Medical malpractice insurance is an insurance product specifically designed for medical professionals including doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. At its core, medical malpractice insurance is similar to the professional liability insurance policies that businesses get to protect themselves from consumer lawsuits. Much like liability insurance, medical malpractice insurance helps doctors and other healthcare professionals to cover the cost of lawsuits filed by patients.
Importance of Picking a Trusted Insurance Partner
Medical malpractice insurance companies have the supremely complicated job of understanding the intricacies of medical care, insurance, and legal procedures. They also need to timely provide educational materials to insured physicians to reduce the risk of litigation. There are a handful of insurance carriers like PRI that do provide end-to-end medical malpractice insurance service. However, a lot of insurance firms offer this highly critical insurance product without the infrastructure and experience required to support its members.
5 Signs of a Bad Medical Malpractice Insurance Company
1. Does Not Specialize in Medical Malpractice Insurance
You typically want a carrier who exclusively offers insurance products and services related to medical malpractice. Stay clear of insurance firms that offer medical malpractice insurance along with a long list of other unrelated insurance products.
2. Lacks a Peer Support Program
Physicians often face social alienation following alleged malpractice. A peer support program helps the physician find confidence and support from other practitioners. Most good malpractice insurance companies offer a great peer support program.
3. Does Not Offer Risk Management Services
The best defense is always avoiding making the mistake in the first place. A good insurance carrier keeps its insured members informed about risk factors and practices that may lead to litigation.
4. Has a Complicated Claim Management Procedure
Right from paying premiums to reporting a claim, everything should be easily accessible online. It’s highly advisable to stay clear of insurance carriers that have offline claims filing systems in place.
5. Lacks the Experience to Provide the Best Defense
Medical malpractice insurance companies not only cover the cost of claims made by affected patients, but they are also responsible for defending their clients. They need to have a team of experts who are qualified to understand the complexities of the medical procedure, analyze the claim, and come up with the best defense strategy.
What is Covered in Medical Malpractice Insurance?
Future and Past Medical Expenses Incurred by the Patient: Medical malpractice insurance policies typically cover all medical expenses (future, current, and past) incurred by the patient as a direct result of the alleged malpractice. This may include the cost of therapy for pain management or future surgical procedures to rectify the mistake.
Loss of Income: It’s common for patients to demand the loss of income that occurred due to the medical malpractice. Patients who had to take unpaid leaves can show their payslip and request compensation for their loss of income. Business owners who had to shut down their business due to their medical complication may also claim compensation for lost revenues.
Death Compensation: If the malpractice results in the death of a patient, the surviving members may claim compensation. Depending on the number of dependents, the nature of the malpractice, and the degree of the financial damage caused due to the death, this value can vary greatly.
Lawsuit Defense Coverage: Medical malpractice insurance also covers the cost of hiring a lawyer and the legal charges required for a medical practitioner to fight the case.
