What's New in 11.1
The release of OIPA 11.1.0.0 includes the below enhanced features in the Rules Palette and OIPA application:
Workflow Task Management - A New Feature
OIPA is enhanced with a Workflow feature that records manual intervention tasks generated from autonomous processes or manually added to policies or clients. Tasks are organized into queues to which users of specific roles may access. Tasks are worked by users to correct activities, policies, applications and fulfill requirements. This feature includes the following capabilities:
Role Specific Workflow Queues and Tasks
This feature supports two types of Workflow Queues, a generic queue and multiple business queues created for specific business purposes.
- A generic queue includes tasks from multiple business specific queues. This allows a team view of all tasks from a set of business specific queues under a Manager’s / Supervisor’s purview and allows the Manager / Supervisor to assign tasks to team members.
- Business queues include tasks only for the queue and those that are assigned to the logged in user. The customer may define and name as many queues as suits their requirements. Examples of these queues are Supervisor Review, Underwriter, Customer Service, Claims Supervisor Review, Claims, etc.
Workflow User
This is a page in OIPA that allows the logged in user to assign any user to Workflow roles. A single user may be associated to multiple Workflow roles. In Palette each Workflow role may be associated to multiple queues. These sets of associations allow a user access to multiple queues. Each user or team can be defined with a unique set of responsibilities. Users have access to Workflow tasks because of their eventual association to the queues.
Workflow Task History
An option on a General Workflow and business specific queue rows provides the ability to access workflow task history.
- Workflow Task History is modeled after OIPA’s history functionality.
- When a Workflow task is created automatically, a history record is created with OperationCode of "System Add" in AsWorkflowhistory table.
- When a Workflow task is created manually, a history record is created with OperationCode of "Add" in AsWorkflowhistory table.
- Every data change is recorded in history with OperationCode of "Update" whether the task is created either manually or automatically.
Workflow System Property
The Workflow feature has a system property with values (Yes, No) to turn the feature ON or OFF. By default, the feature is turned OFF when the property does not exist. When the feature is turned ON:
- The Workflow queues, the Workflow tab on the Home page and the Workflow Widget Preferences are available to the User with the appropriate configuration.
- The Add Workflow Task is available for the Policy and Client contexts.
- Workflow task creation and closure functionality will execute with the appropriate configuration.
- When the feature is turned OFF, Workflow task functionality does not execute and Workflow visuals (pages, widgets, links) are not visible.
Automated Workflow Task Generation
Activity Execution Errors
- A Workflow task may be generated in OIPA when there are Errors generated with any attempt to execute Policy level activities either by Cycle, Data Intake or AsFile.
- OIPA supports generating Error Specific Workflow tasks based on the conditions configured in the ValidateExpressions.
- A single Workflow task may be generated by the activity upon generation of any number of business errors (i.e. the system can be configured to generate one Workflow per activity no matter any number of errors generated from ValidateExpressions rule). Also, it can be configured to generate a separate Workflow record for any of the errors (for each error) from ValidateExpressions in an activity.
Activity Requirement Generation
- Workflow tasks may be generated for each Policy level activity at the time of activity processing.
- For each activity requirement a unique Workflow task may be created. Successive attempts to execute the activity may generate new activity requirements and new associated Workflow tasks.
- GeneratePendingRequirements rule provides definition for the conditions that generate one or more requirements for the Policy level activities. The rule contains configuration syntax to associate an activity requirement to a Workflow task type with the element of <WorkflowTask>.
Policy Requirement Generation
- Workflow tasks for Policy and Policy Client requirements can be generated when execution of the AddRequirements rule is completed on Policy level activities.
- Policy and Policy Client requirements may be added to a policy manually from a Policy context Requirement screen. If the requirement has a defined association to a workflow task, that task will be generated as the Requirement is generated.
- A Requirement will also generate a Workflow task when the RequirementDefinition has a <WorkflowTask> element naming a Workflow task type.
