Patent ID: 8447631

Claim:
A method for managing insurance claims in conjunction with a computer-based insurance claim processing system, the method comprising: storing, in a computer system, a plurality of discrete active insurance claims, wherein the computer system comprises at least a computer processor, a memory coupled to the computer processor, and a user interface; providing, using the computer system, at least one association to each of the plurality of discrete active insurance claims, wherein the associations are stored in memory separate from their corresponding discrete active insurance claims; selecting, using the computer system, a first association criteria related to an event, wherein the first association criteria links a subset of the plurality of discrete active insurance claims based on their provided at least one association; presenting, using the computer system, the subset of discrete active insurance claims based on the selected first association criteria; adding, using the computer system, an additional discrete active insurance claim to the presented subset of discrete active insurance claims by inputting an association for the additional discrete active insurance claim that links it to the presented subset based on the first association criteria; providing, using the computer system, additional information to each one of the presented subset of discrete active insurance claims, wherein the additional information is stored in a memory separate from the discrete active insurance claims and corresponds to the at least one association of the presented subset of discrete active insurance claims, and further wherein the additional information is linked to each of the presented subset of discrete active insurance claims based on an entry of the additional information and the at least one association; receiving, using the computer system, an indication that the status of all of the discrete active insurance claims in the subset of discrete active insurance claims has been changed from active to inactive; and automatically deleting, by the computer system, any associations and additional information linked to the subset of discrete active insurance claims based on the indication.