37 blog posts tagged "Address data"

Ask most product owners about their address data, and they’ll probably tell you that “it’s good enough. ” But when it comes to address data integrity, the word “enough” should give you serious pause. When it comes to address data, “close enough” is how businesses end up with wasted marketing spend, compliance headaches, failed deliveries, and policies that don’t hold up. It doesn’t matter if you're underwriting insurance on a home, scheduling a broadband install, or mailing a benefits enrollment kit—accuracy isn’t a nice-to-have.

In the world of address validation, not all providers stick to the script. Some go rogue. And while that might work for improv geniuses like Robin Williams or even our own Brady Amundson, when your verification tools start improvising results, creating fictional addresses, and hoping you don’t notice… well, it's like watching a movie adaptation of your favorite book and thinking, “Wait… they burned down the Burrow?!?” (Harry Potter fans, I’m still mad. )If your address verification tool is delivering results that feel more like fan fiction than factual data, and geolocating “validated” addresses in the middle of lakes, it might be time to reconsider the cast.

Getting deliveries right starts with getting addresses right. In today’s “I want it now“ world of online shopping, customers expect their orders to show up on time and without any hiccups. And the stakes are high: 87% of customers trust brands with excellent customer service. That’s a big deal when it comes to loyalty. But when something goes wrong — like a package sent to the wrong place, delayed by days, or lost in shipping limbo — trust takes a nosedive. Frustrated customers are less likely to come back and more likely to spread the word (the not-so-good kind).

Ever feel like your address data is cursed?Customers claim their packages never showed up. Your CRM swears by an address that doesn’t exist. Meanwhile, your checkout form mysteriously rejects a perfectly valid street name like it's possessed. Healthcare claim denials, failed insurance verifications, suspicious fintech delays—something strange is definitely going on. Instead of avoiding or running away terrified, we’re investigating the eerie and mysterious on Paranormal Day, May 3. We tip our foil hats to Charles Fort, the original chronicler of the weird and unexplained, and investigate a real threat to your data systems: unverified addresses.

Healthcare fraud isn’t just an occasional headache—it’s a $20 billion-a-year black hole draining financial institutions. And that’s just the fraud we know about. As healthcare systems become more complex, fraudsters are also getting smarter, faster, and more creative at exploiting vulnerabilities, especially in address verification. The healthcare industry is an easy target. Medical data can be more valuable than credit card numbers, billing systems are a tangled mess, and the sheer complexity of transactions creates endless opportunities for fraud to slip through unnoticed.

Address autocomplete is a powerful tool for improving form completions and ensuring users select real, deliverable addresses at entry. However, to maintain long-term data integrity and enhance address-related insights, address verification is a necessary complement. Here’s why:1. Gain up to 55 points of metadata per verified addressAutocomplete provides real-time address suggestions, while address verification appends additional metadata. Address verification enhances each address with up to 55 points of data, such as:ZIP-9 level accuracy geocoordinates (rooftop accuracy also available)ZIP+4 CodesResidential Delivery Indicator (RDI) to identify residential vs.

Bigfoot. Sasquatch. Ol’ Filthy Albert. No matter what you call him, you know who we’re talking about: the hairy giant cryptid who haunts our collective imagination and, according to about 13% of the US population, wanders the American wilderness. The traditional perception of Sasquatch is that of a solitary creature whose run-ins with people are the unavoidable consequence of human development and exploration. If recent sightings are any indication, it seems the legendary creature may have more on their mind than just staying hidden.

Let's start with a number that should make every hospital administrator do a double take: $17. 4 million. That’s how much the average hospital loses annually—just from denied claims due to patient misidentification. This isn’t from equipment costs, not from staffing shortages, and not even from insurance negotiations—just from keeping bad patient data. Surely, our forms aren’t that bad. (Yes, they are, and stop calling me Shirley. )But here’s the reality: According to the 2016 Ponemon Misidentification Report, 30% of hospital claims get denied, and over a third of those denials are caused by inaccurate or incomplete patient information.

Healthcare is experiencing a dramatic shift in how patient information is stored and managed. Electronic medical records (EMRs) and electronic health records (EHRs) have become the new standard, driven by two powerful forces: everyone has mobile devices and the increase in the human population. A growing problem with clean address data in EMRs and EHRsWhile EMRs and EHRs offer amazing accessibility and storage capabilities (way better than a filing cabinet), they've also exposed a critical weakness in many healthcare organizations: address data quality.

