Acuity Insurance
IAIABC: Please provide a description of your organization.
Sandy Herwig, Claims Consultant, Acuity Insurance: Acuity Insurance, headquartered in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, insures nearly 150,000 businesses across 31 states. Rated A+ by AM Best and S&P, Acuity employs more than 1,600 people.
Acuity’s vision is driven by our common purpose: “With kind hearts, we dare to care for our family of employees, agents, and customers, by staring down risk.” That shapes who we are and what we strive to be as an employer, business partner, and insurer. We understand that business owners want to partner with companies that not only provide quality products and services, but also operate ethically and have a clear focus on their mission.
IAIABC: How does your organization serve the workers’ compensation industry?
SH: Guided by our Common Purpose, Acuity is committed to protecting and enhancing the well-being of our customers and their employees. Our mission statement begins with, “Rebuilding shattered lives.” Our world-class claims service earns a 97% satisfaction rating, showing that our caring culture shines when people need us most. We help workers when injuries happen, partner with employers to help prevent them from happening, and provide peace of mind so people can focus on what they love.
IAIABC: What do you see as some of the major challenges the industry is facing, and how can we as a community address them?
SH: The insurance industry contends with a major challenge faced by many industries: recruiting and retaining the next generation of workers. Additionally, we believe our workers’ compensation claims professionals need to not only possess technical knowledge and skill, but also have the genuine care and compassion for people that shines through when helping people with potentially life-altering injuries. We work hard to recruit people that are a match for Acuity’s culture and use our current talent to train and mentor incoming claims staff. We are also proud that our employee-focused culture helps us maintain less than a 3% company wide turnover rate.
Outside the insurance industry, challenges are impacting the medical industry. This includes maintaining adequate staffing levels, delivering quality healthcare, controlling costs of services, providing supportive care after discharge, and coordinating or providing home health care. As a community, we must remain open to non-traditional healthcare delivery of services, including capitalizing on technology and telehealth, and encourage the use of smaller/local community-based providers to ease the capacity crunch.
IAIABC: Are there any projects/programs/initiatives going on at your organization that you are particularly excited or enthusiastic about?
SH: We are proud of the many innovative programs Acuity has already implemented within workers’ compensation, including managed care, return-to-work, a nurse helpline, and more. Going forward, we are excited about several technology initiatives underway. These include embracing analytics as another tool to help facilitate the best possible care, and leveraging technology to support our processes, improve efficiencies, and generating referrals earlier. Our in-house systems development is based on the philosophy that technology is not a substitute for the personal service injured workers need but, rather, a tool that helps our people provide that service better.
IAIABC: What's an interesting fact about your organization that most people don't know?
SH: Acuity’s headquarters campus contains the World’s Tallest Symbol of Freedom: a 70-by-140 foot American flag on a 400-foot flagpole, as a tribute to our great country and the freedoms we all enjoy. The flagpole is nearly 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty, and the 9,800-square-foot flag weighs 250 pounds! A Veterans Memorial at the base of the flagpole features the names of more than 750 Sheboygan County residents killed in active duty, going all the way back to the Civil War.
IAIABC: Why is your organization a member of the IAIABC? What would you tell others about the benefits of membership?
SH: Our membership in the IAIABC allows Acuity to be an active contributor in addressing the workers’ compensation challenges faced today. It enables us to be part of the solution by giving us a voice and a seat at the table from the carrier perspective.
Our membership also helps Acuity keep a pulse on industry changes, including regulatory and statutory updates. This enables us to be proactive in our compliance efforts and ensure that we continue to provide insurance protection to our customers and peace of mind to their workers when injuries occur.