Description: Lillian Dittrick’s strategic analytics team at UnityPoint Health® has developed an application to automatically cull unstructured doctors’ notes in electronic medical records. Dittrick’s team is part of a strategic analytics department that did not exist three years ago. UnityPoint Health®, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit health systems, has assembled a team of people who use advanced analytics to build more complete patient risk stratification models by mining claims, clinical and social determinant data in new ways.

Description: Career changes typically follow a major milestone—a promotion, a job offer, a new degree, maybe a cross-country move. For Patrick Getzen, exposure to some new perspectives ignited a shift.

Description: The new chairperson of the SOA's PAF section, Anders Larson, discusses the variety of ways in which the section helps actuaries learn about PAF.

Description: We provide a possible solution to deal with the parameter estimation of mortality models when the population size is small, based on graduation methods.

Description: This e-book contains topical essays that express the opinions and thoughts of a number of authors on the subject. It should be understood that the thoughts and insights shared herein are the opinion of the authors and not necessarily those of the Society of Actuaries, the Casualty Actuarial Society, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, or corresponding employers of the essayists.

Description: Exploration of sources of volatility in retiree health valuations, noting how volatility arises and might be mitigated, with discussion of valuation parameters more problematic for retiree health benefits than for pensions. Three significant influences on retiree health valuation volatility are covered-- changes in benefit level, fluctuations in cost level, and alterations in eligibility for, or duration of, benefit – and attention focused on the last two. Specific conclusions result in recommendations, which are supported by practical examples contrasting volatile measurement results with those likely from the recommended practices. Theoretical discussion includes health claim variation, health trend usage, financial economics, option pricing, discount rates, and deterministic vs. stochastic modeling.

Description: An update on HMO market trends and reinsurance products, and services supporting them.

Description: Feature article discussing what’s to transpire at the upcoming Canadian reinsurers industry meeting.

Description: The April 2016 Issue of The Modeling Platform

Description: November 2017 issue of The Modeling Platform by the Modeling Section. Practical information for actuaries, trends that impact section, section activities.