SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - Nov 5, 2014) - Mitchell, a leading provider of technology, connectivity and information solutions to the Property & Casualty (P&C) claims and Collision Repair industries, today announced the availability of its Industry Trends Report (ITR) for the fourth quarter of 2014. The report compares year-over-year data to analyze the key areas of growth within the industry and help P&C insurers, bill reviewers, payers and auto body repair shops make better business decisions.
The ITR is delivered in two editions to address timely concerns for the auto physical damage and casualty industries.
The Casualty edition
Since going into effect January 2014, the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act (PPACA) has changed the pay as you go model into a quality-based system, which is intended to protect the formerly uninsured and ensure the best care possible. Experts predict this process will lead to lower medical cost estimates but will conversely lead to a disproportionate level of physicians to patients.
In this edition of the report, Michele Hibbert-Iacobacci, CMCO and CCSP at Mitchell, highlights a few key areas to look at as the one-year anniversary of the PPACA approaches. Specifically, the estimates and information "will provide further opportunities for carriers to create review protocols and monitoring of claims costs." Michele continues, "With the cost containment efforts in place by PPACA and instituted by the public and private payers, casualty will likely see the cost shift to more procedures at a higher rate which can have an effect on benchmark rates used in fee-for-service payments."
In addition to estimates and predictions around the PPACA, the report includes an updated Medical Price Index, along with recent state regulatory changes.
The Auto Physical Damage edition
Vehicle repair speed remains a hot-button industry topic because turnaround time is a priority for all parties involved. Within that process, bumper covers are the most commonly damaged part and the first point where an appraiser exercises judgment to repair or replace. In the report, Greg Horn, Vice President of Industry Relations at Mitchell, analyzes the labor hours devoted to repair a bumper and whether time varies by the make of the vehicle or if bumper price impacts repair time.
According to Greg, the industry "should be devoting more hours to bumper cover repair because it is a demonstrable win-win-win for the shop, the insurer and the vehicle owner. But the repair must be a quality, durable repair. It also suggests that whether you are an appraiser or collision technician, you need to keep up with the latest repair products and materials. When was the last time you looked?"
In addition to this trends analysis, readers will find the latest data on average rental car time and used vehicle market conditions.
Mitchell 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 Wednesday, November 12. To sign up for webinar, visit http://go.mitchell.com/register.
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 @MitchellClaims and @MitchellRepair.
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.