss frequency, rising insurance rates and repair order costs. Comparing two popular passenger cars, the 2010 and 2015 Toyota Camry and the 2010 and 2015 Chevrolet Malibu, and taking the Consumer Price index rate into account, Horn discovered a few surprising data points driving the inflation rate.

For example, inflation adjusted over repair severity increased at more than double the rate for the Malibu, despite the number of labor hours staying the same. Horn further explains that while the improved parts and technology result in better outcomes and safer vehicles, they come at a significant cost.

Horn will provide a deeper look into the findings, information and trends highlighted in this quarter's ITR during Mitchell's webinar, "Industry Trends Live," on February 23, 2016. To sign up for the webinar, visit go.mitchell.com/register.

The Casualty edition

The Property & Casualty (P&C) industry underwent a large change on October 1, 2015 with the official implementation of ICD-10 codes. To better understand the value and effectiveness of the ICD-10 codes, Michele Hibbert-Iacobacci, CCSP, CMCO, Vice President of Information Management & Support at Mitchell and the Mitchell team identified Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that the P&C industry can map back to.

In this edition, the Mitchell identified KPIs are discussed to highlight adoption statistics and the areas where ICD-10 can address issues in medical bill review applications that insurers currently rely on for objective review. The key areas monitored included adjustment / denials, duplicate bills, claim open timeframe, severity and case mix changes.

First published in April 2001, Mitchell's ITR now reaches more than 33,000 collision and casualty industry professionals and provides meaningful visibility into data-driven trends in the P&C market. The complete report is available at www.mitchell.com/industry-trends-report.

For further collision repair and property casualty industry updates and perspectives, follow Mitchell on Twitter @Mitchell_Intl, @MitchellClaims and @MitchellRepair and LinkedIn.

About Mitchell International
Mitchell International, Inc. is uniquely positioned to simplify, enhance and accelerate claims handling processes across the P&C industry through deep workflow solutions that include unparalleled access to data, advanced analytics and decision support tools. Our expert workflow and adjusting solutions advance the claims management process by enabling automotive physical damage, bodily injury and workers' compensation clients to process claims more accurately, consistently, and cost-effectively.

Mitchell's solutions provide an expert level of decision support and connectivity within the claims organization and with industry partners to achieve optimal outcomes. Mitchell's comprehensive solution portfolio and robust SaaS infrastructure enables tens of millions of electronic transactions to be processed each month for over 300 insurance companies, including the majority of the top 25 insurance carriers, and over 30,000 collision repair facilities. With an expanding global footprint, Mitchell products are currently utilized in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Mitchell is headquartered in San Diego, California, and has approximately 2,000 employees. For more information, please visit www.mitchell.com/.