Olivier Lafontaine:
I'm Olivier Lafontaine, and this is Life Accelerated, a podcast for life insurance leaders focused on driving meaningful change through technology, process and partnership. Digital transformation in life insurance is often viewed through the lens of technology, but the foundation of progress is just as often built through consistency, collaboration, and standards. Today I'm speaking with Yolanda Austin at ACORD with a career that spans both the carrier and standards side of the industry. Yolanda brings a rare depth of perspective on how data models, forms and structured collaboration shape the operational backbone of insurance. We'll explore the evolution of ACORD standards, the strategy behind initiatives like the electronic health records framework and standardized life application forms, and the partnerships that are making widespread adoption possible. Yolanda also shares how behavioral science and digital first design helping streamline the application process while preserving flexibility for carriers. Let's get started.
Good morning, Yolanda. It's nice to have you on the show. To start with, what we usually like to do here is to ask a little bit about yourself and what you do in your spare time or something that is dear to you, but has nothing to do with life insurance or technology. So why don't we start with that. I think you play music, but I'll let you tell us a little bit about that.
Yolanda Austin:
Well, I really aspire to play music, so I have a desire to learn to play the harp, and that is an instrument that you, I don't know anyone who plays the harp, but it's just a desire that has grown over the last year or so. So I've been on the search for a harp. I haven't found the one yet, but I've been doing, Google has been my friend, so I've been doing lots of trying to find the right heart if I want 10 string, 12 string or what have you. So that is something different that no one knows yet. Look, my husband doesn't even know about this yet, so the secret is out.
Olivier Lafontaine:
That sounds good. Maybe in our next recording we'll ask you to play a little part. We'll see how that goes.
Yolanda Austin:
That would be phenomenal. But yeah, we'll see how it goes.
Olivier Lafontaine:
Onto more serious and business, see things. You work for ACORD, but can you tell us a little bit more about your company, the history, the lines of business distribution models and things like that right?
Yolanda Austin:
Yes. So ACORD, we are a non-for-profit standardized organization. We are industry owned and we actually started back in 1970 when a group of producers had a problem and they wanted to create a standardized form, and that was on the PNC side. And so we started back in 1970 creating standards, starting on the PNC side, property and casualty with forms, and then we grew to expand to data standards. We then added additional lines of business. We added a general reinsurance large group in our London area, and then life and annuity standards came on the scene. In 1996, we received a donation from Microsoft, and then we took about three years to scrub the data and get the format in a way that we were able to present it as a standard. So it was officially published as a standard in 1999,
Olivier Lafontaine:
A donation of a sort of data model from Microsoft.
Yolanda Austin:
It was a donation that was called, was initially called OLE, and then it was published as Old Life. We actually get a lot of our standards evolve in that way. We work with our members, we work with the industry, we get donations, and then we do what we need to do to present it in a standardized format. We scrub it and we do the necessary changes. And that's basically what we did with our Life Annuity XML standards. And so we started in 1999 with our standards, we eventually added forms. And so over the years, basically what we do is we work with our industry stakeholders to facilitate the development of standards. We can't do it by ourselves. In that example with Microsoft, we received a donation and we were able to incorporate that in our standards, and that's basically how we build it. Throughout the years. We work with various carriers, solution providers, associations, distributors to develop and build out these standards.
Olivier Lafontaine:
Good stuff. And you've collaborated with associations. Have you worked with DTCC and Interstate Compact? Tell me about those types of collaborations.
Yolanda Austin:
Yes, to name a few. So with DTCC, we work with them basically on our annuity side of the house, and they actually donated several formats of their EDI standard to ACORD, and we make those available on our website. And so that's another example of where a format was donated to a court. And so we work with them on the annuity space. They're great park partners and with the interstate compact, we work with them very, very closely, and we'll be talking about them a lot more in regards to the efforts to build out the standardized life insurance applications.
Olivier Lafontaine:
Good stuff. Now, if we want to talk a little bit more about you, your story in particular, how did you start at ACORD? What did you do and the different roles you had?
Yolanda Austin:
Yeah, so that's very interesting. I actually started my journey in insurance when I was a senior in high school. So back then, I believe it was called deca, and I don't remember what it stands for, but there was a co-op program where I had the opportunity to go to school as a senior for half a day and work for the other half of the day. And so I started off at an insurance carrier for that first year. And then after that first year, I was able to post in for a full-time position starting in a mail room, which was one of the best jobs I've ever had. I worked in the mail room and it was such an amazing experience because it gave me a view of all of the departments within the insurance, and I knew I learned a lot of the names, so I knew the names of people but didn't necessarily know the faces, but it gave me a really good view of everything that is included, all of the departments that are included in the insurance carrier.
