Knowledge Management System for Service Providers at the National Insurance Institute
- Herzel Israeli
- Jan 1, 2008
- 3 min read
The National Insurance Institute was established to provide residents of the State of Israel with a safety net against economic and social risks. The organization serves millions of citizens on a wide range of issues.
Service providers in branches, counters, and call centers are at the forefront of the organization's service to its insured members. They affect the quality of service and, consequently, the institute's image.
In recent years, many efforts have been made to improve the service provided to the insured. This is an ongoing effort in an area that is constantly subject to criticism.
A service provider at the National Insurance Institute deals with numerous and diverse inquiries, which they must handle under time pressure. Their decisions are based on an extensive system of laws, regulations, and procedures that are frequently updated.
Currently, the knowledge required by service providers in their work comes from various sources: knowledge in their heads, circulars, websites, computer systems, and more. The information overload, frequency of updates, and multiple sources affect the quality of service provided and require a comprehensive solution.
As part of efforts to improve the level of service, a decision was made to establish a central information repository for service providers: an information and knowledge management system.
As the head of the Knowledge Management Division at the National Insurance Institute, managers and I face a dual challenge - information overload and complexity on one hand and technological complexity on the other. As I mentioned, service providers rely on many different information sources when making decisions, and these information sources are updated frequently. Equally important is that each "case" represents a person's circumstances and life story. All these constitute one challenge, significant as it may be. The second challenge is the need to rely on up-to-date technological information from operational and service systems.
From our perspective, the goals of the information and knowledge management system are to maximize the insured's rights during service, create uniformity in the information provided, improve the quality of response and the level of professionalism of the service provider, and increase the reliability of information.
Additionally, it is important that the system allows access to professional information that complements existing information systems and data, shortens waiting time and service duration, and creates a situation where all required information is provided, as much as possible, at one station (one stop shop). To this end, the information in the system must be concise, processed, up-to-date, and linked to the organization's operational systems.
The chosen solution requires establishing an "information management" team. The intention is to have content experts from branches and headquarters who continuously input information items into an SPS-based technological system.
Presenting the project to managers at headquarters and branches has elicited positive responses. Continuous transparency, consultation, and collaboration achieve the required cooperation between different entities, including IT personnel.
It is clear to all involved that the "Management System" will represent a significant leap forward for the National Insurance Institute in terms of service and help achieve the central strategic goal of improving it.
ROM Company consultants support this complex process, which includes selecting the type of solution, characterizing the system, and managing the cultural process accompanying the move. The consultants bring with them practical experience from other service-providing organizations.
This is a long process that requires investment of resources and efforts. Still, I am confident that, beyond the professional challenge and great interest, the return that will be received from it is important and worthwhile for both the insured and the organization.
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