Applied Epic Training

Understanding Applied Epic Terminology: A User-Friendly Glossary

December 12, 2023 by Jenny Honican Leave a Comment

Building on our previous Applied Epic Accounting Glossary blog, we’re now diving into a more general glossary of terms. We’ve put together this list to help clear up some confusing terms and answer common questions that often puzzle Epic users. While it’s not an exhaustive list, we hope this glossary can serve as a valuable resource designed to address those puzzling terms found within Applied Epic.

General Applied Epic Glossary of Terms

Access Button

Our favorite “button”! Located on the navy blue Options bar, the Access button allows you to filter areas of Epic (Activities, Attachments, Transactions, etc.) by the policy term. It makes searching for information so much easier. Pro Tip: attach everything to the workflow activity and use the Access button to filter items by workflow (New Business, Renewal, Endorsement, etc.).

Account Type

Epic holds insureds and prospects in the same database and they cannot be deleted, so when entering a new client make sure you have all boxes checked on the Locate screen to avoid duplicates.

Insured – Active clients with in-force policies
Prospect – Potential clients with or without policy quotes

Activities

Workflow Activity – The activity used for documentation and follow up for the workflow. For example, if renewing use RENR, if adding a new policy use APOL. Make all notes and attach all documents to this activity. Avoid using activities like CALL or APPT – keep all your notes together.
System Generated Activity – These are activities that are generated by performing an Action in Epic For example, Actions > Renew will give you the RENR activity. Using system generated activities keeps users from having to ask, “Which activity should I use?” and keeps everything consistent within the agency.
Manual Activity – Use these when you are not ready to perform an action in Epic. For example, if a client is calling about a potential change but is not ready to endorse, use PEND – Pending Change to document the conversation(s). Keep your manual activities filtered by using Categories to prevent decision fatigue for your users.

Contacts

The screen in Epic that stores the people and entities associated with the account. These can be named insureds, but can also be holders, key employees, etc. Right click on the contact’s name to assign it as the Main Business Contact or the Primary Contact.

Main Business Contact – this should be the business itself and will appear on all ACORD forms.
Primary Contact – this should always be a person, specifically the primary person to speak to about the account or policies.

Interface

Also called “Download”. Carriers send policy data, eDocs and messages (both PDF versions of documents and messages from the carrier in the form of activities), claims data, and direct bill commission transactions to a mailbox managed by IVANS, and Epic in turn retrieves this information from it.

Marketing

There are three areas in Epic that may be referred to as “Marketing”:

Reports/Marketing – run a report to generate a letter, send an email template, add an activity or sticky note, or send an SMS to clients. You can do this in the Marketing Options section of the Delivery Options screen of the report.
Marketing Module – in the Policies screen, used to market multiple lines of business to multiple carriers.
Applied Marketing Automation – an additional product offering from Applied that allows your agency to send email content (both ready-made and create-your-own) to clients.

Opportunities

Epic’s built-in sales manager. Use this area to track potential sales. Set up sales goals in the Employee Account and track them through the Dashboard available on the Home screen.

Policy Status

The policy status identifies where the line of business is in the policy life cycle. It drives your reports and should help you distinguish between Quotes, Active policies, and Cancelled policies – whether Lost or Retained.

Renewals Manager

A dynamic version of the Expiration Report and a great alternative to paper. Use this to keep track of renewals, updating the Renewal Stage along the way so that you and your colleagues can pick right up where you left off.

Suspense

Also called download suspense, this is a section in the Procedures area where users with security access can process items that have been retrieved from the agency’s IVANS mailbox but for various reasons have not automatically attached to the account or policy in Epic.

Task

While the Activity represents the workflow, the Tasks within it break it down further. Agencies can use Tasks as a step-by-step checklist for the workflow or a one-off assignment to a team member. Assigning a task to someone else retains your ownership of the Activity, and places it on both users’ Home screens.

