B
Brien M. Posey
Guest
Many finance, healthcare, energy and insurance companies are integrating managed file transfer, digital experience platforms and e-signature tools. Here’s why.
Regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, energy and insurance operate under an ever-increasing regulatory burden, with regulatory standards for security and verified accountability for nearly all business processes. Not surprisingly, many organizations have begun making a concerted effort to consolidate formerly siloed business processes as a way of both reducing compliance risks and boosting operational efficiency.
From a compliance standpoint, one of the main benefits of consolidating business processes is that doing so helps create a single secure pipeline for handling sensitive data. Siloed systems can break the data chain of custody, whereas consolidated systems allow for transparency across entire workflows. Some of the tools that are increasingly being adopted and used together include managed file transfer (MFT), digital experience platforms (DXP) and e-signature tools.
By themselves, these tools are invaluable. MFT tools, for example, are designed to help keep data encrypted both in transit and at rest, and to reduce the risk of tampering while maintaining proper access control. DXPs use secure portals to connect customers, partners and internal teams. E-signatures help eliminate paper-based workflows while also authenticating signatures and helping teams follow proper audit trails.
As critical as such tools might be to modern business processes, however, the real value comes from integrating the three.
At a high level, the benefits of integrating DXP, MFT and e-signatures can include strong, end-to-end governance, closed-loop audit trails, reduced operational risks and improved operational efficiency. While all of these benefits are undeniably compelling, the advantages become more readily apparent when you begin to examine how integrating these technologies fits into actual workflows within regulated industries.
Imagine, for example, a situation within a financial services company in which a customer applies for an auto loan.
The customer may start the process by filling out an online form and attaching any necessary documents using the company’s DXP (web portal).
From there, an automated workflow uses a managed file transfer solution to securely transfer the customer’s loan application and supporting documents such as a copy of the customer’s ID and various tax forms used for income verification to the back-office system. This transfer process is completed securely with an audit trail that corresponds to the file transfer. The customer’s documents are never sent through insecure means such as email and there is no manual download process required.
When those who are working in the operations and underwriting teams receive the documents, they complete the review process and approve the loan, and the system generates the various loan related documents.
The loan documents are then sent to the customer. The customer completes the documents using an authenticated, time-stamped and tamper-evident e-signature.
This could result in a compliant digital process with no paper, no emailing of PDFs and a full audit trail.
Healthcare companies can benefit from the integration of MFT, DXP and e-signatures in a similar way. This process may start with a patient who is seeking treatment from a healthcare provider.
As a first step, the patient signs on to the provider’s web portal (built on a DXP solution), where they update their medical history and provide their insurance information, patient referral documents and contact data.
Because insurance cards and referral letters contain personally identifiable health information, those documents are subject to HIPAA privacy laws. As such, the provider leverages an MFT solution to transfer these documents securely, in accordance with the applicable regulations.
Before the patient can receive treatment, they must sign various forms including HIPAA privacy notices, consent forms and telehealth authorization forms. All of this can be handled through an e-signature platform. Once completed, the MFT solution transfers the signed forms to the patient’s records.
The final outcome is that patients are able to complete the process from home ahead of their visit, the staff spends less time on paperwork and the entire document chain of custody is designed to be secure and auditable in accordance with regulatory requirements.
Insurance is another regulated industry that can benefit from integrating DXP, MFT and e-signatures into a single workflow. Imagine for example, that a customer has been in an accident and needs to file a claim for the damage done to their vehicle.
The process would likely begin with the customer accessing the insurance company’s web portal (built on a DXP platform) and providing information about the accident. In addition, the customer attaches various relevant documents such as photos of the damage and a police report.
At this point, the MFT system securely transfers the various documents to claims adjusters for review. The system might also be designed to transfer a subset of the documents to external third parties for review. For instance, the system may send photos of the damage to a body shop in an effort to get an estimate of the repair cost.
Regardless of where the data is going, the MFT verifies that documents are transferred securely and that an audit trail is preserved. Better still, this process helps avoid email related file size limits, which is important if the customer needs to upload a large file such as a dashcam recording.
Once all the documents have been reviewed, the claims adjuster prepares a settlement document, which is then sent to the customer. The customer uses an e-signature to accept the settlement. The final signed documents may then be securely transferred to the company’s claims archives.
The end result can support faster claims resolution and alignment with regulatory requirements.
In each of these examples, customers interact through a DXP portal, MFT is used to securely transfer relevant documents, and e-signatures are used for signing electronic forms. Together, the underlying DXP, MFT and e-signature platforms collectively allow for efficient and compliant business workflows.
Need help in any of these areas? Progress Software has you covered! Explore these solutions from Progress Software:
Continue reading...
