A buying spree in the past year has added a range of services for Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. that the company believes have bolstered its offerings, President and CEO David North said.

The Memphis, Tenn.-based third-party administrator acquired key competitors in the past year, including Specialty Risk Services L.L.C. and Cambridge Integrated Services Group Inc., as well as investigative service provider Factual Photo Inc.

Those deals have allowed Sedgwick to build on its suite of claims management capabilities, including workers compensation investigations, structured settlements and Medicare compliance.

Its focus on providing top-notch service to all clients has resulted in Sedgwick receiving top honors in the large and mid-market buyer service categories of the 2011 Business Insurance Buyers Choice Awards.

Mr. North says added expertise has increased the value of Sedgwick's services for clients of all sizes that strive to mitigate costs in the workers comp, disability and liability markets.

“They want to be able to buy from a single source a full continuum of services that are highly focused on that ultimate outcome,” Mr. North said.

Though Sedgwick doesn't require clients to use all facets of its claims management services, Mr. North said the TPA has been able to grow its business by bringing more capabilities in-house.

For instance, about 80% of Sedgwick's clients use the company's internal bill review process—a statistic Mr. North said he believes is significant because Sedgwick largely outsourced its bill reviews five years ago.

He expects to see similar growth trajectories for other Sedgwick services.

“We believed very strongly that if we acquired some of those other capabilities that were historically outsourced to third parties, we could offer a service to our customers that was more integrated, more focused on the outcome and do it in a more cost-effective manner,” the Sedgwick executive said.

Sedgwick continues to look for ways to improve service, Mr. North said. That includes using improved technology that allows the TPA to deliver data in printed, digital and mobile formats.

Sedgwick's “growth has occurred not because we have some incredible (research and development) capability in the back room,” Mr. North said. “We believe we have incredible listening skills.”

View profiles of all the honorees here.