In any industry that’s regulated and works with PII (personally identifiable information), a simple address error can cost more than just a returned letter. With HIPAA violations ranging from $100 to $50,000 per incident and the possibility of criminal charges, getting patient addresses wrong is more than an administrative headache—it's a serious compliance risk under HIPAA, ACA, and other mailing regulations. Our new ebook explores how address data quality directly impacts regulatory compliance, patient privacy, and health equity requirements, among 12 other hot topics.

There are plenty of address data solutions in the sea. You might need to let them off the hook if:Their data accuracy is sufferingToo many false positivesSpotty data availability (lack of international support? Beuller?)Off-the-mark geocoding (not truly rooftop-level accurate)Missing data enrichment (RDI, FIPS, unique ID, secondary addresses, etc. )They don’t flirt nicely (or at all) with your existing systemsThey don’t have an accurate address autocomplete solutionYour relationship with them has become robotic and mundane (When you need help, you have to talk to a robot instead of a real person for support… ew.

We recently brought together Kent Gividen and Bryan Amundson, two of Smarty's brilliant lead developers, to discuss the importance of maintaining a clean address database and how Smarty's innovative tools can make this process easier and more efficient. Question: "How should users prepare their address data before using Smarty's tools?"Kent: "To begin with, if you have a database that you're looking to clean the addresses for, you can dump those addresses into a CSV file. And there are several ways to make that easier to handle and process.

Remember that phrase we all used in middle school, “Well if you love it so much, why don’t you marry it?” Well, we couldn’t agree more. Address data and insurance claims have been partners in an ever-evolving landscape of technology and property for years. Insurance claims rely on geocoding to find the exact location, and property data is used to assess the property's condition and attached amenities before losses. Efficiently deploying adjusters and accurately assessing damage is impossible without accurate address data.

In an age where we treat digital devices like freshly-grown appendages, our obsession with Generative AI is only natural. With minimal prompting, GenAI can write songs, novels, poetry, and more. Some GenAI creations turn out pretty okay, and some turn out less okay (look at this bear/fish hybrid we made), but that’s part of the fun. As GenAI becomes more prominent in our personal and work lives, so too do concerns about its effects. Artists, writers, marketers, and developers alike are becoming nervous that robots will replace them in their careers.

One of the most popular and successful movie franchises—by far—is George Lucas' Star Wars. The impact Star Wars has had on the culture of the United States and the rest of the world is incredible. From 1977 on, Hollywood has been producing large, fantastical blockbusters packed with practical and computer-generated special effects. Movies have started being considered based wholly on the merchandise they could sell. Toy laser swords have been selling like hotcakes, and every child finds themselves secretly trying to turn off the light from their bed using the Force.

In our recent webinar, we hosted Jeffrey Duncan, our Technical Product Manager, who discussed the complexities and nuances of managing address data across various international formats. While seemingly straightforward, addresses are quite complex, especially when dealing with international data. Jeffrey highlighted the variability in address formats, which can range from the number of address lines to the order of address components, differing significantly from one country to another. For instance, while a US address typically follows a structured format, addresses in countries like Germany or India can have a completely different setup, impacting data entry and management.

In a recent webinar, Berk Charlton, Chief Product Officer at Smarty™, provided an in-depth look at our industry-leading address intelligence suite designed to provide highly accurate geocoding and address validation. Here are the main points Berk covered during the session:Comprehensive product suite: Smarty offers a wide range of products, including address validation, rooftop geocoding, global address auto-complete, and address data enrichment. These tools are designed to handle various aspects of address management and enhancement in industries from Insurance to Healthcare to Telecom and more.

March 18 marks a bit of an awkward holiday: Awkward Moments Day. It's a day that celebrates those times that make you cringe, moments that make you face-palm, and stories that wake you up at 4 in the morning thinking, "Ugh! Why did I do that?" Although these moments can be uncomfortable, it's helpful to remember that everyone has them, and if they say they don't … We know they’re lying. It's also helpful to remember that these embarrassing stories can help us learn and do better the next time around.

