AF Group companies will use CLARA's industry-leading technology platform to identify the health care providers best suited to help injured employees recover successfully and return to work quickly. AF Group comprises seven affiliated insurance brands that provide innovative, specialty insurance solutions. AF Group companies utilize industry-leading best practices, analytics and resources to help manage risk and minimize losses for policyholders -- and always strive to provide injured workers with security, compassionate care, and the opportunity to return to work as soon as possible. "Innovation in data analytics is a key pillar in our strategy to be the best at what we do, maintaining a culture of claims excellence and compassionate care for our customers," said Paul Kearney, Chief Claims Officer at AF Group. "Returning to work after an injury helps employees rebuild their livelihoods and restore their quality of life. AF Group companies help those workers using a multifaceted approach that incorporates data analytics, evidence-based medicine, and smart technology. CLARA Analytics aligns nicely with that strategy -- helping injured employees recover quickly while also minimizing losses for policyholders and improving our claims management processes."

CLARA analytics ("CLARA"), the leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the commercial insurance industry, today announced multiple additions to its executive team. Dustin Oxborrow joins the company as senior vice president of sales, while Brian Sullivan was named senior vice president of customer success, and Chris Koverman becomes vice president of engineering and operations. The new hires come as demand for CLARA's products continues to rise. "CLARA is growing rapidly, with aggressive plans to expand into new areas within the commercial insurance industry," said Gary Hagmueller, CEO of CLARA. "To continue executing on all fronts, we've been on a mission to hire key personnel with highly specialized skill sets. I am incredibly excited that Dustin, Brian and Chris have joined us. Their collective talents and expertise will help drive the company forward as we work to transform the insurance industry with strategic, meaningful applications of AI." New team members' career highlights include: Over the past year, CLARA has seen demand for its products dramatically accelerate.

The insurance industry has operated with great consistency and clear processes for many years. People may not always like or agree with how things work, but nearly everyone from the consumer to the provider essentially goes with it -- no uprisings to drive change, no big shakeups. Seemingly all of a sudden, artificial intelligence (AI) is infiltrating the insurance industry, which may be a bit scary to those devoted to long-established practices. In reality, we are witnessing relatively quick developments and sparks of innovation, considering the overall life cycle of the insurance industry. And what AI offers -- now and promises to in the future -- is anything but scary.

WIRE)--CLARA analytics ("CLARA"), a leading artificial intelligence (AI) and data science company that specializes in easy-to-use AI-based solutions for the property & casualty and disability insurance industries, today announced it has appointed distinguished industry veteran Ruth Estrich to its advisory board. Estrich brings 45 years of executive leadership and in-depth knowledge to CLARA. Estrich joins CLARA as the company has nearly doubled in size over the last year to take advantage of the significant market demand for its products. "Ruth is a remarkable leader who joins in our mission of improving claims outcomes and dramatically bringing down loss costs in claims operations through easy-to-use AI. We are honored to have her as a partner in our journey," said Jayant Lakshmikanthan, CEO and founder of CLARA. Estrich retired as chief strategy officer of MedRisk Inc., where she was responsible for new product development and network development and oversaw MedRisk's clinical and research subsidiary, Expert Clinical Benchmarks (ECB).

Attorney involvement has been steadily driving up workers' compensation claims costs over the past decade, and research reveals the problem has never been worse. For example, in 2014, the California Workers' Compensation Institute (CWCI) published results of a five-year study that showed when a single injured party brought in a lawyer, the associated costs per claim went up by an average of $40,000 for permanent disability payments and $25,000 for temporary total disability benefits -- even if the case never went to court. In Florida from 2016-2017, legal fees related to workers' comp claims totaled nearly $440 million -- approximately $254 million of that came from employers defending claims while injured workers themselves were responsible for $186 million (an increase of 36 percent in just one year). And then there is the national scale. In a newly released study from CLARA analytics, data collected from a single national payer from injury years 2007-2017 was focused on closed indemnity claims across multiple states.

Santa Clara, California-based CLARA Analytics, a developer of AI-based solutions focused on claims operations for the property and casualty and disability insurance industries, has raised $11.5 million in Series A funding. Oak HC/FT led the round. CLARA enables the $800 billion global commercial property and casualty market to improve financial performance by decreasing the billions of dollars in claims leakage that occurs annually. Today, solutions from CLARA empower workers' compensation claims organizations to improve the medical management of claimants while simultaneously reducing the costs of claims with easy-to-use AI-based solutions, CLARA providers and CLARA claims. CLARA's advanced analytic solutions incorporate the latest in AI technology to reduce claims leakage and frictional costs for insurance companies and self-insured corporations by: Detecting (early) potential litigation and optimizing legal representation to improve outcomes and reduce defense expenses.