Benchmarking is used to obtain performance measurements as a way to identify areas of opportunity and as a method to judge claim handling results or loss control initiatives. This statistical analysis is useful in answering a number of questions facing risk managers today, such as:

• How do our claim outcomes compare to other programs?
• Is the increase in claims severity in line with similar trends industry-wide?
• Is the trend observed in our data also emerging in the industry?

As a value-added service to our clients, RSG has access to databases that are built from claim data supplied by a consortium of companies that include insurance companies, third party administrators, and self-insured programs. This provides RSG the ability to view claims losses through a variety of different data elements and the added dimension of qualified analysis against an "industry pool" of comparable data. The databases are updated periodically so comparisons are always based on current costs and claim handling practices.