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Commentary: How to Get More Out of Your Medical Professional Liability Insurance Program
By Terrance J. Sheehan, MD
President & CEO
The fundamental reason
for purchasing
medical professional liability
insurance is to
protect your assets and
reputation in the event
of a claim. That is, IF
there is a claim against you. Most certainly
the coverage you get and the company
that insures you are critical in that
decision. After all, you’re paying for the
insurance and you want the best coverage
from the company with the best track
record of defending the doctors, hospitals
and other providers it insures. That’s what
you get with Medical Mutual. But you
also get something else that’s extremely
valuable — yet doesn’t take an “IF” scenario
to actually realize that value.
You see, comprehensive and complimentary
risk management services are available
to all Medical Mutual policyholders.
Those who use them will tell you that they
are an important part of their insurance
program. Those who don’t, I would suggest,
are missing opportunities to improve
internal systems and processes and enhance
patient safety. Not to mention everything
you can save by preventing avoidable claims
against you or your organization.
Free doubt-elimination
Consider the instance when you have a
non-compliant, combative patient that
keeps threatening to sue. Can you, or better
yet, should you discharge this patient? You
may go with your gut feeling on how to
approach it. Yet once the decision has been
made and you’ve acted on the situation,
you start to second-guess that decision, or
perhaps just feel a bit uneasy about it.
As a member-policyholder of Medical
Mutual, you don’t have to subject yourself
to that kind of self-doubt, because you can
always call for an informal phone consultation
with one of our professional risk
managers in such situations. These quick
consultations are a great way for you to get
the kind of informed direction that puts
you in a position to move forward with
complete confidence that you’re doing the
right thing for your patient and your practice
or institution. Not to mention that
the information you receive could help
you avoid an unnecessary and potentially
expensive claim that would become a permanent
part of your loss history.
The office practice survey
For office practices both large and small,
Medical Mutual also offers office practice
surveys that help improve efficiency while
providing simple tips for reducing the
risks you face in everyday practice. All you
need to do is call to schedule a survey and
one of the Company’s professional risk
managers will visit your office to analyze
the layout of the space and patient flow,
conduct an environmental assessment and
review your processes for medical record
documentation. Physicians and practice
managers often comment on how the survey’s
recommendations streamline daily
operations and improve tracking systems
— results that can save time and money.
The Company also provides a similar, and
again complimentary, service for departments
or specialty areas of hospitals.
The free lunch-hour seminar
In addition, the Company’s on-site risk
management seminars, which typically run
an hour or so — often over your staff ’s
lunch hour — provide tremendously valuable
information that gets everyone from
your team on the same page. The topics
include Communications Strategies for
Disclosure Following Unanticipated Outcomes,
Defensible Documentation and
Customer Service As a Risk Management
Tool, to name just a few.
Missed, but not lost
While you may have passed on the opportunity to take advantage of these valuable services in the past, the opportunity is not lost. They are an integral part of your Medical Mutual policy and always will be. So if you want to get more out of your medical professional liability insurance, call our risk management professionals at (800) 942-2791 the next time you run into a care decision with potential claim or licensing implications and want reassurance on how to handle it. Or schedule an on-site seminar or survey today. Because they’re all free for the asking — and you don’t have to wait for that dreaded “IF” scenario to realize their value.