RIMS looks to the future Incoming president stresses QIP and ERM as major agenda items By Michael J. Moody, MBA, ARM
The Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) is a not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to advancing the practice of risk management worldwide. The organization represents nearly 3,800 industrial, service, nonprofit, charitable and governmental entities and more than 9,500 risk management professionals from the associated member companies. RIMS has been providing a variety of educational and networking opportunities to its members since 1950. Its primary educational and networking event, the annual conference, is scheduled this year for the week of April 24 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Among all of the events that are scheduled during the week, the annual conference marks the changing of the guard for RIMS national officers. And this year, Michael Liebowitz will assume the RIMS presidency. Liebowitz is the director of risk management at the Bridgeport Hospital and Healthcare Services in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He has been a RIMS member since 1988, having served on the national board of directors for the past few years as well as serving as president of the Fairfield/Westchester chapter for the past five years. Typically, incoming presidents set the tone for their administration and the direction for RIMS involvement during their acceptance speech. However, Liebowitz shared some thoughts with Rough Notes on the agenda he will be proposing. Quality improvement process
One of his two major agenda items is a commitment to RIMS’ Quality Improvement Process (QIP). This has been a major initiative that RIMS started several years ago and continues to build on. However, Liebowitz wants to make certain that people realize that this effort “does not have anything to do with brokers compensation or the recent legal actions that have taken place in the insurance industry.” The QIP effort has been ongoing for a number of years and is now finally ready to go primetime. So what is QIP? According to Liebowitz, “It’s about service principles.” In simple terms, he says, “When you go out and purchase an insurance policy, you should expect your carrier and broker to have that policy in your hands in 30 days.” In order to promote the quality concept, RIMS has developed a series of QIP partnership tools. These tools include sample templates and worksheets that are designed to provide a framework for the user to begin choosing guidelines as well as developing associated metrics. An important aspect of the tools is the Guidelines for Performance Expectations. Thus far, RIMS has prepared guidelines for relationships with brokers, carriers, claims service providers, and safety and loss control providers. It is important to note that the guidelines are not intended to be unwavering standards, but rather set methods that can be used to negotiate terms for service agreements with various industry partners. Liebowitz says that improvements are already occurring. “Carriers, for example, can get policies out in 30 days. However, they can’t do it consistently, across all lines of coverage,” he notes. What RIMS is trying to do is get the insurance industry; brokers, carriers, and risk managers to come together, “so we can achieve these guiding principles. We need this to get to the next level,” says Liebowitz. Enterprise risk management Liebowitz’s second agenda item is the advancement of enterprise risk management (ERM) to the RIMS membership. “RIMS is not going to take a position as to whether the COSO standard, the Australian framework, or any other standard is correct for a specific organization,” Liebowitz states. He points out, “We are not going to say which standards are right for you. There are just too many variables to do this.” Rather, RIMS is going to encourage the formation of an “ERM Community” by providing educational and networking opportunities for their members. According to Liebowitz, since they cannot prescribe a single program due to the many variables, they have decided to “be a conduit and a receptor for all the important ERM information.” An e-mail survey of RIMS members in 2005 found broad interest in ERM and, as a result, RIMS launched its ERM Center of Excellence late last year. In addition, RIMS has put one of its national board members in charge of the ERM program. Further evidence of the commitment to ERM is the annual conference program. This year, RIMS has a separate track for ERM with a number of sessions on the topic. Among the activities that RIMS will be undertaking is the accumulation of various ERM tools that can provide the nucleus of an ERM program. The organization has adopted ERM as one of its guiding pillars and will continue to dedicate resources to this movement. Liebowitz says, “We will continue to ramp up our educational efforts to support ERM.” There is a tremendous need for education right now, he says, noting that all of RIMS’ previous educational offerings on the subject have been sold out. “We know that there is a want and a need, and we will provide it for our members. “What is clear,” says Liebowitz, “is that we must evolve past our traditional silos, beyond just insurance buying.” He goes on to say that, “RIMS has to be headed in that direction because the profession is headed in that direction.” On to Hawaii Certainly having this year’s conference in Hawaii has been somewhat controversial. Liebowitz says, “Lots of people have been outspoken about this venue.” Despite this, RIMS believes the conference will be a success. He notes, “We are not the only national association to come to Hawaii for a conference.” And he points out, “It’s typically a conference destination which usually draws high or record-breaking attendance.” Further, RIMS feels strongly about the location as a bridge to the Pacific Rim. With active chapters in Japan and Australia, RIMS believes it will be able to attract new attendees from this region. Next year’s annual conference is scheduled for New Orleans. This has also raised some questions. To help clarify RIMS’ position, Liebowitz says, “We are still going to New Orleans.” He points out, “We have done our homework over the last few months and have made a commitment to New Orleans, to support that community in 2007.” Liebowitz has set an ambitious agenda for 2006, but it appears that he is well aware of the task at hand. And with the support of a strong board, he should be up to the challenge. * |
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