Conclusion

We hope that this glossary has shed light on the terminology used throughout Applied Epic and will help you navigate this powerful platform. If your agency uses Applied Epic Accounting, be sure to also review our Applied Epic Accounting Glossary. If you have further questions or need additional clarification on any terms or concepts, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at consult@kitetechgroup.com or via our contact form. Our team is here to help!

Jenny Honican

Agency Consultant
Kite Technology Group

Driving Your Agency’s Success with Performance Auditing

June 19, 2023 by Laura Whaley Leave a Comment

The term “audit” has long been associated with skepticism and apprehension, and performance audits in insurance agencies are no exception. However, despite the initial unease they may provoke, performance audits can be invaluable for your agency’s growth and success. The key lies in understanding why these audits are necessary and how to effectively carry out this seemingly daunting task. In this article, we aim to shed light on the benefits and provide you with some strategies on conducting performance audits that yield meaningful insights.

Benefits of Performance Audits

Avoid Errors & Omissions

When your agency migrated to your agency management system, whether it was Applied Epic, AMS360, or another, you likely implemented workflows and established expectations that were use in training your staff. These workflows and expectations have not only served as a foundation for your existing team but also continue to be utilized during the onboarding process for new employees. However, It’s human nature to start finding shortcuts and workarounds for tasks that we perform daily. Sometimes, these lead to bad habits and consequently an opportunity for an error & omission. A critical mistake agencies often make is solely relying on training without actively verifying if staff members are adhering to established workflows. The best way to determine if your team is following those established workflows is to audit files.

Evaluate Effectiveness of Workflows & Identify Necessary Changes

Audits are also a great way to evaluate if your Applied Epic or AMS360 workflows are working for your agency or if they need to be amended. If you audit files and find that certain portions of workflows aren’t being followed, it raises the question of whether the issue lies in the clarity of the workflows themselves or their effectiveness. Is it possible that the workflows have become unclear over time, or that they no longer align with the agency’s operational needs due to the adoption of new technologies or integrations? While we don’t recommend frequent changes, we do encourage that agencies review questions and concerns with workflows and update them when necessary.

Identify Departments that Need Additional Resources

Auditing can also identify areas of the agency that may need additional resources. For example, if you review workloads and find that one department has written a substantial amount of new business in the past 12 months, you may also find it necessary to hire an additional resource to help support those accounts or shift a portion of your book to a carrier service center.

Best Practices for Conducting Audits in Your Agency

Now that we’ve discussed some of the more important reasons that your agency should conduct performance auditing, let’s delve into some best practices that can ensure the effectiveness of these audits.

Be Transparent with Your Staff

So how do you implement audits without creating that environment of fear and hostility toward the process? We encourage the process to be implemented with transparency. Clearly identify what is being audited and the scale on which they will be evaluated. Explain to your staff that the process isn’t just to find out what someone is doing wrong but to also find what is being done right. What can the agency do better for them? The results will foster an environment where staff wants to do well and more importantly give them an opportunity invest in their own development.

Provide Additional Resources and Training

Did you know that based on a recent survey 86% of millennials shared that they could be prevented from leaving their current position if training and development were offered by their employer? That’s right, your staff wants to feel like you invest in them and encourage them to be better versions of themselves. Make the audit process one that is positive and that also gives back. When you find that someone has underperformed give them the resources to fix the problem. This can be done through written documentation, recorded documentation, or even live support and training.

Outsource your Performance Audits

While agencies can perform their own performance audits, it’s often challenging to allocate the resources and time for this task – that’s where outsourcing comes in. By outsourcing your performance audits, you can tap into the expertise and specialized knowledge of industry professionals who have in-depth experience with insurance and the agency management system you are using. They bring the necessary skills, tools, and processes to conduct comprehensive audits, ensuring accuracy and thoroughness.

Another benefit of outsourcing your performance audits is the objectivity that it brings to the process. External auditors bring an objective perspective to the process, as they are not directly involved in day-to-day operations. That objectivity enables them to assess workflows and performance without bias, identifying potential gaps or areas for improvement that may have been overlooked internally.

