Client: City of Scottsdale Challenge: Manage claims for all city departments and track claims for damage by motorists to city property in a fast-growing city Solution: CSC’s RISKMASTER to provide a central system for claims management Results: Supported city risk management program through three waves of technology, tracked all events on one system and created specialized reports for multiple departments Want More Information? Learn more about CSC's Risk Management Software or contact us. Download the full case study (PDF) below. Download the file

Long known as “The West’s Most Western Town,” the city of Scottsdale has grown rapidly over the last 30 years to become an Arizona hub for tourism, fine art and high-tech industry. Located on the outskirts of Phoenix, Scottsdale is home to nearly 230,000 residents and the city’s population grew an astounding 70 percent between 1990 and 2004.

Nearly 2,500 employees provide a full range of city services to support that growth. And to help control insurance costs, the city’s risk management department self insures for a variety
of risks — from auto accidents involving city vehicles to workers’ compensation claims.

Two Decades with RISKMASTER
Since 1987, Scottsdale has used CSC’s RISKMASTER as its central database
for claims. RISKMASTER manages all workers’ compensation, auto and general liability claims against the city.

“We started with the DOS version of RISKMASTER in the 1980s and upgraded to the client/server version in the ’90s,” said Raudel Castanon, a city financial services technician who serves as system administrator. “We’re excited about the new version, RISKMASTER X. It will definitely make my job easier since I am the person responsible for upgrading the client system on every computer. When we move to a Web-based version, all I will need to do is update the server, and all users will have access to the newest version automatically.”

Tracking Events for City Departments
RISKMASTER manages claims for all city departments, including police, fire, utilities, recreation and solid waste. It also helps keep track of claims for damage by motorists to
city property such as fire hydrants, road signs and landscaping. The department relies on police to file reports on the damages and uses RISKMASTER’s event tracking feature to document each incident.

“We start everything as an event because from one event, you may have five claims,” Castanon said. “RISKMASTER helps our claims adjusters keep track of the subrogation process. We use the system’s supplemental fields to capture the date the letter was sent to an individual and the amount of the damage. The auto diary lets the adjuster know when 30 days have gone by, and if we haven’t heard from that person, the adjuster can forward the claim to the insurance company or, if the person doesn’t have insurance, to the court system.”

Advanced Reporting System
The system also handles workers’ compensation claims filed by city employees. In 2005, Scottsdale added a new department for fire protection to replace a longstanding rural fire
district supported by an agreement with the city of Phoenix. Most of the firefighters were hired from the old fire district, and RISKMASTER was used to help process the applications
and document firefighter training.

“RISKMASTER has numerous things to offer, and it has helped us out in many ways,” Castanon said. “We use it to create weekly reports for city departments to help them spot loss trends and use that information to develop safety programs. For example, when we see an increase in workers’ compensation claims for repetitive motion injuries, we can hold training classes with employees to help prevent those types of injuries.”