The Cost & Reality of Claim Case Handoffs

Opening a claim that’s already in progress can feel like walking into the middle of a story with no clear beginning. The notes are there, but they’re scattered. You’re left sifting  through medical and claim documents, trying to piece together a patient’s medical history, what’s been done, what’s still pending, and what’s changed since the last update. It takes time, and it’s easy to miss something.

These handoffs happen more often than people realize. Maybe the previous adjuster hit a caseload limit. Maybe the file got moved to a complex claims team. Sometimes it’s because an adjuster went on leave or left the company entirely. Roughly 51% of claims professionals say their biggest challenge is simply having too many claims to manage and lacking support. Whatever the reason, the new claims professional picking it up starts at a disadvantage, and every extra day it takes to catch up adds to delays for the claimant and financial costs for the carrier.

Why Claim Handoffs Slow Everything Down

When a case is handed off, the first thing lost is momentum. The new adjuster has to go over notes and key reports just to figure out historical treatments, history and pending processes. If a treatment update came in after the last adjuster logged out, there’s a risk it gets missed entirely. Nearly 2 in 5 health organizations report high denial rates due to incomplete or outdated records, which only adds more follow-ups and confusion.

Some teams prepare handoff claim summaries to help mitigate this loss of information, but these aren’t always consistent. Many cases exchange hands without any formal report at all. That leaves room for missed steps, repeated work, and decisions made without the full picture. Even small gaps can cause slowdowns for both the team and the claimant.

The Hidden Costs of Claim Handoffs at Scale

One slow handoff might not seem like much, but across a team or department, the impact adds up fast. Every delay pushes timelines further out, creating bottlenecks across multiple claims. If adjusters are stuck trying to get up to speed, other cases are required to wait longer, and the ripple effect touches everything from claimant satisfaction to closure rates. In the high-stakes industry of healthcare, handoff missteps impact real lives and treatments, leading to approximately $1.7 billion in malpractice claims.

Effort spent backtracking or redoing work eats into productivity and pulls adjusters away from other claims that need attention. It leaves adjusters overwhelmed and burnt out, especially when there’s ongoing pressure from rising caseloads and fewer experienced staff to go around. The more this cycle repeats, the harder it becomes to break.

How Talent Shortages Are Making Claim Handoffs Harder

The challenge with claim handoffs is only growing. More adjusters are leaving, and those who stay are juggling heavier caseloads with less support. Roughly 22% of P&C insurance professionals are projected to retire by 2026, indicating a major talent shortage wave is incoming. With so many claims professionals exiting the industry, that means additional files changing hands and fewer experienced people to manage the transition. Industry-wide turnover has climbed from around 8–9% to roughly 12–15% in 2024. With attrition expected to continue, these handoffs could become routine.

At the same time, AI adoption is rising. 67% of insurance executives expect it to reshape the industry within three years, and 80% are already increasing their AI budgets. To keep claims moving, teams need solutions that help new adjusters get up to speed promptly. Using AI solutions to summarize claim history, highlighting updates, and answering questions in plain language can ease the pressure and help prevent critical medical details from falling into the cracks.

Smarter Claim Handoffs Start with the Right Solutions

Getting up to speed on a claim shouldn’t be its own full-time job. With the right solutions, transitions can be faster, easier, and far less stressful. Custom report generation and query capabilities like WiseChat give adjusters a clearer view of the claim from day one, what’s happened, what’s next, and where things stand now.

This kind of efficiency and clarity leads to quicker claims decisioning and a better experience for claimants. The claims process is complex enough. Making handoffs smarter is one way to keep things moving in the desired direction. When the proper resources are in place, handoffs don’t have to slow teams down. They can be just another part of getting the job done smoothly.