How Kite Technology Can Help

KiteTech has helped countless agencies over the years implement auditing programs, resulting in significant improvements in data reporting, errors and omissions claims, and employee morale.

To learn more about our auditing services, Applied Epic agencies, click here and AMS360 agencies, click here. If your agency would like assistance in developing an auditing program or configuring reports to support your processes, contact us today to schedule a conversation. We are here to help!

Laura Whaley

Agency Consultant
Kite Technology Group

Applied Epic Post-Migration: Steps for Continued Success

November 11, 2020 by Kellie Halfpap Leave a Comment

Did your agency just migrate to Applied Epic, or is in the process of migrating now? Regardless of the platform you are migrating from, transitioning your team to an entirely new system can feel daunting. If you have already completed the training provided and finished transferring your data, you now may be asking yourself, ‘What should be my next step for success?’ We’d like to offer some recommendations on additional steps that you can take to help your staff be fully prepared to utilize Applied Epic effectively and help you experience a successful migration.

Configure Epic to Fit your Agency

Before your employees start navigating Applied Epic, it is essential to configure it properly to fit your agency’s needs. This includes setting up field defaults, required vs. desired fields, folder structures, activity codes and categories, system events, tasks on activities, etc. For example, you can configure specific activity codes to only be visible to a particular department, which reduces options and ensures employees choose the code that best fits that workflow. It is imperative to configure Epic properly as soon as possible because once your employees start to use the system, changing certain settings and functions will be more challenging.

Set up Reports

Reports are a great way to track information entered in Epic. Setting up various reports ahead of time can help you audit your data to make sure information is entered correctly and moved through the different workflow stages timely. Reports can also help employees stay up to date on upcoming renewals, track new and loss business, and help you determine if information is missing on accounts (e.g., Servicing Roles, Estimated Premium/Commission, Pr/Br, and Agency Commission). Once your reports are set up, you can automate delivery to your employees and departments at a specific time or make them available in their Reports Quick View. Expiration Reports, for example, would be a great report to send to your employees’ Reports Quick View as they can refer to this report at any time to see which accounts have policies coming up for renewal.

Create & Standardize Your Workflows

To ensure that your employees clearly understand how to utilize Epic, you must create and standardize your agency workflows. Standardized workflows serve as a valuable guide your employees can follow as they learn the Epic platform and provide a reference for when they need guidance on a particular function. To ensure your workflows will work for everyone within the agency, we recommend that you have a team that includes a member from each department work together to create them.

Provide Additional Training

It is important to remember that as your agency continues to learn and grow within Applied Epic, it will be essential to continue providing additional training to your employees to develop their skills. If a workflow needs to be updated or changed, or employees are struggling to follow workflows, additional training will ensure continued growth and efficiency. You can use reports and perform audits to find possible inconsistencies with workflows and areas where additional training is needed.

Be Patient with the Process

Migrating to a new system can be stressful for both management and employees. It may be tempting to take aspects of how you used your old system and try to apply them in Epic because that is what you are used to doing. Epic has its own unique functions that are different from your old system. Your agency’s workflows are also going to be different, so it is crucial to avoid copying how you navigated your old system in Epic as it will only cause frustration in the long run. Trust the learning process and know that while Epic is an entirely different system, eventually, the workflows and structure will ‘click,’ becoming easier and more comfortable to navigate. Be patient with the process, ask questions, and refer to your workflows every step of the way.

Configuring Epic, setting up reports, standardizing workflows, and providing continued training are essential tools to implement after migration and will set your agency up for success with the Applied Epic platform. It is important to remember that learning a new system takes time, but that daunting feeling will not last forever. By managing your team’s expectations, continuing to have patience, and trusting the process, your agency will be Applied Epic pros in no time.

For help applying these practices or to learn how to utilize Applied Epic more effectively in your agency, contact us at consult@kitetechgroup.com for a free consultation.