The COVID-19 crisis is challenging businesses in our state in ways that are unique in our lifetimes. That's why we're focused on helping our policyholders and injured workers in every way we can. Over the last several weeks, we've taken a number of actions to provide support for our fellow Californians:
We've worked very hard over the past several years to put ourselves in a position where we can make a real difference for our customers by taking these kinds of actions. But getting here didn't happen overnight. I'd like to share with you now more about what we accomplished last year and how it has helped prepare us for today's challenges.
In 2019, we launched new technologies, we made it easier for our policyholders to do business with us, and we continued to strengthen our finances. Here's a recap of a few of the projects we focused on last year and how they have progressed:
We launched our new online quote and bind system for small businesses and already thousands of policyholders have bound coverage with us online. For the first time, our customers are able to find the coverage they need at any time that's convenient for them, including at night and on weekends. Simply put, we've made it easier for small businesses to work with us.
By improving some of our core policy servicing technology, we also made it easier for brokers to get quotes and bind coverage electronically, and we're spending a significant amount of time this year improving the services our brokers rely on even more.
We launched a virtual assistant that allows our customers to get quick answers to their questions about claims, medical bills, and more by chatting online. And if a customer needs more information than they can get via the virtual assistant, they can simply click a button to connect with an agent. So far, the assistant has helped thousands of customers get answers to their questions and they have told us they are very satisfied with the experience.
UR Connected—a revolutionary new technology that allows medical providers to receive real-time approvals for medical treatment—is being used by nearly 40 providers. We'll be introducing this technology to many more providers this year and we hope to see expanded adoption of this type of technology throughout the industry over time.
We rolled out telehealth services to make it easier for patients in rural areas to access high-quality medical care while reducing the time and costs associated with traveling to a doctor's office.
As a not-for-profit organization, we exist solely to help our customers succeed and our injured workers recover. Since 2012, we've reduced our average charged rate by over 40%—about twice as much as the rest of the industry over that period. At the same time, our operational improvements in areas such as claims and underwriting, along with our solid investment performance, allowed us to declare $160 million in dividends in 2019.
We are as strong financially as we have ever been in my tenure at State Fund. Here are the 2019 financial highlights that are described in detail in this report:
State Fund has supported California's entrepreneurial spirit and played a vital role in the state's economy for more than 100 years. By innovating in areas such as workplace safety and injured worker care, we're committed to serving California for the next 100 as well.
Sincerely,
Vern Steiner