In a recent webinar, we brought in our Product Marketing Manager, Ryan Muir, to delve into the transformative potential of Smarty's property data solutions for the insurance sector. Before his work with Smarty™, Ryan was a licensed insurance agent for a Property and Casualty (P&C) insurance provider. During his tenure, he worked closely with underwriters, brokers, agencies, and even program managers, giving him a comprehensive understanding of how insurance teams and companies utilize property data.

Webinar recap: In a recent webinar, we showed how address data tools help managers improve business performance in the following areas:Network PlanningAsset ManagementCustomer Acquisition and RetentionData BlendingMail and Parcel DeliveryFraud Reduction1. Network planningAccurate address data plays a critical role in overcoming network planning challenges. We presented solutions at each of the following steps in the network planning process: Clean existing address data with US Address VerificationKeep incoming data clean with US Address AutocompleteMap all addresses using our US Master Address List and hyper-accurate US Rooftop GeocodingAdd context to maps with enriched US Property DataAnalyze, get spatial insights, and make confident business decisions 2.

In a world where the lines between digital and physical spaces blur, the health of our computers has a massive impact on our productivity and overall ability to perform well at work. Clean Out Your Computer Day, observed on the second Monday of February, is the perfect opportunity to ensure that we declutter and optimize our virtual spaces. Just as we regularly clean our homes and offices, this day underscores the importance of maintaining a streamlined, efficient computer setup. The digital declutter: Where to startStarting with the basics, sift through your files and programs.

Smarty™ recently hosted an enlightening webinar on Project US@, a vital initiative in health information technology. The webinar, led by Wes Arnold, Team Lead of Product Marketing, provided insights into Project US@ and its significant role in patient data management. What is Project US@?Project US@ is led by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology in collaboration with HSC and AHIMA. The final version 1. 0 was released on January 7, 2022. The goal? The initiative's main objective is to establish a standard approach for representing patient addresses across all health IT systems.

Halloween is just around the corner, and since we eat and drink addresses every day at Smarty™, we get into the spooky spirit by exploring the eerie and mysterious street names across the United States?In the movie "Beetlejuice," saying the titular character's name 3 times would summon the chaotic and mischievous demon himself. At Smarty, we have a theory. Like Beetlejuice, every haunting creature has a magic number, and whenever someone sends mail to a house on Vampire Road in Gallitzin, Pennsylvania, delivers pizza to Goblin Drive in Harrison, Arkansas, or navigates to Zombie Way in Moncks Corner, South Carolina, it brings each state closer to their own monster apocalypse.

October 4, 2023 - PROVO, UT—Smarty, the address data intelligence leader, announces today the launch of its US Property Data product with more than 350 property data points. Smarty's US Property Data and Address Enrichment API includes financial, structural, and locational data to enhance business risk analysis and inform strategic investments. "Accurate property data play a crucial role in various industries, enabling organizations to make informed decisions and enhance their operations," said Berk Charlton, Chief Product Officer at Smarty.

World Wide Web Day on August 1 celebrates the birth of the World Wide Web and its significant impact on modern society. While the Internet and the World Wide Web are not the same (the Web refers to a web of linked pages via hypertext links while the Internet refers to the exchange of information by people on their own computers), the World Wide Web played a crucial role in making the internet accessible and user-friendly to the general public. Let's explore how the advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web have improved address validation and geocoding.

Handling address data is such a routine occurrence for health insurance providers that it’s not the first thing that would come to mind as being a liability. However, the reality is that discrepancies and inaccuracies in address data can have far-reaching consequences, posing serious privacy and compliance risks. Healthcare fraud, reputational damage, and financial penalties are just a few examples of the potential hazards. In this article, we’ll delve into three common types of privacy and compliance risks resulting from incorrect or incomplete address data.

When it comes to physical health, sometimes the smallest things can have a big impact. A microscopic virus or a small injury can develop into a life-threatening infection before you even know it’s there — and conversely, a tiny pill or ointment can save a life. The little things matter when it comes to health data, too. In particular, address data is a small part of a patient profile that can have far-reaching effects if it is incorrect or incomplete. Address data is a key information point at the center of billing and communication with patients, and even a slight mistake in an address—a missing unit number or a misspelled street name—can make mail undeliverable.