And it just piqued my interest even more. And so from the mill room, I just had various roles. I worked in employee benefits, I worked in accounting, suspense, payment processing, and I eventually got into the B2B area where I had the opportunity to work with data, with standards, with all of that. So that was very interesting to me, and that basically opened the door to working in this whole realm of data standards from a carrier side of the house. And then I had the opportunity to work with the ACORD in 2006 is when I came to ACORD and begin to work in the life annuity program, managing the various standards, working on various projects, standardizing forms and data, and really just an exciting opportunity to be able to come on the other side of the house and look at it from that perspective. That basically is how I got to ACORD, and I really love what we do. I, I absolutely love working with our various stakeholders and the various insurance carriers and so forth coming together to create something that can benefit the industry. I'd love it.
Olivier Lafontaine:
Sounds good. And while we're talking about this, why don't we link into some actual projects that have been happening, I think the life standard applications forms and the electronic health records. Can you talk a little bit about that and where that stands?
Yolanda Austin:
Absolutely. So part of what we do at ACORD, I mean the way we build out the standards is we want to solve the needs of the industry. So it all starts with when members come to us with a problem, and that's exactly what happened in the case of the Life Standard app and the electronic health records projects that we worked on. So I'll start with the EHR electronic health records. So we had a member that came to us, and this was actually a year after 2020 when everything was shut down and we had to work from home. And so that following year in 2021, a member came and said, Hey, we need to do something about EHR. We really need to find a way to create efficiencies in that process. So because we know that we have the A PS, the attending physician statements pages, long carriers have to sift through that information.
And so we wanted to find a way to streamline that underwriting process. And so that's basically what we did with EHR. And so it started off with what we wanted to do was standardize the medical underwriting inputs. And so that consisted of a PS state statement. There's the clinical records, the physicians rep records and so forth. And so what we did was we looked at existing medical standards and we sifted through all of that information. It only pulled out the information that we needed for underwriting, so the mortality based information. And so that was our first generation of this phase where we focused on looking at all of those existing standards and only out the information that the underwriters would need.
Olivier Lafontaine:
But because those records were made for billing for hospitals to bill or doctors and things like that, right. Then you wanted to only a subpart of that is necessary from an underwriting perspective.
Yolanda Austin:
Exactly. It's kind of like a needle and a haystack. There's so much information in the medical field, so much information. And so going through the process of looking and only trying to identify only that underwriting information took a little time, but we were able to accomplish that and reduce the information by 93%. So there was a reduction in the file size by 93%. And so that first generation focused on that reduction of redundant data, unnecessary data, and only identifying the underwriting information. And so then the next phase was to then take that data and put that into a standardized structure. And so that's what we did with generation two where we created next generation digital standards as the name of our JSON format. And we created those standards that can be used for APIs with the ultimate goal is to be able to feed that information into the underwriting decision engines. And so we've created that. And so now we're in our proof of concept phase where we're looking at implementers are starting to use these formats and provide us with feedback on how we can continue to evolve it and how we continue to enhance it. So that's what we did with EHR,
Olivier Lafontaine:
And that would be for the providers of health records that if they map their data to this standard, then the consumers on the insurance company side can consume it in an easier fashion and then show it to the underwriters. And now instead of carrying hundreds of pages of records and then sifting through that, now you have the electronic information that is necessary for the underwriter. Am I describing this accurately into the goal of you on point?
Yolanda Austin:
That is exactly right, because there's so many proprietary formats. I mean people, a lot of the providers kind of love and take pride in their formats, their proprietary formats, but what we're trying to do is really to make this industry more efficient. By adopting this standard, you can use this format and feed that into the underwriting engines and it'll make it easier for everyone down the value in the value chain.
Olivier Lafontaine:
And probably some AI agents also at some point who are going to be able to use. Have you had any conversations around that? Is there any interest that you've heard from any of the members in using the information with AI or we're not quite there yet.
Yolanda Austin:
There's been discussions, but we're not quite there yet. But we're continuing to take the information, the input, and right now what we're focused on is that proof of concept. We were looking to see if we need to go through and identify more risk factors. We looked at the key 200 risk factors, or yeah, I'm pretty sure it's the medical risk factors. We looked at those and we incorporated those into the standard, and so we're looking at if we need to identify E even more. But yeah, AI comes up everywhere you go. I was at a bridal shower and AI came up at a bridal shower that I attended, who knew? So yeah, AI is all over the place, and we're definitely considering that as well
Olivier Lafontaine:
As the standard exists and you carry the data, it just makes it a little easier, I would think. For us at EOF, for example, we have some systems that present underwriting data to the underwriter, but then if you use your AI agent to sort of format the data or try to extract the information, there's still all sorts of legal and data privacy and all sorts of considerations to sort out. But it's an interesting point in history, I suppose, for all of that. And ACORD doing or creating new standards will certainly make that at least technologically possible. We'll see if the regulatory bodies agree with that over the next couple of years.