Manual Workflow Task Generation
When a user is associated to at least one Workflow role, the user is allowed to generate Workflow tasks manually on the Policy and Client using "Add Workflow Task" link presented on the left side navigation of policy and client.
Workflow Instance Data
Any method of Workflow task creation persists Workflow Task Data. It includes, Submitted Date, Task Type, Queue, Status, Assigned User, Entity, Entity Id, etc.
Workflow Task Processing
Any Workflow task processing in OIPA is based on the following:
- A Workflow Task Type is associated to one queue.
- Each Queue is associated to one or more Task types.
- A Queue may be associated to one or more Workflow Roles.
- Each Workflow Role is associated to one or more Queues.
- The User is associated to one or more Workflow roles.
Workflow Widgets on the OIPA Dashboard
The generic queue and business specific queues are presented in Workflow widgets on a new Workflow tab sitting on the Dashboard Landing page. This is presented when the user has access to at least one of the Workflow queues and Workflow functionality is turned on.
- Open Workflow tasks assigned to the User are presented in business specific Workflow widgets which represent queues.
- Each row of these Widgets represents a task, which provides users the ability to click and navigate to the associated entity (Policy, Client, Requirement, Policy Activity).
- A General Workflow widget lists all Open Workflow tasks associated to multiple queues accessible to the user.
Workflow Task Assignment and Editing
The user has the ability to Edit the Workflow Queue items. Editing allows the user to Close the task, Assign or Re-assign the task to users, Change the task type and Add comments. Workflow task history will capture these updates made to the task.
Workflow Task Closure
Any Workflow task in OIPA can be closed by a user manually or by the system automatically by updating the task’s "Status" value to "Closed". The status is updated only when:
- Workflow tasks associated to activity errors are no longer generated by the activity.
- Activities with associated errors and Workflow tasks become active.
- Activity requirements of associated Workflow is Fulfilled, Waived or Canceled.
- An activity becomes active (activity status = '01' or '14') all Workflow tasks associated to the activity and its errors are closed.
- An activity is deleted, all Workflow tasks associated to the activity's errors and requirements will be closed automatically.
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Workflow tasks generated from policy and policy client level requirements, “Transition” is executed in the Requirements BR.
User Preferences
A new "Workflow Preferences" page is added in OIPA which allows the user to set preferences under the Workflow tab. The page is accessible when the Workflow feature System Property is "turned ON" and the user has access to at least one Workflow queue.
- The Workflow tab can be made the default landing page when the Home button is pressed.
- The user may select which of the queues are presented in the Workflow tab. By default all will be presented.
- The user may rearrange the order of the queues presented in the Workflow tab. The default order is the General Workflow widget followed by an alphabetical queue name order.
Business Rules Changes | Database Table Changes |
Modified Rules:
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New Tables Added:
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Enhanced Features in 11.1
The release of OIPA 11.1.0.0 includes the below enhanced features in the Rules Palette and OIPA application:
Group Customer Typecode Enhancement
The GroupCustomerScreen business rule is enhanced to allow the configuration of Client types other than '20'. With this restriction removal, now the Type drop down of Group Customer screen in OIPA displays the Client types as configured in the screen rule.
Business Rule Changes | Database Table Changes |
Modified Rules:
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N/A |
Enhancements to Agreement
- Agreement Screen: The Agreement Screen is enhanced such that it displays an Agreement Type in the tabs only when an agreement of that type has been added by the user.
- Ability to Link or Copy Plans in Agreement Screen: This enhancement adds the ability to link an Agreement to a Plan that exists under another Group Customer or a user can Copy a plan from another Group Customer. It supports the Worksite plans.
Business Rule Changes | Database Table Changes |
Modified Rules:
New Rules Added:
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Tables Modified:
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DataIntake Enhancement
This enhancement implements the Multithreading & Sequential message processing in Data Intake. With this enhancement OIPA now is able to:
- address the performance issue on a single DI instance.
- support DI on a clustered multi instance environment.
- ensure the sequential order of message processing.