Regulated industries such as finance, healthcare, energy and insurance operate under an ever-increasing regulatory burden, with regulatory standards for security and verified accountability for nearly all business processes. Not surprisingly, many organizations have begun making a concerted effort to consolidate formerly siloed business processes as a way of both reducing compliance risks and boosting operational efficiency.
From a compliance standpoint, one of the main benefits of consolidating business processes is that doing so helps create a single secure pipeline for handling sensitive data. Siloed systems can break the data chain of custody, whereas consolidated systems allow for transparency across entire workflows. Some of the tools that are increasingly being adopted and used together include managed file transfer (MFT), digital experience platforms (DXP) and e-signature tools.
By themselves, these tools are invaluable. MFT tools, for example, are designed to help keep data encrypted both in transit and at rest, and to reduce the risk of tampering while maintaining proper access control. DXPs use secure portals to connect customers, partners and internal teams. E-signatures help eliminate paper-based workflows while also authenticating signatures and helping teams follow proper audit trails.
As critical as such tools might be to modern business processes, however, the real value comes from integrating the three.
At a high level, the benefits of integrating DXP, MFT and e-signatures can include strong, end-to-end governance, closed-loop audit trails, reduced operational risks and improved operational efficiency. While all of these benefits are undeniably compelling, the advantages become more readily apparent when you begin to examine how integrating these technologies fits into actual workflows within regulated industries.
Financial Services
Imagine, for example, a situation within a financial services company in which a customer applies for an auto loan.
The customer may start the process by filling out an online form and attaching any necessary documents using the company’s DXP (web portal).
From there, an automated workflow uses a managed file transfer solution to securely transfer the customer’s loan application and supporting documents such as a copy of the customer’s ID and various tax forms used for income verification to the back-office system. This transfer process is completed securely with an audit trail that corresponds to the file transfer. The customer’s documents are never sent through insecure means such as email and there is no manual download process required.
When those who are working in the operations and underwriting teams receive the documents, they complete the review process and approve the loan, and the system generates the various loan related documents.
The loan documents are then sent to the customer. The customer completes the documents using an authenticated, time-stamped and tamper-evident e-signature.
This could result in a compliant digital process with no paper, no emailing of PDFs and a full audit trail.
Healthcare
Healthcare companies can benefit from the integration of MFT, DXP and e-signatures in a similar way. This process may start with a patient who is seeking treatment from a healthcare provider.
As a first step, the patient signs on to the provider’s web portal (built on a DXP solution), where they update their medical history and provide their insurance information, patient referral documents and contact data.
Because insurance cards and referral letters contain personally identifiable health information, those documents are subject to HIPAA privacy laws. As such, the provider leverages an MFT solution to transfer these documents securely, in accordance with the applicable regulations.
Before the patient can receive treatment, they must sign various forms including HIPAA privacy notices, consent forms and telehealth authorization forms. All of this can be handled through an e-signature platform. Once completed, the MFT solution transfers the signed forms to the patient’s records.
The final outcome is that patients are able to complete the process from home ahead of their visit, the staff spends less time on paperwork and the entire document chain of custody is designed to be secure and auditable in accordance with regulatory requirements.
Insurance
Insurance is another regulated industry that can benefit from integrating DXP, MFT and e-signatures into a single workflow. Imagine for example, that a customer has been in an accident and needs to file a claim for the damage done to their vehicle.
The process would likely begin with the customer accessing the insurance company’s web portal (built on a DXP platform) and providing information about the accident. In addition, the customer attaches various relevant documents such as photos of the damage and a police report.
At this point, the MFT system securely transfers the various documents to claims adjusters for review. The system might also be designed to transfer a subset of the documents to external third parties for review. For instance, the system may send photos of the damage to a body shop in an effort to get an estimate of the repair cost.
Regardless of where the data is going, the MFT verifies that documents are transferred securely and that an audit trail is preserved. Better still, this process helps avoid email related file size limits, which is important if the customer needs to upload a large file such as a dashcam recording.
Once all the documents have been reviewed, the claims adjuster prepares a settlement document, which is then sent to the customer. The customer uses an e-signature to accept the settlement. The final signed documents may then be securely transferred to the company’s claims archives.
The end result can support faster claims resolution and alignment with regulatory requirements.
The Bottom Line
In each of these examples, customers interact through a DXP portal, MFT is used to securely transfer relevant documents, and e-signatures are used for signing electronic forms. Together, the underlying DXP, MFT and e-signature platforms collectively allow for efficient and compliant business workflows.
Need help in any of these areas? Progress Software has you covered! Explore these solutions from Progress Software:
- File transfer solutions that include Progress MOVEit and Progress Automate MFT
- Progress Sitefinity platform for DXP
- Progress ShareFile software for e-signature
Continue reading...