SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - May 10, 2016) - Mitchell, a leading provider of technology, connectivity and information solutions to the Property & Casualty (P&C) insurance industry and their supply chain partners, today released its Industry Trends Report (ITR) for the second quarter of 2016.

In this edition, Alex Sun, Mitchell's President and CEO, weighs in on the company's 70^th anniversary milestone with past, present and future insights. Experts also discuss the key takeaways of an incremental claims distribution and highlight the issues facing the workers' compensation industry of physicians dispensing opioids and opioid abuse.

Celebrating 70 Years of Empowering Better Outcomes

As Mitchell celebrates its 70^th anniversary, Alex Sun gives ITR readers an exclusive glimpse into the company's roots, current state and future plans, in addition to noting P&C trends that are currently top-of-mind. Sun reflects on how Mitchell has changed over the years and explores what's to come, while always remaining true to the company's guiding principle of empowering better outcomes for its customers.

Sun will share his thoughts on impactful industry trends that he's identified in next quarter's issue.

The Auto Physical Damage Edition

Greg Horn, Vice President of Industry Relations at Mitchell, demonstrates the importance of observing where claims fall on a natural distribution curve to glean key industry insights. For example, in today's claims industry, more than 50 percent of claims have a gross severity of under $2,500. Keeping that dollar amount in mind, claims managers can explore the most cost-effective and accurate ways to process claims. Horn details a few of the business areas exposed when analyzing claims distribution, including the performance of direct repair shops, staff, independent appraisers and overall operational efficiency.

Horn will provide a deeper look into the findings, information and trends highlighted in this quarter's ITR during Mitchell's webinar, "Industry Trends Live," on June 16, 2016. To sign up for the webinar, visit go.mitchell.com/register.

The Casualty Edition

While the industry-wide trends of physician dispensing of opioids and opioid abuse are not new to the workers' compensation pharmacy world, they remain top-of-mind as the industry looks to mitigate the challenges associated with them. To better understand these trends Mitch Freeman, Chief Clinical Officer at Mitchell, provides a comprehensive overview of physician dispensing of opioids and opioid abuse noting key legislation, regulation and background details that have played a role in creating these challenging problems facing the industry.

In addition to detailing the historical context for both issues, Freeman offers recommended best practices, including leveraging data, communication and effective programs, to successfully prevent, manage and solve these two drug therapy issues. At their core, both physician dispensing of opioids and opioid abuse stem from positive intentions, however, unintended consequences can be alarming. Fortunately, via communication, visibility into all aspects of claim data and necessary programs to intervene in the claim, both issues can be managed successfully.

First published in April 2001, Mitchell's ITR now reaches more than 33,000 collision and casualty industry professionals and provides meaningful visibility into data-driven trends in the P&C market. The complete report is available at www.mitchell.com/industry-trends-report.

For further collision repair and property casualty industry updates and perspectives, follow Mitchell on Twitter @Mitchell_Intl, @MitchellClaims, @MitchellPBM and @MitchellRepair and LinkedIn.

About Mitchell International
Headquartered in San Diego, California, Mitchell International, Inc. is celebrating its 70th year of enabling better business outcomes for its customers in the Property & Casualty insurance industry. Mitchell delivers smart technology solutions that simplify and accelerate claims handling processes, driving more accurate, consistent, and cost-effective resolutions. Mitchell integrates deep industry expertise into workflow solutions, which provide unparalleled access to data, advanced analytics and decision support tools. Mitchell's comprehensive solution portfolio and robust SaaS infrastructure connect its customers in ways that enable tens of millions of electronic transactions to be processed each month for more than 300 insurance companies and over 30,000 collision repair facilities across the Americas and Europe. For more information, please visit http://www.mitchell.com/