Digital underwriting evidence continues to grow in volume and complexity. RGA’s new Digital Underwriting Evidence (DUE) Playbook provides insurers with a structured, disciplined way to match the right evidence to the right underwriting question.
In 2014, the Ohio State Buckeyes entered the first College Football Playoff with a challenge few championship teams ever face: The team was down to its third‑string quarterback. Analysts predicted confusion and erratic performance.
Yet the Buckeyes delivered a national title run marked by disciplined execution. Coaches later emphasized that the victory came from months of deliberate preparation – every player steeped in a playbook designed to withstand adversity.
When chaos erupted, the team did not have to improvise. It merely had to lean on its playbook and execute.
The digital underwriting landscape today mirrors that high‑pressure environment. New data sources emerge constantly. Evidence arrives in different formats, at different levels of granularity, and with varying degrees of specificity. Underwriters often find themselves navigating an unstructured field, where every case presents a new mix of labs, records, codes, or claims.
The question facing insurers is the same one Ohio State faced in 2014: When the field becomes unpredictable, how do you maintain discipline?
Years of research into digital underwriting evidence point to a decisive answer: the new RGA Digital Underwriting Evidence (DUE) Playbook.
Digital underwriting evidence has expanded dramatically. Clinical lab results now arrive electronically and in increasing detail. Electronic health records (EHRs) provide richer histories but with inconsistent structure. Claims data can illuminate long‑term patterns but often requires careful interpretation.
Insurers have more tools than ever to evaluate risk – and yet, paradoxically, the decision‑making environment often feels more complicated.
Research across RGA’s underwriting studies has shown that the industry is not lacking information. The challenge lies in determining what is relevant, and when and where to apply it. Without a framework, underwriters may:
In short, the problem is not data volume; the problem is data application.
RGA’s DUE Playbook was developed to bring structure and clarity to this environment. After years of examining digital evidence performance across a range of underwriting contexts – including strengths, limitations, and optimal use cases – a clear pattern emerged.
High‑quality decisions consistently depend on anchoring three elements:
Different evidence types illuminate different aspects of an applicant’s health.
Each type has distinctive strengths. Each requires careful interpretation. The playbook clarifies what each source can – and cannot – reliably answer.
Evidence is only as strong as its underlying coding systems.
LOINC, HCPCS, CPT, and ICD‑10 codes carry different levels of specificity and interpretive nuance. For example:
The DUE Playbook helps underwriters understand how coding impacts evidence usefulness and how to weigh inputs accordingly.
The most important element is fundamental: What specifically is the question the underwriter is trying to answer? This will help illuminate what evidence is best to select.
The same data point may be highly valuable for one question and irrelevant for another. A single HbA1c reading, for example, may confirm a diabetes diagnosis but may not explain disease control. A claims history can be helpful for assessing the stability of chronic conditions. In contrast, claims histories do not provide the same longitudinal view for acute impairments.
A disciplined approach aligns evidence selection to underwriting intent, not general curiosity.
When these three components align, underwriting becomes more intentional. Instead of reviewing everything, an underwriter can review what matters, supported by a framework that clarifies relevance and reduces variability.
By applying this structure, the DUE Playbook helps insurers:
Just as Ohio State’s success hinged on disciplined execution, the DUE Playbook is designed to give insurers the structure needed to thrive amid complexity.
The volume of data available to underwriters will only continue to expand. Several trends reinforce the urgency of a structured approach:
In this environment, insurers need more than data; they need a strategy.
A playbook — built on research, tested through underwriting experience, and designed for real‑world application — becomes essential.
The DUE Playbook represents the next stage of RGA’s digital underwriting work that takes the industry from insight to implementation. While previous studies explored how individual evidence types perform and interact, the playbook synthesizes these learnings into a single, practical resource.
It is not a static reference. It is designed as a living framework that evolves with the industry and with new forms of evidence.
The goal is not to prescribe every case decision but rather to guide insurers toward more focused, consistent, and informed evidence strategies.
The DUE Playbook is now available. Contact us today for a free live demonstration to explore how the framework can support your business’ underwriting workflows, evidence strategies, or automation initiatives.