Yolanda Austin:
Yes, and Indeed.
Olivier Lafontaine:
And what about the ACORD standard application forms? Tell me a bit about that project.
Yolanda Austin:
So that particular project started in the same fashion that we had a member come to us and wanted to create a standardized app, and it was a distribution partner. And from a distributor perspective, the frustration lies with trying to work with all of the different carrier applications. Every carrier has a different application, then the application have various nuances about them that a producer has to learn, oh, you wanted to find a way to create a standardized application that couldn't be used by all of the carriers. And so what we did was we identified the problem statement, we identified all of the stakeholders that needed to be involved. He started with his carrier partners. And one of the challenges that we had initially was getting the carriers to grasp the idea to get on board, but we were able to overcome that because after talking to the various carriers and doing that initial outreach, they were able to see the value in having a standardized form, standardized data structures to help in this particular process.
And so we were able to overcome that. And so with the Standardized Life app, our goal was to not only create a standardized life app, but to create a suite of forms that would include the supplemental forms like the aviation rock and mountain climbing, the medical, we have the part one, the part two, the snowmobile racing. So we've included all of those various supplemental forms as well as reflexive questions. We wanted to design the questions in a way that elicit the best response. So we incorporated behavior science. We had a behavior scientist that was involved to help us in our question designing process. We worked with all of these various carriers and we were seeing that questions were asked the same question but was asked in various ways. Question one carrier may have a tell us your medical history or if something has happened in the last five years, one carrier may want to know a tenure duration mean.
So there were a lot of different variations of questions. And the great thing about this is that we were able to work with the insurance interstate compact. The insurance Interstate compact is an entity where all of the carriers file their forms through. And so the insurance interstate compact has 48 member jurisdictions that are part of them. And so when you file with the interstate compact, you're filing with all 48 jurisdictions. And so we worked very, very closely with them throughout this whole process because as we were identifying the questions and as we were seeing the different variations of questions, we wanted to work with them to make sure that we met their guidelines and their requirements and to find a way to build in optionality. And through that process, we were able to incorporate what we refer to as bracketed questions on the application. So anything that is bracketed means that there are options available. The question is asked in more than one way. So the carriers have the ability to pick and choose what works for them,
Olivier Lafontaine:
And it's kind of pre-approved with the interstate compact, even if they choose their option. So they have some leeway. Because I was going to ask, it is somewhat surprising that insurance companies would find a way to agree on underwriting questions, I suppose, or questions that relate to underwriting, even though from an external perspective, it looks like they're all the same. But I know that the medical directors and actuaries are very particular about their questions sometimes, but that must've been quite a bit of work to get them to at least agree on some level of commonality in some options.
Yolanda Austin:
It took a lot of back and forth. And from an interstate compact perspective, the correct wording would be more pre-cleared as opposed to pre-approved because so when carriers file the form, the ACORD forms are pre-cleared by the insurance compact. So they've reviewed all of the forms and they approved them from the standpoint that they're cleared to be used by the carriers to file. And so carriers will then still need to go through the ACORD form and identify, okay, which questions am I going to use? And so once they identify that and they file that then, and also a benefit to when carriers use the ACORD form is automatically expedited. It goes through the interstate compacts expedited process. So rather than waiting weeks for an approval, it's days. So it's a faster approval process when they use the ACORD form.
Olivier Lafontaine:
So there's a bit of a carrot to convince them to at least try that standard form, what makes it a little easier for everyone, less work and stuff. So that's probably what is convincing them to try and work together a little bit. Right,
Yolanda Austin:
Exactly. And when we were developing this form, we refer to it as a digital first perspective because we wanted to create the forms that could be used in a digitized way because not only are we creating forum, we're creating data structures. And so it's not just about adopting the forum, but it's also about adopting the data, the standardized data, the standardized questions that can be used in the carrier's process. And that would make it consistent throughout the whole process where producers don't have to have different applications, different questions, what have you, is all standard.
Olivier Lafontaine:
That's amazing. And I can imagine that as this. So what's the status of the forms at this point of the project? Are you done? Is this an ongoing effort? How would you characterize that? So
Yolanda Austin:
The interstate compact issued their pre-clearance of the forms back in October of 2024. And so that's when we started announcing and publicized sizing this. And so right now we're very much so in the advocacy phase. So we have an ACORD light distribution advocacy group, which is a group of key distributors. We're working with them. And that particular group has identified a list of carriers that basically work in the distribution phase segment, the carriers that work with the various distributors to sell their products. And so we're meeting with the various carriers to talk about the forms, to talk about the benefits of adopting, to get them to add it to their roadmap. And those meetings have been going very, very well. And so that's where we are there is really trying to get carriers to adopt spreading the word. And carriers are very, very receptive. There's been some very good progress made there.