Ever since the first Blue Cross health insurance plan was provided to Texas schoolteachers in 1929 for a monthly fee of $6, health insurance providers have formed the backbone of the American healthcare system. Today, as that system faces ongoing scrutiny, health insurance providers are still at the heart of the action, striving to connect patients to the highest possible quality of care while navigating significant changes including rising costs, digital transformation, medical advances, customer expectations, and ever-present regulations.

As a distinguished leader, diplomat, and explorer in the Star Trek universe, Captain Picard's legacy extends far beyond the realm of science fiction enthusiasts. In 2007, fans decided to bring a piece of Star Trek lore into reality: Captain Picard Day. This 'holiday,' first introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Pegasus," is an annual celebration observed on the Enterprise by its youngest crew members. The date mentioned in the episode is Stardate 47457. 1, which translates to June 16.

Picture this. You're traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Twilight Zone!Can you hear the 🎵 dee dee dee doo dee dee dee doo 🎵?That is the familiar introduction to a show that would boggle our minds and twist reality as we know it. Today, apparently, is Twilight Zone Day. Celebrate how you will. Another thing that boggles our minds and seems to twist reality as we know it is when addresses change or when they go by an alias, or when you ship something to someone's house at the exact address they told you, and it still gets returned for some reason.

Tis the season to know “it’s coming from inside the house,” but you still stay in the house. It’s the time of year when teenagers are alone in their convertible at makeout peak while there’s a monster on the loose. The air is getting chilly, the leaves are falling, and people are moving into known haunted houses without a care in the world. So, it just makes sense that we should look at some address data. There are some extremely famous addresses (or at least streets) in the “scary movie” genre.

Did you know that every address has loads of hidden data buried in its metadata? In this webinar, we briefly considered the value of breaking an address into its component parts. Then we looked at the different metadata available and provided definitions for each one. And finally, we went over use cases and ideas on how to leverage metadata for improved operations, business intelligence, and financial performance. There’s gold in your address metadata!Every address contains basic components that are standardized by country.

JUNE 7, 2022 - PROVO, UTAH - Smarty, a leader in location data intelligence, announces the release of its new US Master Address List, a comprehensive dataset of 193 million standardized and verified primary and secondary addresses that are all deliverable by the USPS. With new construction, the list will soon top 200 million. The Smarty US Master Address List is the most complete and accurate list of mailable US addresses available. Additional data points like whether the delivery point is residential or commercial, parent addresses and associated apartments or suites, shared delivery points, ZIP+4 Codes, and FIPS Codes all provide valuable business insights.

In this webinar, our geocoding and address expert Adam Charlton went over the ins and outs of address data. He gave details about address components and how they influence the way an address is composed. He also dove into the difference between ZIP9 and ZIP11, what a non-postal is, and other address hacks you didn’t learn in primary school. Standardization and validationWhat exactly is a valid address? There are lots of different definitions depending on what your goal is with the address. For example, a parking lot address could be a valid address for a real estate developer, but not for package delivery.

For address validation, an international address lookup is the process of matching foreign addresses against the local authoritative postal databases to ensure they are real and mailable. The process commonly corrects typos, parses the addresses into its component parts and standardizes it to match countries' approved formats. The task of looking up and combining data sets for thousands, or even millions of international addresses is a daunting one. Just trying to keep track of each country’s valid address format alone, is a time-consuming challenge.

We get a lot of questions about USPS CASS certification and how it differs from NCOALink certification. They are both methods of address validation that originate with the USPS. While they look the same and smell the same (probably), they are in fact, very different. Even still, these methods are frequently confused, conflated and equated. So, we decided to cut the confusion and answer all your burning questions about CASS and NCOALink. Here is some of stuff that future you (who has read the article) already knows:When you notify the USPS that your address has changed, NCOALink only hangs onto those updates for 4 years.

The difference between a physical address and a mailing address is that a physical address is where you are geographically located and a mailing address is where you get your mail. Often a physical address and a mailing address are the same—but not always! Whether you're trying to mail important account paperwork to thousands of customers or a single high-dollar customer appreciation gift to a key account, having the right address is important. Before you send off that precious cargo, ask yourself if you're sending it to a physical address or a mailing address.