Mitchell, a 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 second quarter of 2015. The report identifies and examines the latest industry trends, while comparing current market data to historical figures to help P&C insurers, bill reviewers, payers and auto body repair shops better understand the landscape and make improved business decisions.
The ITR’s two editions address timely concerns of the auto physical damage and casualty industries.
The Auto Physical Damage edition
There has been an increase in average repair severity across the US and Canada, but what exactly is driving the costs to repair today’s top selling car? To best assess this industry-wide trend, it is necessary to break down the increase in terms of an estimate, parts, labor, paint and materials. Greg Horn, vice president of industry relations at Mitchell, additionally focuses on four particular vehicles and their place in the ‘life cycle’ of their given body style to provide additional insight. Mitchell offers a webinar, Industry Trends Live, on the Auto Physical Damage edition of the report. Horn will provide a deeper look into the trends, information and studies highlighted in this quarter’s ITR on June 2, 2015. To sign up for webinar, visit go.mitchell.com/register.
The Casualty edition
The phrase “Usual, Customary and Reasonable” (UCR) generally describes the amount third-party payers and/or consumers pay for medical expenses in fee for service (FFS) situations. The term, however, is open to relative interpretation and has changed over the years with the evolving landscape of property and casualty medical claims payment.
In this edition, Michele Hibbert-Iacobacci, CMCO, CCSP and vice president of management & support at Mitchell, discusses the historical migration of UCR charges in terms of provider groups, including Medicare and Medicaid, and public and private payers. Recent factors including government legislation and aging demographics have led to a growth in Medicare, Medicaid and private payers. “This introduction exposed consumers to the varying payment methodologies with the Medicare/Medicaid program which is significantly different in structure than the original fee for service schedules,” said Hibbert-Iacobacci. 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.
