Columbia Sussex

As the owner and operator of 43 hotels and resorts in 27 states and the Caribbean, Columbia Sussex Corp., has a uniquely compelling need for accurate, comprehensive and actionable claims data. Like many self-insured companies, Columbia Sussex understands the importance of tracking claims and managing their impact on the company’s cost of risk. Yet for Columbia Sussex, the importance of claims data extends beyond traditional cost-of-risk concerns and is crucial to the company’s sale, refinancing and acquisition of hotel and resort properties.

We spoke with Myra Kashner, director of Risk Management, about  the company’s decision in 2009 to select a new risk management information system (RMIS).

“The accuracy of claims data is extremely important to us,” Kashner said. “When we sell or refinance a hotel that we’ve self insured, the contract can include both the real property and all of its liabilities in one package, so the accuracy of the data is crucial. We need to be sure the claims data we turn over is accurate, because the data can make or break a sales contract in a heartbeat.”

“It was obvious right off the bat that we made the right decision. RiskConsole paid for itself in the first six months to a year just by empowering us to clean up the claims data in our system. Now, I feel confident when I look at our loss history.”

As Columbia Sussex enters its second year of using RiskConsole, Kashner reports, the system continues to pay dividends and yield returns: “I use the system every day, and every day I see value in the system. The system is simply invaluable to me.”

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