Ways Manual Data Entry is Hurting Your Unemployment Insurance Business
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Working in the unemployment insurance industry requires acute attention to detail on data points to determine precise payments to claimants and their families. Furthermore, missteps will not only cause mistrust amongst customers but also regulatory troubles that can become very costly. Because of all these needs for stringency, manual data entry is an ineffective and unsustainable way to process information for customers.
As we discussed in our first blog about the pitfalls of manual data entry, internal processes and employee resources suffer from this cumbersome process. Now, let’s dig further to see how the failures of manual data entry can affect the function and reputation of an unemployment insurance business as a whole.
What is Data Entry?
Data entry is the process by which organizations transcribe, file, or otherwise enter information into a digital or analog system.
Data entry is a notoriously repetitive and time-consuming process often handled by entry or lower-level employees. Suppose a company doesn’t use automation to assist with the process. In that case, they must use manual entry instead — forcing them to take on additional time, resources, and monetary costs associated with extra work.
Reasons to Avoid Manual Data Entry in Unemployment Insurance
1. Is your current data prepared for an audit and in compliance?
With an industry as specific and data-centric as unemployment insurance, consistency in entry is a crucial cornerstone for any business. Manual data entry, however, is a much less effective option if the end goal is maintaining accurate and reliable records — largely due to variations in typing speed, formatting preferences, and interpretation of data fields. Business leaders need to make absolutely sure that their current data is prepared for an audit and will pass compliance.
These inconsistencies can lead to discrepancies in reports, audits, and compliance checks that trickle down to these negative business impacts.
Data Integrity and Decision-Making:
- Inconsistent data entry practices lead to an incomplete understanding of data performance, analytics, and other measurements of your business’ and employees’ success.
- With more inconsistency in manual entry, your business faces Increased risks of making erroneous claims decisions based on incomplete or inaccurately entered information.
Compliance and Audit Readiness:
- If data and the format of manual entry are inconsistent, businesses will face greater difficulties in meeting regulatory requirements and reporting their obligations to clients and customers.
- With less uniformity in data, businesses will fall under greater scrutiny during audits and compliance checks, potentially leading to penalties.
Operational Efficiency and Scalability:
- With no standard of data entry and management, businesses are stifled by limited scalability and unable to handle increasing volumes of claims or program expansions.
- Back-end inconsistency leads to Inefficiencies in resource allocation and workforce planning as forecasting and capacity management become impossible.
2. Is your current data prepared for an audit and in compliance?
Unemployment insurance companies are full of sensitive personal and financial information that must be taken seriously. However manual data entry poses significant security risks — paper forms and spreadsheets containing sensitive information such as social security numbers, addresses, and other details are susceptible to loss, theft, or unauthorized access. The snowball effect of manual processes spirals out into numerous consequences:
Data Breach and Confidentiality:
- Manual entry relies heavily on physical or unsecured digital formats, which are the most vulnerable to theft, destruction, or data breaches.
- The resulting legal and reputational repercussions from mishandling or failing to protect confidential information can be very costly and detrimental to business.
Regulatory Compliance and Legal Liabilities:
- Many manual processes fail to comply with strict data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) which can lead to fines, sanctions, or legal actions.
- Negligence and/or a failure to comply with regulatory bodies can balloon into a larger loss of trust and credibility among stakeholders.
Operational Disruption and Recovery Costs:
- Following a data breach or destruction of information, businesses will see severe disruption of operations and likely have to induce a temporary suspension of services.
- On top of the external regulatory costs, businesses will need to pay for forensic investigations, remediation, and enhanced security measures that prevent future issues.
3. How will manual data entry impact unemployment insurance processing?
Many of the risks discussed are issues that other industries might deal with if they stick with manual processing over automation. However, the unemployment insurance sector faces its unique challenges that can drastically impact the process of business, particularly concerning insurance claims and benefits.
Timely Disbursement of Benefits:
- Delayed data entry processes lead to prolonged processing times for unemployment claims, impacting the timely disbursement of benefits to claimants.
- With an increased backlog of claims awaiting processing due to inefficient manual workflows, customers will grow increasingly frustrated and financially strained.
Operational Efficiency and Resource Allocation:
- Inefficient manual data entry processes require higher staffing levels and resources to manage increasing claim volumes during peak periods — which can be particularly detrimental to unemployment insurers during extreme layoff seasons.
- A lack of automation creates more limited flexibility to adjust resource allocation dynamically based on fluctuating demand for unemployment benefits.
Insurance Risk Management:
- Manual entry raises the risk of errors in benefit calculations and eligibility assessments due to manual data entry inaccuracies, leading to potential overpayments or underpayments – both of which harm business.
- Manual processes also create more difficulty in fraud detection or identifying suspicious patterns in claim submissions without accurate and timely data entry, letting malfeasance run rampant without any response or rectifying measures.
Now more than ever, unemployment insurance businesses have a duty to their companies and their customers to invest in the automation technology that will truly evolve their practices and protect client information and finances.
Want more insight into how automation can work for your business? Check out these FAQs to answer all your pressing questions about leveraging solutions like Plextera.
How Plextera Makes Data Automation Simplie
Plextera specializes in providing robust data automation solutions tailored for unemployment insurance businesses. Combining the application of technologies like OCR, IDP, and other AI tools, Plextera simplifies data management and processing complexities. Our comprehensive suite of tools is designed to streamline manual data entry processes prevalent in unemployment insurance, thus enhancing efficiency and reducing operational costs.
- Plextera prioritizes data security including authentication and encryption to safeguard sensitive information within unemployment insurance records.
- Plextera boasts a simple but flexible back-end solution that lets businesses adapt quickly to changing regulations while facilitating the rapid deployment of new solutions.
Overall, Plextera solutions eliminate manual approaches to UI document processing by empowering your staff with capture and automation to deliver quality, accurate data in a matter of minutes.
Prepare Your Unemployment Insurance Business for the Future
To be ready for a fast-paced and data-rich future, unemployment insurance businesses should upgrade to Plextera and equip their employees with the tools that make manual data entry insufficient and obsolete. The new era of data management and application demands powerful and intelligent automated tools — and Plextera is on the cutting edge of document and data processing innovation that will ensure success for companies of all sizes.
Reach out today to request a demo of Plextera and see what this solution can do for your business and your data security.
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