And we're continuing to go meet with carriers probably the next month, two or three before we're done with meeting with all of the carriers and trying to identify those carriers that will be adding this project to their roadmap. And I think there's already two that have already added it to their roadmap for 2026. So we're making very good progress there. Also, the other thing is that of the carriers that we've spoken with, we've asked them, look, take a look at these forms. Is there anything that we've missed? Is there anything that we need to streamline even more? And so that we can get that feedback because we know we didn't get everything right. And so we want to continue to streamline and update the forms as we need to. And
Olivier Lafontaine:
I assume there's a point where software vendors of electronic applications will also start paying attention or modifying their solutions or offering solutions to make this process easier to transition to the new form. So it's exciting for the industry, obviously. So that's great. It's
Yolanda Austin:
Very, very exciting. And that has come up in the various conversations that we've been having as well. It's a very exciting time. We're very excited about where we are in this journey and excited to continue to move the industry forward, and we'll be very interested to see where we are next year from now and the adoption of these forms.
Olivier Lafontaine:
Speaking of which, so if we want to talk about a little bit of what's next for a core in our preparation sessions. You talked a little bit about e labels, I think. Do you want to talk about this a little bit?
Yolanda Austin:
And this is very, very timely. So I think within the past week we just released the fillable versions of these forms and the E-form version, so the fillable version, and where the E label comes in is that all of the fields on these forms have all been labeled, which is basically a standardized data tag. And so with that, we've been able to create a fillable version of each of these forms, which the fillable version is basically a static PDF that allows you to fill in the data or the fields, but there's no other functionality built in with that. Whereas with the E-forms, not only are you able to fill in the data, but you're able to extract it, you're able to do some calculations and so forth. There's some data validation that is a part of that as well. And so we just release those versions of the forms so that carriers and solution providers, the industry can implement that as well. And we've also mapped all of our forms to our next generation digital standards, JSON format. So that means that you're able to create APIs from the same function. So we're trying to ensure that our standards, that we are able to align them, that we're able to build that pathway from one standard to the next.
Olivier Lafontaine:
That sounds good. So what's the next step on EHR? What's the status? We talked about it a little bit, but what's the next step?
Yolanda Austin:
Yeah, so with our electronic health records, basically we're still in our proof of concept phase, and we're working with our members to continue to test that out, to see what we need to enhance, what needs to change, and what our next direction and focus is going to be. So we're very much in the process of that PLC, but what we've also done with electronic health records, because there's so many data providers, data providers that just focus on maybe the A PS, they take the a PS and then they create the data structures for that or they summarize it. And so we wanted to make sure that we have a membership that would be able to appeal to those smaller tech providers as well. And so we created a very special EHR membership specifically for those smaller solution providers so that we can ensure that the standards are available for everyone.
Typically are membership, like you have a life and annuity membership. It includes the XML, it includes the NGDS format, but we've heard from our members and from the industry and we've listened. And so now we've created this very small subset of be in GDS that only includes the EHR user stories that were created specifically for this purpose. And so you can get a membership where you have that and you can continue to build out using standards. That's kind of where we are with EHR is continuing to evolve and we're continuing to get more members more interest. It's growing. It is been really great to see the response as we talk to different vendors and different stakeholders within the industry.
Olivier Lafontaine:
That sounds great. I think that's going to be a wrap for today. I'm going to be looking forward to the HARP concert for next time. But Yolanda, thank you very much for your time. It is very interesting. It was a bit different than other presentations. Sometimes we have people talk about very high level business concepts, but it's nice sometimes to have a different angle and ACORD and standards are really important for the industry. So it's good to hear it from the field a little bit what's happening and from people that are fighting the battle, I guess. So thank you very much.
Yolanda Austin:
Absolutely. And I appreciate the opportunity. It's been a pleasure talking with you, Olivier, and I hope to be able to wow your socks off with my heart playing skills the next small we connect.
Olivier Lafontaine:
Sounds good. Thank you.
Olivier Lafontaine:
Yolanda provided a clear view into what it takes to move an industry forward through shared standards. Her work demonstrates that transformation doesn't happen in isolation. It requires alignment across stakeholders, structured problem solving, and a commitment to practical implementation. One of the most important takeaways from today's conversation is the value of consistency, whether it's in how the data is structured, or how forms are designed, standardization can reduce friction, improve efficiency, and lay the ground work for future innovation, including the use of AI. Thank you for listening.
