Artificial intelligence is moving fast in the claims industry, but CorVel Corp is betting that the winners will be those who embed it thoughtfully rather than chase every new trend. Sarah Scott (pictured), executive vice president of product & corporate services at CorVel, is at the center of that effort - leading the transformation of how the company manages workers' compensation claims end to end.
"We're transforming how claims and care are managed end to end by embedding AI directly into the workflows our teams use every day," Scott said. "Our goal is to give our claims and clinical professionals better tools so they can focus on advocacy, communication, and proactive intervention."
The centerpiece of CorVel's current push is CorVel Connected™, an AI-powered intelligence layer embedded within CareMC, the company's proprietary claims management platform. Rather than requiring staff to toggle between tools, CorVel Connected surfaces relevant information and actionable insights at the point of need - including AI-powered claim summarization, recommended next actions, and claim insights.
The practical impact, Scott explained, is a reduction in the administrative burden that typically slows down claims professionals. Less time gathering and piecing together information means more time on the decisions and human engagement that move claims toward resolution.
"By connecting data, clinical expertise, and workflow intelligence earlier in the process, we can help identify risks sooner, guide injured parties to the most appropriate care pathways, and help reduce delays," she said.
For insurers and employer clients, that translates to shorter claim durations, more effective medical cost management, and a better recovery experience for injured workers. As Insurance Business has reported, the workers' comp sector has increasingly looked to technology to control costs while maintaining care quality - and CorVel's approach offers a concrete model for how that can work in practice.
CorVel owns its own proprietary platform, which gives the company flexibility most third-party administrators lack. But Scott was direct about the criteria applied when external vendors are brought into the mix.
"We're not interested in adopting technology just because it's new or gaining attention in the market," she said. "Any partner we bring into the CorVel ecosystem has to have a clearly defined claims or clinical need aligned with the way our teams work today."
Integration is a non-negotiable. Technology that creates friction or disrupts existing workflows, Scott asserted, will never deliver full value regardless of how compelling it looks in a demonstration. Financial performance matters - improved claim outcomes, reduced unnecessary medical spend - but experience is weighted equally.
"Someone can bring a solution with great financial impact, but if it's going to be at the detriment of the human experience - for our injured party or for our client partners - that's not the right fit for us," she said.
For all the attention placed on the technology itself, Scott identified change management and adoption as the more significant challenge.
"The biggest challenge is not necessarily the technology," she said. "Even the most sophisticated tools will only create value if they are thoughtfully integrated into the way people work today."
CorVel's approach with CorVel Connected involves engaging users throughout the development cycle - observing actual workflows, running pilots with different staff groups, and gathering direct feedback at each stage. Post-launch, the company tracks both objective usage data and qualitative input from frontline teams.
The stakes extend beyond productivity. Claims and case management are demanding roles, and Scott pointed to a direct link between technology quality and staff retention.
"Technology really needs to support those professionals so they feel they have a sustainable work environment - that they're enjoying the work they're doing and can see that technology is genuinely helping them make better decisions," she said. "We get better retention as a result of the technology we bring to our teams."
The transformation at CorVel is driven by a cross-functional team working in close alignment with President and CEO, Michael Combs, whose directive Scott described simply: integrate AI with human engagement.
"At the forefront of everything is: how are we engaging humans, and how do we bring additional value through the technology we're adopting?" she said.
That philosophy is reflected in how CorVel Connected was built - product, development, and operational teams working together rather than in sequence. The result is a roadmap CorVel controls entirely, allowing it to bring releases to market with speed and purpose. As the company marks its 35th anniversary on Nasdaq this June, Scott sees the current moment as a continuation of that founding commitment to innovation - not a departure from it.
